2021 CONCACAF Futsal Championship explained

Tourney Name:CONCACAF Futsal Championship
Year:2021
Country:Guatemala
City:Guatemala City
Dates:3–9 May
Num Teams:13
Confederations:1
Venues:1
Cities:1
Count:4
Matches:23
Goals:140
Top Scorer: Carlos Pérez (8 goals)
Player: Milinton Tijerino
Goalkeeper: Cesar Vargas
Young Player: Tomas Pondeca
Prevseason:2016
Nextseason:2024

The 2021 CONCACAF Futsal Championship was the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Futsal Championship, the quadrennial international futsal championship organised by CONCACAF for the men's national teams of the North, Central American and Caribbean region. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Guatemala City, Guatemala between 1–10 May 2020.[1] However, on 19 March 2020, CONCACAF announced the decision to postpone the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] On 11 February 2021, CONCACAF confirmed Guatemala as host and that the dates are going to be May 3–9, 2021.

Same as previous editions, the tournament acted as the CONCACAF qualifiers for the FIFA Futsal World Cup. The top four teams of the tournament qualified for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup (originally 2020 but postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic) in Lithuania as the CONCACAF representatives.[3] [4]

Costa Rica, the defending champions, won their third straight and fourth overall title. They, along with runners-up the United States, third-placed Guatemala, and fourth-placed Panama, qualified for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

Teams

The 41 CONCACAF teams were ranked based on the CONCACAF Futsal Ranking as of February 2020.[5] A total of 20 teams originally entered the tournament. The highest-ranked 12 entrants would have advanced directly to the group stage of the final tournament, while the lowest-ranked eight entrants would have had to participate in the qualifying stage, where winners of the four matchups (played as two-game series) would have advanced to the group stage of the final tournament.[6]

On 11 February 2021, CONCACAF announced that a total of 16 teams were going to play in the tournament.[7] On 12 April 2021, CONCACAF announced that only 13 teams were going to play in the tournament.[8]

RoundRankwidth=200pxTeamPointswidth=120px data-sort-type="number"Appearancewidth=320pxPrevious best performancewidth=200pxPrevious FIFA Futsal World Cup appearances
align=center rowspan=12Group stage1 (hosts)2,4165thChampions (2008)2008, 2012, 2016
22,3155thSecond place (2016)2012, 2016
3 (title holders)2,1207thChampions (2000, 2012, 2016)1992, 2000, 2012, 2016
42,0247thSecond place (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008)1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2016
51,1437thThird place (1996)2012
61,0466thChampions (1996, 2004)1989, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008
79803rdGroup Stage (2004, 2008)
96553rdGroup Stage (2012, 2016)1989
10 (withdrew)5743rdGroup Stage (1996, 2016)
113892ndGroup Stage (1996)
13 (withdrew)3601stDebut
142602ndGroup Stage (2008)
align=center rowspan=8Qualifying stage15 (withdrew)2451stDebut
162363rdGroup Stage (2000, 2004)
19 (withdrew)782ndGroup Stage (2012)
20632ndGroup Stage (2000)
22 (withdrew)362ndGroup Stage (2000)
3201stDebut
33 (withdrew)01stDebut
35 (withdrew)01stDebut
Championship years are in bold, hosting years are in italics
Did not enter tournament
RankTeamPoints
8672
12377
17101
18100
2158
230
240
RankTeamPoints
250
260
270
280
290
300
310
RankTeamPoints
340
360
370
380
390
400
410
Notes

Venues

The matches were played at the Domo Polideportivo de la CDAG in Guatemala City. Before the postponement of the tournament, matches were originally also to be played at the Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium.[1]

Guatemala City
Domo Polideportivo
Capacity: 7,500

Draw

The draw for the group stage took place on 20 February 2020, 14:00 EST (UTC−5), at the CONCACAF Headquarters in Miami.[6] The 16 teams, which included the 12 which entered the group stage and the four qualifying stage matchups winners, were drawn into four groups of four teams. Based on the CONCACAF Futsal Ranking, the 12 teams which entered the group stage were distributed into three pots, with teams in Pot 1 assigned to each group prior to the draw, as follows:[9]

The qualifying stage matchups were determined based on the CONCACAF Futsal Ranking, with the highest-ranked team playing the lowest-ranked team, etc. The qualifying stage winners 1, 2, 3 and 4 were then placed in groups A, B, C and D respectively.

Original draw

The original draw results involving the 20 teams were as follows:[10]

GroupPot 1 teamPot 2 teamPot 3 teamWinner from qualifying stage
A
B
C
D

Following the withdrawals of Sint Maarten, Curaçao, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Puerto Rico, only 16 teams were left, so the qualifying stage was no longer necessary, and the 16 remaining teams were placed in the four groups as before as there were four teams in each group.[7] Following the withdrawals of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and French Guiana, only 13 teams were left, and as there were only two teams left in Group A, to ensure that each group had a minimum of three teams, Dominican Republic were moved from Group C to Group A.[8]

Match officials

The list of match officials were announced on 20 April 2021.[11]

Squads

See main article: 2021 CONCACAF Futsal Championship squads.

Each team must register a squad of 14 players, two of whom must be goalkeepers.[12] [13]

Group stage

The top two teams in each group advance to the quarter-finals.

TiebreakersThe ranking of teams in each group is determined as follows (Regulations Article 12.7):[12]
  1. Points obtained in all group matches (three points for a win, one for a draw, zero for a loss);
  2. Goal difference in all group matches;
  3. Number of goals scored in all group matches;
  4. Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
  5. Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
  6. Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
  7. Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
    • Yellow card: −1 points;
    • Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
    • Direct red card: −4 points;
    • Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
  8. Drawing of lots.

All times are local, CST (UTC−6).[14]

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary.

Quarter-finals

Winners qualify for 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

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Semi-finals

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Final

Qualified teams for FIFA Futsal World Cup

The following four teams from CONCACAF qualified for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

TeamQualified ondata-sort-type="number"Previous appearances in FIFA Futsal World Cup1
[15] 5 (1989, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008)
2 (2012, 2016)
4 (1992, 2000, 2012, 2016)
4 (2000, 2008, 2012, 2016)

1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:[16]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Guatemala Named Host for 2020 Concacaf Futsal Championship. CONCACAF.com. 23 January 2020.
  2. Web site: Concacaf Statement on Additional Tournament Suspensions. CONCACAF. 19 March 2020.
  3. Web site: FIFA Futsal World Cup 2020 – slot allocation. FIFA.com. 14 June 2018.
  4. Web site: Bureau of the FIFA Council decisions on FIFA events. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. FIFA.com. 12 May 2020.
  5. Web site: Concacaf Futsal Ranking. 15 December 2020 . CONCACAF.com.
  6. Web site: 2020 Concacaf Futsal Championship Draw Set for February 20. CONCACAF.com. 12 February 2020.
  7. Web site: Concacaf confirms Guatemala as host for 2021 Concacaf Futsal Championship. aroundtherings.com. 11 February 2021.
  8. Web site: Updates to 2021 Concacaf Futsal Championship. concacaf.com. 12 April 2021.
  9. Web site: Official Draw – 2020 CONCACAF Futsal Championship. youtube.com.
  10. Web site: Draw Reveals Groups and Schedule for 2020 Concacaf Futsal Championship. CONCACAF.com. 20 February 2020.
  11. Web site: Officials Appointed for 2021 Concacaf Futsal Championship. CONCACAF. 20 April 2021.
  12. Web site: 2020 CONCACAF Futsal Championship Regulations. CONCACAF.
  13. Web site: 2021 Concacaf Futsal Championship final rosters confirmed. CONCACAF. 28 April 2021.
  14. Web site: 2021 CONCACAF Futsal Championship Match Schedule. CONCACAF.
  15. Web site: USA book first World Cup ticket since 2008. FIFA.com. 7 May 2021.
  16. Web site: Tijerino, Perez among award winners at CFC. CONCACAF. 10 May 2021.