The Afghanistan futsal team is experiencing a surge of success and recognition. In the latest FIFA futsal world rankings, Afghanistan rocketed to the 30th position. This represents a significant jump from their previous rankings of 45th globally and eighth in Asia. At the top of these rankings, Brazil holds the first position, followed by Portugal and Spain.
Other notable teams in the rankings include Iran, Argentina, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Thailand, and France, which occupy the fourth to tenth positions, respectively. The Afghan team is making impressive progress; last year, they ranked 99th. This improvement is attributed in part to the strong leadership of head coach Majid Mortazavi, under whose guidance the team has achieved consistent victories and qualified for the upcoming Futsal World Cup.
This prestigious event, set to be hosted by Uzbekistan in September, will see Afghanistan compete for the first time. The team earned its place at the World Cup by winning playoff matches against Iraq and Kyrgyzstan in the Asian Futsal Championship qualifiers.
Continuing their recent string of successes, the Afghan team secured their coveted World Cup spot in a thrilling 5-3 victory against Kyrgyzstan in Thailand last Sunday. Notably, after a dominant second-half performance, which saw them score four additional goals, they made history as the first national Afghan futsal team to qualify for the Futsal World Cup.