Mission accomplished! Italy’s women’s futsal team qualify for the European Championship finals for the first time

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24 hours after beating France, Italy’s women’s futsal team can finally celebrate. Watching Portugal vs. Finland on television, the Azzurre knew their hopes of qualifying for Croatia 2027 depended on a favourable result. They will now compete in the finals of the fourth edition of the Women’s Futsal EURO, which will feature eight teams for the first time after three editions played in a Final Four format. Italy join hosts Croatia, reigning three-time champions Spain, who won Group 3, the Azzurre’s group, with a perfect record, World Cup finalists Portugal, Poland, Hungary, and Sweden.

The final place will be decided by a play-off between Finland and Norway in November. Italy have avoided that route by qualifying as the second-best runner-up across the groups, securing the final available place at the tournament in Osijek, which will host the finals from 14 to 21 March.

Portugal’s 3-0 victory allowed Paniccia’s side to overtake Finland in the overall ranking of group runners-up. Both teams finished the Elite Round on six points, but Italy progressed thanks to a superior overall goal difference: +6 compared with Finland’s +1.