How FIFA Is Using Data to Redefine the Way the World Watches Futsal

When Brazil lifted the FIFA Futsal World Cup trophy in Tashkent on 6 October 2024, they did so as 2-1 winners over Argentina in a final that, on paper, appeared close. The statistics told a rather different story, and that gap between the scoreline and the underlying numbers is precisely where FIFA's growing investment in data analysis is beginning to pay dividends.

For the first time at a Futsal World Cup, FIFA's Technical Study Group deployed a comprehensive match-by-match data collection system across all 52 fixtures in Uzbekistan, generating granular performance metrics that go well beyond goals, assists and yellow cards. The aim, according to FIFA's technical staff, is to give coaches, analysts and broadcasters the kind of evidence-based insight that football's outdoor game has taken more than a decade to normalise.

The final offered a compelling case study. Brazil won with 34 attempts at goal to Argentina's 58, a differential that underlines how the Seleção's efficiency, rather than their volume, carried the night. Of Brazil's 34 attempts, 11 were on target; Argentina registered 22. Brazil scored twice from those 11. Argentina, for all their industry, converted just one of 22. The data does not flatter the losers, but it does explain them.

Phases-of-play analysis, one of the Technical Study Group's headline contributions, revealed the contrasting tactical identities of the two finalists with unusual clarity. Brazil registered 56 actions in a low defensive block, more than double Argentina's 12, and produced 12 counterattacks in possession to Argentina's four. Argentina, by contrast, set up a high defensive block 30 times and attempted 17 power plays, none of which Brazil required. Two teams arrived at the same fixture with fundamentally different philosophies, and the data captured both in full.

The passing networks, another strand of FIFA's new analytical framework, identified Brazil's key relationship as the Marcel-Dyego axis, a combination that accounted for ten passes in each direction and represented 4.6 per cent of the team's total passing volume.

Argentina's principal connection ran between pivot Rosa Matias and defender Taborda Pablo, 25 passes at 5.2 per cent of their total, a figure that hints at how much of their attacking intent was routed through that particular corridor.

Individual statistics added further texture. Argentina's Arrieta Kevin led all outfield players with 17 attempts at goal. Brazil's Rafa Santos, operating as a pivot, recorded 16 pivot-position actions, the highest of any player on either side, while also managing seven attempts at goal from just 15 minutes on the court. These are the kinds of numbers that alter how coaches prepare and how scouts assess potential.

For followers of the Malaysia Premier Futsal League, one name in Brazil's starting five will need no introduction. Marlon, the defender who has since made Selangor his home, was a composed and physically imposing presence across his 27 minutes in the final. The data captures what those watching in the Humo Arena could see with their own eyes: nine blocks, five deflections and seven tackles from the back line, the kind of defensive output that makes Brazil's low-block system function. He also contributed four attempts at goal, a reminder that in futsal, defenders are as likely to appear on the shot chart as forwards. MPFL supporters will recognise that combination of defensive discipline and attacking instinct from his performances for Selangor.

FIFA's ambition is to make this level of analysis standard at every senior futsal competition it governs. If the Uzbekistan data serves as a proof of concept, the evidence suggests the project is already working, and the players carrying those numbers into domestic leagues around the world, Marlon among them, are the clearest proof of its value.