John Tapia-Owens names 14-man Lions Squad for FIFA Futsal World Cup Qualifiers on home soil
The selection for the games against Switzerland, Northern Ireland & Sweden at Loughborough next week includes the long-awaited return of two experienced Three Lions internationals, while 12 of the squad who travelled to Germany in February retain their spots.
With International Futsal Week at Loughborough University just a week away, England senior men’s Head Coach, John Tapia-Owens has selected a 14-man squad to represent the Three Lions in front of a home crowd once again, in Group B of the 2028 Men’s FIFA Futsal World Cup preliminary round qualifiers.
Having hosted three senior international fixtures at the Sir David Wallace Sports Hall between December 2024 and April 2025, this will be the first time in English futsal history that a UEFA/FIFA mini-tournament has been hosted with three fixtures, against Switzerland (Tue 7th Apr), Northern Ireland (Wed 8th Apr) and Sweden (Thu 9th Apr), taking place in the space of four days.
Tapia-Owens said:
“I’m sure I echo the players feelings with the excitement around the week ahead and playing a qualifiers on home soil. It’ll be tough against opposition that we are used to and each game feels like it could go down to the wire where I know we will fight til the end.
The squad is an exciting mix of youth and experience with players in good form and ones that I think can help us in key moments of the game whilst also demonstrating the identity we built in the last qualifiers and looking towards the future.”
The group winners and runners-up will both qualify for the Main Round, played in a home and away format, starting in October 2026.
Liam Palfreeman comes back into the squad, following an ankle injury that kept him out of February’s trip to Stuttgart. Palfreeman scored a memorable hat-trick against Switzerland in our first home fixture of the last campaign.
We play the Swiss first-up again on Tuesday 7th April, 19:30 - you can buy tickets here and watch our No.8 try to recreate history with another iconic performance at Loughborough!!
There is also a welcome and long-awaited return of 63-cap Richard Ward to the group, having recovered from a long-term knee injury that sidelined him for all of last season’s UEFA Futsal Euro qualifying action. Ward is set to make his first England appearances since 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the operation of our national teams.
You can buy tickets for all three Men’s FIFA Futsal World Cup fixtures taking place next week right here, as well as the chance to see our Lionesses for the first-time ever on home soil, against Slovakia.
The Squad
Goalkeepers
Jack Walsh - Maidenhea United Futsal Club
Jonny Sim - Futsal Escocia
Fixes
Jamie Brooker - Bloomsbury Futsal Club
Charlie Kuehn - Genesis Futsal Club
Jordan Edge - Manchester Futsal Club
Wingers
Liam Palfreeman - West London Futsal Club
Russell Goldstein - Bloomsbury Futsal Club
Harry Tozer - Maidenhead United Futsal Club
Jake Barnes - Manchester Futsal Club
Jeff Adubofour - Manchester Futsal Club
Eddie Amorim - Genesis Futsal Club
Tyler Cook - Bolton Futsal Club
Pivots
Richard Ward - Genesis Futsal Club
Ivan Cadete-Borges - Genesis Futsal Club
Head Coach: John Tapia-Owens
Assistant Coach: Stuart Cook
