Children up and down the country dream of one day lifting the World Cup, but Walthamstow schoolboy Kyle Finlayter-Lynch almost realised that dream last month at the age of just 12.

The Norlington School pupil came within a whisker of lifting the World Futsal Cup for his age group when his team with pipped to the trophy in the final by Barcelona.

Kyle was representing London’s Ole Futsal Academy Under 12s during the competition, which was held in Spain at the end of December.

The Academy were up against players from across the globe including teams from the US, professional Brazilian club Santos and Spanish Futsal specialists Blanesport.

His team cruised through the early stages of the competition and eventually set up a tie against the Catalan footballing giants in the final, played in front of a 2,000-capacity crowd.

Despite their best efforts, Ole lost the final 6-4.

Kyle, who is also on the books at Barnet FC, was not disheartened by the experience.

He said: “It was a really thrilling experience. To play in front of a crowd of 2,000 people is really surreal but in a very good way.

“The competition was very strong, there was not a weak player in the whole competition.

“To do so well in such a strong field was really great. Once you have had an experience like that you want to have it again.”

Norlington assistant principal, Paul Hobbs said: “We are immensely proud of Kyle's achievements in the Futsal World Championships.

“Kyle captains the school football team as well as the Waltham Forest district side and is making excellent progress in all his subjects in school.”