This edition marked the return of the tournament as the CONMEBOL qualifiers for the FIFA Futsal World Cup (the last time was in 2008) after CONMEBOL decided to discontinue its specific qualifying tournament for that purpose after three editions in 2012, 2016 and 2020.[3] The top four teams of the tournament (the four semi-finalists) qualified for the 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan as the CONMEBOL representatives.[4]
Each national team had to submit a squad of at least 10 and up to 14 players, including a minimum of two goalkeepers (Regulations Article 45).[4] Members of each squad are listed on the CONMEBOL website.[6]
Venue
On 19 December 2023, CONMEBOL confirmed Luque, Paraguay as the host city.[1] This is the third time that Paraguay host the tournament and the second consecutive time after the previous edition in 2022; it had also hosted the 2003 edition.[7]
All matches took place at the COP Arena – Estadio Óscar Harrison located within the Parque Olímpico sports complex in Luque.[7]
Draw
The draw of the tournament was held on 12 January 2024, 11:00 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[8] The hosts, Paraguay, and the previous tournament's champions, Argentina, were seeded and assigned to the head of the groups A and B respectively. The remaining eight teams were split into four "pairing pots" (Brazil–Colombia, Uruguay–Venezuela, Ecuador–Bolivia, Peru–Chile) based on the final placement they reached in the previous edition of the tournament (shown in brackets).[8]
From each pot, the first team drawn was placed into Group A and the second team drawn was placed into Group B. In both groups, teams from pot 1 were allocated in position 2, teams from pot 2 in position 3, teams from pot 3 in position 4 and teams from pot 4 in position 5.[8][9]
The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals and qualify for the 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Tiebreakers
In the preliminary stage, the teams were ranked according to points earned (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order (Regulations Article 19 and 20):[4]
Head-to-head result between tied teams;
Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Fewer red cards;
Fewer yellow cards;
Drawing of lots.
All match times are in PYST (UTC−3), as listed by CONMEBOL.[13]
In the final stage, if a match is tied after the regular playing time (Regulations Article 20):[4]
In the semi-finals and final, two extra time periods of five minutes each would be played. If still tied after extra time, the match would be decided by a penalty shoot-out.
In the play-offs for third, fifth, seventh, and ninth place, extra time would not be played, and the match would be decided directly by a penalty shoot-out.
