Malta lost 2-8 to France in the first match from Group C of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Preliminary Round at the S. Darius & S. Girenas Sport Center in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Réda Rabei, Boumedyen Bensaber and Adrien Gasmi gave France a three-goal lead before Luke Stivala reduced the gap for Malta just before half-time. Adrien Gasmi, Kevin Ramirez and Abdessamad Mohammed put France 6-1 ahead with Dylan Musu scoring a second goal for Peter Pullicino’s side. However Adrien Gasmi and Azdina Aigoun added another two goals for a final 8-2 score.
Malta plays the second game on Friday, facing hosts Lithuania at the same venue. Lithuania lost 2-5 to Albania on Thursday.
MALTA Reuben Grech, Carl Azzopardi, Gary Inguanez, Mark Zammit, Xavier Saliba, Karl Balzan, Andy Mangion Chris Cardona, Jovica Milijic, Dylan Musu, Matthew Attard, Dylan Micallef, Luke Stivala.