The ball is already rolling at the Centro de Desportos e Congressos de Matosinhos for the 2022 IBSA Goalball World Championships.

Day 1 started, of course, with the opening ceremony. 32 national teams from 23 countries marched along the field of play in the main hall.

This is the World Championships of women. For the first time, they will have the honour of closing the competition, whereas men had the honour of opening it.

Portugal, as host, played against Japan, the recent Asian champion, in the first match. It started with a penalty for delay of game just before the first whistle. Fábio Oliveira scored the first goal, and only after the clock started to work!

The match was balanced until halftime (4-4). In the beginning of the second half, Japan started with the ball and, on its first throw, untied the score and no longer lost the advantage.

In the opening match in the women’s competition, Portugal played against Australia. The vice Asia/Pacific champions entered strong and decided to solve the game very quickly. They manage to get a 6-0 advantage, but Portugal reacted and got three goals (two by Leonor Silva and another one by Eduarda Azevedo). Not enough for the 10 goals scored by Australia, half of them by Raissa Martin.

Check the results so far and the matches schedule for Day 2 (CET):

Day 1
Men
Portugal-Japan: 5-7

Women
Portugal-Australia: 3-10

Day 2
Women (main hall)
11.10am – Korea vs Turkey
12.20pm – Algeria vs Mexico
1.30pm – Denmark vs France
2.40pm – Canada vs Argentina
3.50pm – USA vs Japan
5pm – Brazil vs Great Britain
6.10pm – Israel vs Egypt

Men (secondary hall)
11.10am – Brazil vs Algeria
12.20pm – Turkey vs Germany
1.30pm – Canada vs Belgium
2.40pm – Lithuania vs China
3.50pm – Ukraine vs Argentina
5pm – USA vs Egypt
6.10pm – Iran vs Colombia

All the action can be followed via live streaming on the IBSA YouTube channel. Stay tuned!