Portugal: Their winning run in Futsal EURO, World Cup, Finalissima

After their entry into major futsal competition, Portugal began by typically finding themselves in the shadow of neighbours Spain, but in recent years Iberian fortunes have shifted, with Jorge Braz's side winning four straight major honours before their loss to Spain in the UEFA Futsal EURO 2026 final.

Portugal emerged triumphant at UEFA Futsal EURO 2018, the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup, Futsal EURO 2022 and the first Futsal Finalissima in 2022, ending Spain's hopes in each competition. That run finished only in the 2024 World Cup, with a dramatic round of 16 loss to Kazakhstan.

In the course of that sequence, they managed some feats Spain are yet to achieve: winning two straight Futsal EUROs without drawing or losing a game (or requiring a penalty shoot-out), 11 matches in all, and embarking on an eight-year, 48-game competitive unbeaten streak bookended by their 4-3 loss to Iran in the 2016 World Cup play-off on 1 October that year and the 2-1 defeat by Kazakhstan on 26 September 2024.

On top of that, Portugal have shown themselves capable of coming from behind, not least at Futsal EURO 2022, where three of their six wins, including in the semis and final, came in matches where Portugal were 2-0 down.

Before defeat by Spain in the 2026 final ended their eight-year continental reign, their record Futsal EURO winning run stood at 16 consecutive finals matches (coming from behind in nine of those games), and 20 including qualifiers (having overtaken Spain's old mark of 13).

We delve deeper into Portugal's incredible era of success.

Portugal major futsal national-team tournament finals

Futsal EURO

2026: 3-5 vs Spain
2022: 4-2 vs Russia
2018: 3-2aet vs Spain
2010: 2-4 vs Spain

Futsal World Cup

2021: 2-1 vs Argentina

Futsal Finalissima

2022: 1-1aet/4-2pens vs Spain

Women's Futsal EURO

2022: 3-3aet/1-4pens vs Spain
2019: 0-4 vs Spain

Under-19 Futsal EURO

2025: 3-2aet vs Spain
2023: 6-2 vs Spain
2022: 2-6aet vs Spain

(wins in bold)

The 16-game Futsal EURO winning run

Slovenia 2018 
4-1 vs Romania (group stage, Ljubljana)
5-3 vs Ukraine (group stage, Ljubljana)
8-1 vs Azerbaijan (quarter-finals, Ljubljana)*
3-2 vs Russia (semi-finals, Ljubljana)*
3-2aet vs Spain (final, Ljubljana)*
Netherlands 2022 
4-2 vs Serbia (group stage, Amsterdam)**
4-1 vs Netherlands (group stage, Amsterdam)
1-0 vs Ukraine (group stage, Groningen)
3-2 vs Finland (quarter-finals, Amsterdam)
3-2 vs Spain (semi-finals, Amsterdam)**
4-2 vs Russia (final, Amsterdam)**
Latvia/Lithuania/Slovenia 2026
6-2 vs Italy (group stage, Ljubljana)*
5-1 vs Hungary (group stage, Ljubljana)
3-2 vs Poland (group stage, Ljubljana)
8-2 vs Belgium (quarter-finals, Ljubljana)*
4-1 vs France (semi-finals, Ljubljana)*

*Came back from one goal down
**Came back from two goals down

Record: W16 D0 L0 F68 A26
Most appearances: Tiago Brito, Bruno Coelho, Pany Varela all 16
Most goals: Bruno Coelho 9, Pany Varela 9, Ricardinho 7

The 48-game competitive unbeaten run

Futsal EURO 2018 qualifying
2-1 vs Latvia (main round, Calarasi, 08/04/2017)*
5-1 vs Finland (main round, Calarasi, 09/04/2017)
4-0 vs Romania (main round, Calarasi, 11/04/2017)
Futsal EURO 2018 finals
4-1 vs Romania (group stage, Ljubljana, 31/01/2018)
5-3 vs Ukraine (group stage, Ljubljana, 04/02/2018)
8-1 vs Azerbaijan (quarter-finals, Ljubljana, 06/02/2018)*
3-2 vs Russia (semi-finals, Ljubljana, 08/02/2018)*
3-2aet vs Spain (final, Ljubljana, 10/02/2018)*
2021 Futsal World Cup qualifying
4-0 vs Latvia (main round, Viseu, 24/10/2019)
5-0 vs Germany (main round, Viseu, 25/10/2019)
4-1 vs Czechia (main round, Viseu, 24/10/2019)
2-1 vs Belarus (elite round, Póvoa de Varzim, 30/01/2020)*
2-2 vs Finland (elite round, Póvoa de Varzim, 31/01/2020)**
4-1 vs Italy (elite round, Póvoa de Varzim, 02/02/2020)
Futsal EURO 2022 qualifying
2-2 vs Poland (qualifying group stage, Mafra, 29/01/2021)
3-0 vs Poland (qualifying group stage, Łódź, 03/02/2021)
3-3 vs Czechia (qualifying group stage, Łódź, 06/03/2021)
5-1 vs Czechia (qualifying group stage, Łódź, 09/03/2021)
7-1 vs Norway (qualifying group stage, Seixal, 12/04/2021)
4-0 vs Norway (qualifying group stage, Seixal, 14/04/2021)
2021 Futsal World Cup finals
4-1 vs Thailand (group stage, Kaunas, 13/09/2021)*
7-0 vs Solomon Islands (group stage, Kaunas, 16/09/2021)
3-3 vs Morocco (group stage, Klaipėda, 19/09/2021)*
4-3aet vs Serbia (round of 16, Kaunas, 24/09/2021)
4-2aet vs Spain (quarter-finals, Vilnius, 27/09/2021)**
2-2aet, 4-3pens vs Kazakhstan (semi-finals, Kaunas, 30/09/2021)*
2-1 vs Argentina (final, Kaunas, 03/10/2021)
Futsal EURO 2022 finals
4-2 vs Serbia (group stage, Amsterdam, 19/01/2022)**
4-1 vs Netherlands (group stage, Amsterdam, 23/01/2022)
1-0 vs Ukraine (group stage, Groningen, 28/01/2022)
3-2 vs Finland (quarter-finals, Amsterdam, 31/01/2022)*
3-2 vs Spain (semi-finals, Amsterdam, 04/02/2022)**
4-2 vs Russia (final, Amsterdam, 06/02/2022)**
Futsal Finalissima 2022
2-1 vs Paraguay (semi-final, Buenos Aires, 15/09/2022)*
1-1aet, 4-2pens vs Spain (final, Buenos Aires, 18/09/2022)*
2024 Futsal World Cup qualifying
5-3 vs Belarus (main round group stage, Paredes, 06/10/2022)**
6-0 vs Lithuania (main round group stage, Kaunas, 11/10/2022)
2-0 vs Lithuania (main round group stage, Loulé, 09/11/2022)
4-2 vs Belarus (main round group stage, Yerevan, 07/03/2023)
5-1 vs Finland (elite round group stage, Vantaa, 16/09/2023)
5-0 forfeit vs Georgia (elite round group stage, Viseu, 20/09/2023)
5-0 forfeit vs Armenia (elite round group stage, Yerevan, 07/10/2023)
7-1 vs Armenia (elite round group stage, Póvoa de Varzim, 11/10/2023)*
5-0 vs Finland (elite round group stage, Coimbra, 15/12/2023)
5-0 forfeit vs Georgia (elite round group stage, Tbilisi, 20/12/2023)
2024 Futsal World Cup finals
10-1 vs Panama (group stage, Tashkent, 16/09/2024)
3-2 vs Tajikistan (group stage, Tashkent, 19/09/2024)
4-1 vs Morocco (group stage, Tashkent, 22/09/2024)
1-2 vs Kazakhstan (round of 16, Andijan, 26/09/2024)

Last updated: 7 February 2026