Most emotional sport stories are the underdog stories. When determination and perseverance take you from your humble surroundings all the way to the top. One such story is about the local mini football tournament from Croatia – Kutija šibica.
‘’Kutija šibica’’, named after the only existing indoor sporting hall in Zagreb back in 1971 when the story of the tournament began, with only eight teams participating in that dynamic sport.
English translation of the name would be – Matchbox. Fans started calling the hall like that because it was just too small to fit all the fans that wanted to come. So, packed like that, they said it looked like a matchbox. And the name stuck. Of the hall and the tournament as well.
In the last 52 years it grew to a tournament in which everyone connected with that beautiful game wanted to play. Official futsal and mini football teams, even famous football players who just wanted to show how they do on the indoor court.
You probably all heard of Luka Modrić, Croatia captain and Real Madrid legend – well, he played on Kutija šibica. As well as Zvonimir Boban, another ex-Croatian captain and Milan legend. Robert Prosinečki (ex-Barcelona and Real Madrid player), father and son Zlatko and Niko Kranjčar (one of the most famous football father-son duo). They all played, some of them even won Kutija šibica multiple times. And when you add all of them to Croatian futsal masters like Tihomir Novak or Korab Morina, you get a perfect mix for a tournament that every football fan is looking forward to.
Being played during winter months, one of the most anticipated day is its version of Boxing day. Quarterfinal matches played on 26th of December is a record-breaking day for viewership, both fans on site and all those watching on national television, where the tournament is being broadcasted.
Something that started with only eight teams, in its record year had 648 teams! And to this day it is being played in three different categories – male, female and veterans.
You get the point by now – Kutija šibica is huge, the biggest mini football tournament in the region. But with Sofascore Editor it started breaking regional borders and entered the global stage.
The 2023 edition was the beginning of a long-term partnership between Kutija šibica and Sofascore Editor. Every match, every goal and every player are being created and followed live, through an easy-to-use app which automatically displays all the results in the core platform, Sofascore, visible to 25 million active monthly users worldwide.
It is a paper-free technical solution that saves time and organizational hassle. No matter how many teams are participating and how big the tournament bracket is, Sofascore Editor can handle it. Kutija šibica is an example of a tournament whose preliminary rounds are being played on four different locations, with all of them merging into one hall for the knockout stage. It is like having four different tournaments at the same time, with a couple of hundred teams, and more than a thousand players participating. And still, every goal and every result is being updated within seconds, followed by detailed statistics and match reports.
For that 2023 edition Kutija šibica tournament got a million event openings on Sofascore platform global level. Talk about expanding your visibility and marketing opportunities.
‘’We at Sofascore share similar foundations with the Kutija šibica tournament. We both started small in Croatia, with just a dream, but with a clear vision of becoming leaders. We are proud to help Kutija šibica surpass the local surrounding and grow on a global level, with this long-term partnership being just the tip of the audience iceberg this great tournament can achieve. Sofascore Editor gives amateur and local competitions a perfect platform. With our technical support, their results will be visible to a global audience, together with the biggest competitions in the world’’
Toni Jermaniš, Chief Business Development Officer at Sofascore
Kutija šibica is also a great stepping stone for all young futsal and mini football talents. Because futsal is on the rise in Croatia. Its national team qualified for the World Cup for the first time in last 24 years and its university national team won the university World University Championship, held in China a couple of months ago.
But for Sofascore Editor it is not all about Croatia and mini football. Local teams and tournaments from all over the world can get the technical support they deserve, to be visible on the global stage.
In Brazil, we support Super Copa Pioneer, known as Brazilian Amateur Champions League. With more than two thousand players competing, it is the biggest non-professional competition in Latin America. In Nigeria, Nationwide League One, a league with 400 clubs and 12 thousand players is being followed through Sofascore Editor.
More than 20 thousand clubs and 130 thousand players from more than 100 countries in eight different sports are already benefiting from expanding their audience and fan base via Sofascore Editor.
Join them at the biggest sports stadium in the world. Because every match counts.