The FIFA Futsal World Cup kicked off on Saturday, 14 September with two of the three qualified nations participating in the opening fixtures.
Angola, Libya as well as African champions, Morocco are the three nations flying the African flag at the global showpiece running between 14 September – 06 October.
Libya registered a commanding victory over New Zealand on Sunday, while Angola unfortunately stumbled against Afghanistan on the same day.
New Zealand 1-3 Libya
Goals: Jordi Ditford (40′) for New Zealand; Mohamed Khamis (7′), Mohamed Zreeg (28′) and Feras Abuksheam (40′) for Libya
Libya registered a commanding win over New Zealand in their opening FIFA Futsal World Cup Group D opener on Saturday. Mohammed Khamis’ early strike, Mohamed Zreeg as well as Feras Abuksheam’s goal were enough to secure a confidence boosting win for the Libyans.
The result puts the Futsal AFCON bronze-medalists in a comfortable position ahead of their next match on Wednesday against Kazhakstan.
Note that this is the first time that the Libyans have emerged victorious in a Futsal World Cup competition.
Afghanistan 6-4 Angola
Goals: Farzad Mahmoodi (2′), Omid Qanbari (7′), Hussain Mohammadi (10′), Mahdi Norowzi (14′), Akbar Kazemi (16′) and Reza Hossein Poor (40′) for Afghanistan; Javad Safari (3′ csc), Aderito (7′, 36′) and Mohammad Moradi (40′) for Angola
Angola suffered an 6-4 defeat in what was a high scoring encounter against Afghanistan on Saturday.
Despite putting up a strong performance, the Futsal AFCON runners up were unfortunate not to get a result, with Afghanistan narrowly edging them.
Angola will have to quickly dust themselves off as they face a wounded Ukraine on Wednesday, who lost 7-1 to Argentina on the same day.
Meanwhile, African champions, Morocco will kick off their FIFA Futsal World Cup campaign on Monday when they face Tajikistan.