A historic tournament came to an end on 6 October when Brazil and Argentina faced each other in the final of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024™ , with the Brazilians ultimately taking the title. This is the first ever FIFA tournament to be hosted in the Central Asian country; a special occasion that Kamola Usmanova, Assistant Coach with the Uzbek women’s national futsal team, plans on savouring.

“The first [FIFA Futsal] World Cup in Uzbekistan makes me proud of my country. They’ve built and renovated halls. That was important for futsal in Uzbekistan,” she tells Inside FIFA. “People have learnt what futsal is and how it’s growing. They’ve built new stadiums and not just in Tashkent, in other regions as well.

“And it’s not just futsal that will benefit, it’s good for football as a whole in Uzbekistan, for our colleagues and for visitors. They can see our country, our republic, they can see how beautiful it is and see the sights.”

The continuous growth of football in Uzbekistan is thanks in part to the support provided by world football's governing body. As part of its Forward 1.0 and 2.0 programme, FIFA has helped with modernisation efforts, financing the building of courts, the renovation of the stadium and the stands at the UFA Technical Centre in Tashkent, and the installation of floodlights that meet the requirements for international games.

Now, Usmanova is hoping that the Futsal World Cup will have a positive legacy and encourage more people to take up futsal. She first took to the round ball at the age of 15. She was called up to represent her home country on the global stage just a year later and went on to enjoy major successes in football, futsal and beach soccer. Her CV includes 10 Uzbek football championships and eight futsal championships, and she also won the 2005 Asian Indoor Games Futsal Tournament, beating hosts Thailand 5–4 in the final in Bangkok.

In 2016, the 40 year-old swapped playing for coaching and is now passing on her experiences to the next generation of players. Her first victory as assistant coach of the Uzbek women’s national futsal team came in the CFA International Women’s Futsal Tournament.

Usmanova’s team opened the competition with an exhilarating 7–5 win over Iran who have won both editions of the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup. They followed that up with a 3–2 win over China before securing the title with a 5–5 draw against Vietnam.

“After the [FIFA Futsal] World Cup, the Uzbek [women’s] national team will start training for the AFC Women’s Futsal Asia Cup that will be hosted by the Philippines. There’s a training camp scheduled for October, with 30 players invited. At the end of the camp, we’ll select 14 players to take to Morocco for a friendly,” explains the former midfielder.

The Philippines will also host the much anticipated inaugural edition of the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup next year. Sixteen teams from six federations will battle it out against the imposing mountainous backdrop of the Pacific Ocean, and Usmanova is hoping her team will be among them.

“I think taking part in a global tournament is every athlete’s dream. I never would have imagined that we could be heading to a World Cup. It’s not easy, it’s a responsibility and I hope we can get the job done,” she says. “It won’t just be an amazing occasion, it will be an historic one, too. It will be something really special and we have to play well. We’re hoping to give it our absolute all, to represent our country the best we can and to show that we know how to play futsal. We want to show the world that we have some really good players.”

Usmanova concludes our conversation with an emotional message for everyone who loves futsal as a way of encouraging them to always believe in themselves – the way she has always done. “My message to people who love football and futsal is: 'I hope you don’t stop playing, I hope you keep it up, that maybe it starts out as a hobby but that eventually it can make your dreams come true',” says the Uzbek. “Because if you love the sport, you’ll keep playing. You’ll fight, you’ll push yourself, you’ll keep going. I hope you never lose that love of what you do, that even if you get injured, you keep on going, as a coach, a teacher, a physio, maybe even as a spokesperson or outside of football and that the experience you take from football is valuable to you.”