TBILISI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Moldova on Thursday beat Malta 10-0 while hosts Georgia tied Armenia 2-2 in the opening round of the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012 European zone Group A qualifying tournament.

The Moldovans, ranked 65th worldwide by FIFA, led the first half with four goals while the Georgians, ranked 55th by the world's governing body of the sport of soccer, were trailing at 0-1 by the halftime whistle.

The four teams are scheduled to play two more rounds on Friday and Sunday and the winner of the group qualifiers plus two of the best-finished runners-up from the five-group qualifying tournament in Europe will join 21 other teams from the continent for the official continental preliminary tournament which decides which teams will go to Thailand for the FIFA Futsal World Cup proper next year.

The European zone official preliminary tournament is slated for December with 28 teams participating.