Futsal is the indoor version of association football (soccer) that is officially sanctioned by football's international governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), as well as the Asociacion Mundial de Futsal (AMF). Its name is derived from the Portuguese phrase futebol de salão, meaning football (soccer) for (playing in) a large room.
Futsal is played between two teams of 5 players, one of which is the goalkeeper; in addition each team may have a number of substitutes. Unlike some other forms of indoor football, the field is delimited by lines, and not nets or boards which the ball may be played off.
Other forms of indoor football games, which are played by somewhat different rules, exist and may be referred to as indoor football, five-a-side football or indoor soccer. Those games predate the formulation of official rules of futsal.
Major international competitions
The FIFA Futsal World Cup is contested by 16 teams and has been held five times. The list of hosts and winners is as follows:
The AMF (formerly FIFUSA) World Cup is currently contested by 20 teams, and has been held on eight occasions as follows:
- 1982 (in Sao Paulo, Brazil): won by Brazil,
- 1985 (in Madrid, Spain): won by Brazil,
- 1988 (in Melbourne, Australia): won by Paraguay,
- 1991 (in Milan, Italy): won by Portugal,
- 1994 (in Argentina): won by Argentina,
- 1997 (in Mexico): won by Venezuela,
- 2000 (in La Paz, Bolivia): won by Colombia,
- 2003 (in Paraguay): won by Paraguay.
