Being one among the first 14 women to achieve so is even less common.
This week, when she and the rest of the team play Finland, 18-year-old Ella Brennan will be the first to don an England futsal shirt.
Juan Carlos Ceriani, a Uruguayan educator, had a straightforward objective: develop a game that kids could play in any weather conditions and in cramped areas.
From there, “futebol de salao,” or “futsal,” originated in Montevideo in the 1930s.
Five-on-five play on a hard court, in confined places, with a larger ball, and at a fast pace—inspired by football but strategically.
According to FIFA, there are currently over 30 million futsal players worldwide.
Jorge Braz, the coach of Portugal that won the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup, thinks it might be the second-biggest sport in the world.
Earlier this year, Braz told Futsal Street Spot, outside, “Whoever comes to futsal usually stays.”
