The year ahead in football 5-a-side

Football 5-a-side teams are preparing for a busy year, with all the regional competitions taking place following a highly successful tournament at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

After claiming their fourth consecutive Paralympic title on home soil, Brazil are hoping to extend their unbeaten streak in November, when they will compete at the American Championships in Santiago, Chile, between 19-27 November.

But despite the fact that the Rio hosts have not lost at a major competition since 2007, the rest of the teams will not compete just to make the numbers. Paralympic bronze medallists Argentina seek to upset and beat the favourites.

Turkey will be looking to defend the European Championships they won two years ago in Hereford, Great Britain, at this year’s edition in Berlin, Germany, from 17-27 August.

Spain, France and the hosts will be other three teams to look out for.

Morocco became in 2016 the first African team to compete at a Paralympic Games after winning the 2015 African Championships following a 2-0 win over Cameroon in the final.

They will try to confirm their dominance on the continental stage this year at the African Championships in Praia, Cape Verde, from 13-22 October.

The Asian teams will see action in September, when they compete at the ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Rio 2016 silver medallists Iran and China are the strong favourites for gold.

But whilst the world’s best teams prepare for the continental events, they also slowly turned their attention to next year’s World Championships, to take place in Madrid, Spain, between 17-25 June.