Brazil and Afghanistan play the final of the 2026 Futsal Nations Cup today, in São José dos Pinhais. In Saturday’s semi-finals, the Brazilian national team beat Japan by 3-0 and Afghanistan defeated Cape Verde by 4-2. Brazil are one win away from a third straight title, after 2023 and 2025.

At the Ginásio Max Rosenmann, Brazil led 1-0 at half-time and scored the other two goals after the break. Leandro Lino got two and Lucão the other. Marquinhos Xavier’s side reach the final with a perfect record, having scored ten goals and conceded two in three games.

Leandro Lino, a winger at Magnus, spoke after the match about his return to the national team after a season marred by injuries: “I’m very happy with our win and with reaching the big final. I worked hard to live these moments again; I went through a lot of difficulties last year, I had many injuries, so I worked hard to get back to these important moments.”

Defender João Victor, a champion in the 2025 edition, is already thinking about the final: “The expectation is good. The group is very united and focused on the goal. We know it will be difficult, but we are very confident.”

In the other semi-final, Afghanistan beat Cape Verde 4-2. Hamid Reza Hosseini scored twice, and Seyed Hossein Mousavi and Omid Qanbari completed the scoring for the Afghans. Cape Verde’s two goals were the first Afghanistan have conceded in the tournament, after finishing the group stage without letting one in.

For Cape Verde, the defeat ends their bid for the title in a debut tournament that had already included a place in the semi-finals. The side coached by Manolo Pagani, formed in January 2026, lost to Brazil (2-4) and beat Indonesia (2-0) in the group stage. They still play today for third place.

Afghanistan coach Dejan Dedović presented the competition as the team’s first step on the road to the futsal World Cup.

Peru finished fifth after beating Indonesia by 2-1.

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