Afghanistan Face Japan in Brazil Futsal Cup With February Defeat Still Fresh
Afghanistan meet Japan in Brazil on 15 October, eight months after their 6–0 AFC Futsal Asian Cup quarter-final defeat. The Curitiba fixture offers a fresh measure of Afghanistan’s progress against a leading Asian futsal side.
Afghanistan return to the court against Japan on Thursday, 15 October, in the Futsal Nations Cup in Curitiba, Brazil, with an opportunity to measure their progress against a side that ended their Asian Cup campaign earlier this year.
The Japan Football Association lists the Group B fixture for 18:15 local time at Arena Max Rosenmann. That corresponds to 01:45 on Friday, 16 October, in Afghanistan.
The teams last met in the AFC Futsal Asian Cup quarter-finals on 3 February, when Japan won 6–0 in Jakarta. The AFC reported that five of Japan’s goals came after half-time, underlining the challenge Afghanistan faced in sustaining their defensive organisation over the full match.
Thursday’s meeting offers another test of Afghanistan’s ability to compete against an established Asian futsal power. It is a group-stage fixture in a different tournament, not a rematch for a place in the Asian Cup semi-finals.
Afghanistan are also scheduled to face Peru in Group B of the six-nation event. No result for the Japan match had been reported at the time of publication.
Sources: Japan Football Association fixture schedule; Asian Football Confederation match report (3 February 2026).
Japan Football Association (JFA); Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
