As the 2020 AFC Futsal Championship in Turkmenistan, where five FIFA Futsal World Cup slots were to be awarded, did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AFC Executive Committee has nominated IR Iran, Japan and Uzbekistan to represent the continent at Lithuania 2021.
In addition, play-off matches will be organised between Iraq, Lebanon, Thailand and Vietnam to determine Asia’s last two spots.
The executive committee decided to combine two sets of criteria – the first taking reference from the top five teams of the most recent edition (the AFC Futsal Championship Chinese Taipei 2018), and the second applying a point system which calculates the top five teams from the overall ranking of the last three editions of the AFC Futsal Championship (i.e., 2014, 2016 and 2018 editions).
Based on the results of Criteria 1 and 2, the top three recurring teams – IR Iran, Japan and Uzbekistan – were nominated as the AFC’s representatives for the world finals, which are scheduled to take place from 12 September to 3 October.
Additionally, play-off matches will be organised to determine the remaining two teams to qualify between Iraq, Lebanon, Thailand and Vietnam. The draw will be held next week at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
