Courtesy: uefa.com

Futsal World Cup preliminary & main round draws

All European entrants for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup enter either the preliminary or main round draws.

Preliminary round draw (*hosts)

Group A: Georgia, Moldova, Andorra, Gibraltar

Group B: Greece, Montenegro, Sweden, San Marino

Group C: France, Lithuania*, Albania, Malta

Group D: Latvia, Armenia, Cyprus*, Estonia

Group E: Israel*, England, Denmark, Wales

Group F: Finland, Bulgaria, Switzerland

Draw procedure

The 22 top-ranked sides were excused the preliminary round. The remaining 23 teams – including World Cup debutants Denmark, Gibraltar, Sweden and Wales – were split into four seeding pots by coefficient. Five groups contained one team from all four categories and one contained three nations, from each of the top three categories.

Three countries already assigned as mini-tournament hosts were placed in each group according to their seeding but kept apart. The remaining three groups will need to decide who is hosting the qualifying tournament and, should no agreement be found, UEFA will proceed to a draw in due course to determine the organisers of these pools.

The six group winners will progress to the main round.

Main round draw (*hosts)

Group 1: Ukraine, Hungary*, Belgium, winner Group E

Group 2: Croatia*, Azerbaijan, Belarus, winner Group B

Group 3: Russia, Serbia, Turkey*, winner Group F

Group 4: Spain, Netherlands*, Bosnia and Herzegovina, winner Group D

Group 5: Czech Republic*, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, winner Group C

Group 6: Portugal*, Romania, Poland, Norway

Group 7: Italy*, Slovakia, FYR Macedonia, winners Group A

Draw procedure

The contenders were split into four seeding categories. The hosts were drawn first and positioned in different groups according to their rankings. The four seeding categories were then drawn to complete the groups.

The top two teams in each of the seven main round groups will progress to the play-offs (group winners drawn against runners-up), which will decide Europe's qualifiers for Colombia.

Road to Colombia

2 July 2015: preliminary & main round draws, Nyon

(15 & 22 September 2015: UEFA Futsal EURO 2016 play-offs)

22, 23, & 25 October 2015: preliminary round

10, 11 & 13 December 2015: main round

(2-13 February 2016: UEFA Futsal EURO 2016, Belgrade)

12 February 2016: play-off draw, Belgrade

22 March & 12 April 2016: play-offs

tbc: final tournament draw, Colombia

14 September–2 October 2016: final tournament, Colombia






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