The Futsalwhites are New Zealand’s national futsal team competing in OFC and FIFA events.

The Holy Grail is qualification for the FIFA Futsal World Cup, something no New Zealand Futsal team has achieved to date.

The Road to Thailand 2012 winds through Oceania with the 2011 OFC Futsal Championships doubling as FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifiers. The 2010 edition of that tournament in August will be a ideal measure of where the current crop of NZF Futsal representatives are at.

The first edition was of the FIFA Futsal World Cup was held in the Netherlands in 1989 but New Zealand did not attempt to qualify until the fourth edition (Guatemala 2000). A hastily assembled side finished 5th out of seven teams at the 1999 OFC qualification tournament in Port Vila.

The 2004 qualification campaign produced New Zealand’s best ever finish, with a youthful Futsalwhites team finishing as runners up to Australia in Canberra, while in 2008 a more nationally-drawn team than ever before finished in 5th place.

Late in 2009, the launch of an national futsal programme by New Zealand Football signalled a recognition of futsal’s place in the football landscape. The campaign to qualify for the FIFA Futsal World Cup Thailand 2012 will be the first with the full backing and support of New Zealand Football (under the NZF Futsal banner), building on the hard work done in earlier campaigns by local providers such as East City Futsal.