The 2022 WAFF Women’s Futsal Championship kicked off in Jeddah on Thursday, with the host nation Saudi Arabia losing 3-1 to Kuwait, after Bahrain had beaten Palestine 6-0 in the tournament opener.
The competition, organized by the West Asian Football federation and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, takes place until June 24 at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
In the opening match of Group B, Saudi Arabia found themselves 3-0 down after 24 minutes, and despite pulling a goal back on 37 minutes, could not stage a comeback. The strong Kuwaiti team can now book a semifinal place with a win over Oman on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia complete their group matches against Oman on Monday.
Bahrain kicked off the action in Group A with a comprehensive win over Palestine, the six goals coming from a hat trick by Hessa Allsa, a double from Alanood Al-Khalifa, and a strike from Manar Ebrahim. Bahrain now top the group with three points and will next face Iraq on Saturday. The final group match between Palestine and Iraq will take place on Monday.
This is the third edition of the competition and is being held in Saudi Arabia for the first time. The previous two tournaments were both won by Iran, in 2008 and 2012.