Armenia futsal makes history

For a small country like Armenia, it’s fascinating how many sports our people and diaspora are involved in. Whether it’s the NBA or local church leagues, Armenians have found a calling in sports. Yet, it’s like banging on a drum to the same beat—Armenia is superior in individual sports compared to team sports. 

However, it’s time to spotlight a story that mainstream sports media seems to be avoiding. On April 12, the Armenia men’s national futsal team qualified for UEFA Futsal Euro 2026 without losing a game in its qualifying stages. This marks the first time Armenia’s futsal team has qualified for the Euros—and the first time an Armenian team of any sport has qualified for a major European tournament.

For years, there was chatter about the Armenia men’s national football team qualifying for a major European or international tournament. Yet, it was football’s indoor counterpart that stole the show for organized Armenian team sports. 

Armenia was grouped with Kazakhstan, Denmark and Albania. Armenia only dropped points in its game against Kazakhstan in a thrilling 4-4 draw. Armenia’s biggest wins came against Albania, with 5-1 and 4-0 results that helped Armenia finish with a +13 goal difference. 

The co-hosts of Euro 2026, Latvia and Lithuania, progress automatically to the finals by default as the hosts. Armenia joins Belarus, Croatia, Czechia, France, Poland and World Cup winners Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Ukraine as the initial qualifying countries for the major tournament, while eight more teams can qualify through a play-off beginning in September 2025.

This achievement comes just three weeks after the national team was ranked the 20th best men’s futsal team in the world. Clearly, Armenia is among the best in Europe (and possibly the Eurasian continent). It’s a feat that head coach Ruben Nazaretyan lauded as “historic.” 

“This is a historic event for Armenia. Not a single national team had previously qualified for the main round, but the futsal team did,” Coach Nazaretyan told reporters following Armenia’s 4-2 victory over Kazakhstan on March 12.

He added that Armenia’s achievement was years in the making, spanning his entire career: “I had always said that this day would come, and today is that day. I’ve been head coach since 2002, and it took us 23 years to enter the main round. But we lost 15 of the 23 years, we hadn’t paid enough attention to futsal, but now we have this result thanks to several devoted people.”

It’s important to note that head coach Nazaretyan also thanked Football Federation of Armenia President Armen Melikbekyan for the renewed effort to bring attention and care to the nation’s futsal facilities and overall growth.

Armenia was led from front to back en route to a near-perfect qualification campaign for the Euros. Denis Nevedrov led the charge, netting six goals and three assists, followed by Nikita Khromykh, who scored five goals in four games. 

This was all done with Albert Agadzhanov between the sticks, who scored a goal and conceded 11. Yet, Armenia’s best goalkeeper is arguably a naturalized player of Palma Futsal, which won the UEFA Futsal Champions League in back-to-back seasons (2022-2023 and 2023-2024). That man is Luan Muller; however, his name isn’t found on the roster sheet for the qualifiers. 

Euro holder Portugal was the first team to book a ticket to the Baltic states. Armenia, a tournament debutant, was the third team to secure qualification, behind Croatia in second. 

From January 20, 2026 to February 7, 2026, Armenia has an opportunity to make massive noise in the sporting world. Success at the Euros could mean the continued growth of futsal in mainland Armenia and among Armenians in the diaspora. If Armenia pulls off a fairytale run in Latvia and Lithuania, we could see an overall jolt to the country’s sporting endeavors.

After all, a rising tide lifts all boats.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Jason Takhtadjian

Jason Takhtadjian is an evening reporter at CBS47/KSEE24 in Fresno, California. Takhtadjian began college pursuing mechanical engineering with a focus on aerospace until deciding to pursue a sports broadcast career after one semester at the University of Nevada - Las Vegas. While at UNLV, Takhtadjian worked on his own weekly radio show/podcast covering soccer and basketball, produced his own sports debate show, was part of the university’s weekly sports show “The Rebel Report” and was the play-by-play commentator for UNLV men’s and women’s soccer and basketball, to name a few. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, Jason was graduating college and had to pivot to the world of general news to land a job. This landed Jason in Sioux City, Iowa for his first TV job. For three years, Jason worked in the middle of the United States with no Armenian community. He became the senior reporter at the station, as well as the weekend anchor and producer for nearly two years. Takhtadjian accepted a reporter position in Fresno in April of 2024. The 26-year-old also works as a contributor for Armenian Sports News, the fastest growing English-based Armenian sports social media page.

Latest posts by Jason Takhtadjian (see all)

• Sergo Khzarjyan is a rising star in combat sports - May 13, 2025
• Armenia’s gymnasts dominate FIG World Cup series - May 7, 2025
• Armenia futsal makes history - April 29, 2025