September 21, 2024 – The Croatia national futsal team will play in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Uzbekistan after today’s matches went in their favor.
Croatia outclassed Cuba 7-0 and thus finished in third place in group B. They took the lead in the second minute through Kristian Čekol, and Niko Vukmir made it 2-0 in the 13th minute. Luka Perić scored for 3-0 in the 23rd minute, and Dario Marinović for 4-0 in the 25th minute. Then Čekol and Perić scored their second goals four minutes apart, and David Mataja joined them for the final 7-0.
Croatia then had to wait for the outcome of the other groups to know if they would advance to the round of 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams. And alas, Croatia will advance as one of the four best third-placed teams and likely face Spain.
In the last round of Group D at the Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan, Spain defeated Libya 8-0, and Kazakhstan beat New Zealand 10-0.
Spain thus helped Croatia because they left third-placed Libya with three points and a goal difference of -9, which puts them behind Croatia, which also has three points and a goal difference of minus one.
In Group C, Ukraine beat Afghanistan 4-1, and Argentina beat Angola 9-5. Afghanistan is third in this group with three points and a goal difference of 8-10, so they finished behind Croatia with a weaker goal difference of one goal.
