Schedule for UEFA Futsal EURO 2014 set

UEFA Futsal EURO 2014 in Antwerp, Belgium has been scheduled for 28 January to 8 February of that year and the qualifying draw will be held at 14.00CET on 4 December 2012 in Nyon.

Qualifying begins with the preliminary round from 22 to 27 January 2013, the exact format depending on the number of entries, which could include debutants Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Wales. From those mini-tournaments teams will advance to join nations exempted to the main round, held from 26 to 31 March with seven groups of four teams.

All seven group winners will automatically join hosts Belgium in the finals while the runners-up plus the best third-placed team will go into the play-offs on 17 and 24 September. The winners of the four two-legged ties will complete the 12-team lineup for the final tournament from 28 January to 8 February 2014.

Spain will hope to win a fifth straight title, but first up next month they aim to reclaim the FIFA Futsal World Cup when they, the Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Serbia (who will host UEFA Futsal EURO 2016 in Belgrade) and Ukraine compete from 1 to 18 November in Thailand.

Roll of honour
2012: Spain 3-1 Russia (aet); Zagreb, Croatia
2010: Spain 4-2 Portugal; Debrecen, Hungary
2007: Spain 3-1 Italy; Porto, Portugal
2005: Spain 2-1 Russia; Ostrava, Czech Republic
2003: Italy 1-0 Ukraine; Caserta, Italy
2001: Spain 2-1 Ukraine (golden goal); Moscow, Russia
1999: Russia 3-3 Spain (aet, 4-3 pens); Granada, Spain
1996*: Spain 5-3 Russia; Cordoba, Spain

*UEFA European Futsal Tournament, championship status from 1999 onwards