Portugal wins after comeback and is European Futsal Champion 2022

Portugal holds title and becomes second time European Futsal Champion - Foto: UEFA

Portugal have retained the UEFA Futsal EURO title after recovering from two goals down to beat Russia 4-2 in the 2022 final – their third comeback from a 2-0 deficit at the tournament in Amsterdam.

Portugal - Russia

Russia went into the decider still missing Robinho but welcomed back five-goal Artem Antoshkin after his semi-final suspension, and he was a threat from the start. It was Anton Sokolov who hit the opener, though, as he received a Paulinho long ball with his back to goal, turned and sent a shot under the unsighted André Sousa to join Antoshkin and Ivan Chishkala on five for the finals – two behind top scorer Birzhan Orazov of Kazakhstan.

Antoshkin was the creator of the second, showing skills down the left and sending in a perfect ball for Andrei Afanasyev to finish. However, Portugal began their fightback less than two minutes before the break, when Tomás Paço caught out Dmitri Putilov with a low shot after a Bruno Coelho kick-in.

That gave the holders hope, as did their record of having already come back twice from 2-0 down to win games here at the Ziggo Dome, including in Friday's semi-final against Spain. And although Russia started the second half strongly, Nando hitting the post, once again Portugal showed their comeback chops as André Coelho's driven kick-in deflected in off the leg of the luckless Putilov.

André Coelho made it 3-2 as he got to the far post and turned the ball in after Miguel Ângelo had sent a low cross from the left through the legs of a Russia defender. Sergei Abramov hit the post as Russia gave their all, but they suffered their fifth Futsal EURO final defeat since their sole victory of 1999, the result confirmed when Pany Varela dispossessed Ivan Chishkala and dribbled the ball into an empty net in the closing seconds. 

Key stats

• Portugal have drawn level with Italy on two titles, behind only Spain on seven. Russia are the sole other champions.
• Portugal are only the second nation after Spain (in 2007, 2010 and 2012) to retain the title, and have matched their neighbours in winning three major tournaments in a row (after Futsal EURO 2018 and the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup).
• André Sousa, Bruno Coelho, André Coelho, João Matos, Fábio Cecílio, Pany and Tiago Brito are all European champions for the second time, as is coach Jorge Braz.
• Sergei Abramov and Ivan Milovanov, as well as Russia coach Sergei Skorovich, have suffered their fourth final losses.
• Portugal also came back from 2-0 down to win here against Serbia in the opening game (4-2) and Spain in Friday's semi-final (3-2).
• Portugal are unbeaten in 33 competitive games since a penalty shoot-out loss to Iran for third place at the 2016 World Cup, and in 34 over 40 minutes since their last-four loss to Argentina at that tournament.

Spain - Ukraine

Spain may not have reached their tenth UEFA Futsal EURO final, but they claimed their 12th medal in as many editions with a 4-1 third-place play-off victory against Ukraine in Amsterdam.

Captain Ortiz, making his 215th and final appearance for Spain after a 15-year international career, smashed a shot against the woodwork early on and provided the opener as his corner was met with a thumping volley by Mellado, capping his excellent tournament. 

Jesús Herrero, given a start after understudying Didac Plana in goal for Spain, then hit the post from distance, but he was beaten when Ihor Korsun robbed Mellado inside the Spain half. Ihor Cherniavskyi picked up the ball and coolly slotted in before celebrating with a somersault. 

Spain soon led 2-1, though, as Solano ran on to Chino's pass and produced a fine angled strike. With just under ten minutes to go, La Roja doubled their advantage following a Borja corner played back to Boyis, who sent a low shot past Kyrylo Tsypun.

Ukraine now pushed forward but were caught out immediately when Ortiz won the ball and Adolfo was able to walk the ball into an empty net.

Facts

• Spain kept up their record of never finishing outside the top three in all 12 Futsal EUROs.
• Spain ended the campaign, including qualifying, with 72 goals, beating the previous record of 69 set by Russia in the inaugural 1996 edition.
• Spain have now won all 14 competitive meetings with Ukraine.
• Four-time champion Ortiz ended his record-equalling seventh Futsal EURO with two new appearance bests: 35 at finals and 55 overall including qualifying.

Ortiz, Spain captain: "It's not the match we wanted to play – we wanted to be in the final later – but for us it was important to get this bronze. It's always important to win for us. We came here to be champions, we had worked hard for it, but we didn't do as well as we wanted. I'm proud and happy for everything I've achieved in these 15 years. I have given everything for my country and nobody can deny that."

Oleksandr Kosenko, Ukraine coach: "It was a great experience at this EURO and we now have more fans in Ukraine and across Europe. The interest was huge. There was a great atmosphere in the team and you can only be successful if you have that."