Futsal: U19 national team group drawn, with San Marino again hosting

The Under-19 futsal national team will once again be able to count on home advantage in the upcoming European qualifiers, just as it did in three of the previous four campaigns. In January, the young Titani will host Group A of the Preliminary Round, the draw for which took place today. Joining the Biancoazzurrini in the group will be Gibraltar, Kosovo and Estonia. The latter brings back very sweet memories of November 2021, when goals from Tonini and Cecchini gave San Marino’s Under-19 side their historic first-ever victory in an official match – which remains their only one to date. There have been two previous meetings with Kosovo – in the inaugural 2019 edition and then in the most recent one, in 2025. As for Gibraltar, the young Titani faced them in 2023, in the only qualifying campaign contested away from home. On that occasion it was Gibraltar who were the hosts.

This year San Marino returns to a four-team group after two consecutive editions in three-team pools. The winners of the three groups in the Preliminary Round – to be played between 19 and 24 January – will join the 25 nations already placed in the Main Round, which is split into seven groups. Those groups will in turn send seven of the eight contenders through to the final tournament. One of these is already known: Kazakhstan, the host nation.