Futsal. France – Argentina: “An exceptional team”, why this is the greatest challenge in the history of the Blues

For its first Futsal World Cup in its history, the French Futsal team faces Argentina this Thursday with a place in the final at stake. A complicated semi-final for the Blues against one of the best nations.

France and Argentina have definitely been inseparable in recent years, regardless of the discipline. This Thursday afternoon, the two nations will meet in the semi-finals of the Futsal World Cup, where they will try to meet Brazil in the final, the winner of Ukraine. World champion in 2016 and vice-world champion in 2021, Argentina is the favorite against our Blues, who intend to give their all to dream until the end during their first participation in a World Cup. In a press conference, Raphaël Reynaud praised the qualities of the South American team: "It is truly a South American and even "Argentine" team par excellence, with first of all an incredible defensive aggressiveness, defensive values ​​that are barely imaginable. It is Venezuela but with much more technical qualities and a side “killer” quite impressive. In two World Cups, she is world champion and vice-world champion. It is a team of exceptional grinta”. 

The coach of the Blues set the scene for this match which promises to be tough: “The team knows each other, the game plan is identified, we know what we have to do and there was no need to add the historical aspect to all that. I think it's the biggest challenge in the history of the French team. Today, we are not in a preparation match, not in a friendly match. We are in a World Cup semi-final and against one of the greatest teams that exist. So it is the biggest challenge. We will see what happens to us but in any case we will give ourselves all the means”.

A recent confrontation

On August 31, the Blues met to prepare for the World Cup where they faced Argentina in Orleans. Beaten 5-3 in the fourth preparation match, the Blues suffered their first defeat in sixteen matches and fourteen months. “We will have to be able to to do more, not only to compete but the objective being to go to the final we will have to do more than in Orleans. We have prepared. The World Cup has also helped us to progress. We will do it with a lot of humility but also a lot of conviction, the conviction that we can put this Argentine team in difficulty”, Raphaël Reynaud pointed out in reference to this latest defeat. In history, the two nations have faced each other three times: in August 2024 after two friendly matches in May and June 2019 (4-1 defeat then 4-4 draw).

À what time does France – Argentina start ?

The Futsal World Cup semi-final between France and Argentina is scheduled to kick off onThursday, October 3 at 5:00 p.m. à the Humo Arena in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). 

On which channel to watch France – Argentina ?

Holder of the TV rights to the Futsal World Cup, the channel L'Équipewill broadcast the poster of the last square French against Argentina. ~60/p~62 ~60h2>How to watch France – Argentina in streaming ? ~60/h2~62 ~60p>If you want to watch the semi-final of the Futsal World Cup between Les Bleus and the Argentinians on your computer, smartphone or tablet, you must go to the page dedicated to the live broadcast of the L'Equipe channel. ~60/p~62 ~60h2>What are the squads French and Argentinian Futsal World Cup squad ?

• France: Thibaut Garros and Francis Lokoka (goalkeepers) ; Sid Belhaj, Souheil Mouhoudine, K&eacutevin Ramirez, Ayoub Saadaoui and Mamadou Tour&eacute (defenders) ; Abdessamad Mohammed, Nicolas Ménendez and Arthur Tchapchet (pivots) ;& nbsp;Steve Bendali,  Ouassini Guirio,  Nelson Lutin and  Mamadou Touré (wingers).
• Argentina: Nicolás Sarmiento and Nicolás Kravetzky  (goalkeepers) ; Agustín Plaza, Sebastián Corso, Pablo Taborda (defenders) ; Lucas Tripodi, Ángel Claudino, Lucas Bolo, Luciano Gauna, Kiki Vaporaki and Kevin Arrieta (wingers) ; Matías Rosa, Cristián Borruto and Alan Brandi (pivots).