This is the first time in the history of football (soccer, beach soccer) that Brazil has met Argentina in the final. Players from both teams consider this a historic match for world futsal, creating a dream ending for the 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Legendary Falcao – a two-time futsal World Cup champion – also considers this a classic match of the world. He assesses the strength of the two teams as similar, with a 50-50 chance of winning. Brazil has outstanding individuals, but Argentina is a stable, even team with the achievement of reaching the World Cup final for the third consecutive time.
On the rankings, Brazil is number 1 in the world, while Argentina is number 5. But this number does not mean much in a general match. At this year's FIFA Futsal World Cup, many underdog teams defeated higher-ranked opponents such as Venezuela (beat Spain), Kazakhstan (beat Portugal)...
The head-to-head record favors Brazil. The yellow-green team has won 66, lost 8 and drawn 9 of the 83 times the two teams have met. Brazil dominated early on, winning all 28 of their first meetings. However, the last 10 encounters between the South American football superpowers have been fairly even, with Argentina winning 3, Brazil winning 3 and 4 games ending in draws. In the 2021 World Cup semi-finals, Argentina beat Brazil 2-1.
To reach the final, Brazil defeated Cuba (10-0), Croatia (8-1), Thailand (9-1), Costa Rica (5-0), Morocco (3-1) and Ukraine (3-2). Meanwhile, Argentina defeated Ukraine (7-1), Afghanistan (2-1), Angola (9-5), Croatia (2-0), Kazakhstan (6-1) and France (3-2).
Both teams had their strongest squads for the final. The top scorers for the Brazilian futsal team were Marcel (10 goals), Pito (5), Dyego (4), Marlon (4), Neguinho (4). Meanwhile, the top scorers for the Argentine team were Kevin Arrieta (7 goals), Alan Brandi (7), Matias Rosa (4)…
Goalkeeper Guitta, who helped Brazil win the World Cup in Thailand in 2012, is bidding to become the first player to lift the FIFA Futsal World Cup trophy in 12 years.
Cristian Borruto will play his 28th match at the FIFA Futsal World Cup. He will surpass Brazilian Fininho and Spaniard Kike and move into fourth place in the tournament's appearances list behind Javi Rodriguez (29), Manoel Tobias (31) and Falcao (34).
Brazil have lost just one of their last 41 matches at the FIFA Futsal World Cup (excluding penalties). Since losing 3-4 to Spain in the 2000 final, the Seleçao have lifted the trophy in 2008 and 2012, been eliminated on penalties in 2004 and 2016, and lost 1-2 to Argentina in the 2021 semi-finals.
Argentina goalkeeper Nico Sarmiento is aiming for an incredible achievement by winning the Golden Glove award for the best goalkeeper at the World Cup for the third consecutive time.
