For their first participation in the World Cup, the Blues finished at the foot of the podium after their defeat against the Ukrainians (7-1) on Sunday in Uzbekistan.
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The step to climb onto the podium was too high. For its first participation in the Futsal World Cup, the French team finished in fourth place after losing heavily to Ukraine (7-1) in the small final, Sunday October 6 in Tashkent ( Uzbekistan). While the Blues had almost achieved a resounding feat in the semi-finals against the Argentine vice-world champions (3-2), Raphael Reynaud’s men, inexperienced at this level, paid for their lack of realism in the first period before collapse after the break.
Because in futsal, dominating is not a given. Far from it, since the French have long controlled the debates, without creating real opportunities. It was in this context that Ihor Cherniavski (11th) allowed Ukraine to open the scoring with their first dangerous action. The break could thus have allowed this French team, 10th nation in the world, to return with better offensive intentions. In vain, it was his opponent (12th in the world) who put his foot on the accelerator.
In the space of 11 minutes, and despite the reduction in the anecdotal score of Ayoub Saadaoui (23rd), Ukraine simply exploded the French defense. Mykhailo Zvarych (22nd) and especially the double from Yevhenii Zhuk (27th and 28th) thus forced the French technician to do without his goalkeeper, in order to get back to the score as quickly as possible. A double-edged tactic, ultimately fatal for France which then conceded three new goals. Quite enough for Ukraine which deprives the Blues of a first podium in the World Cup.