FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Founded 1995
(rebranded in 2005)
Region International (FIFA)
Number of teams 16 (final tournament)
85 (2015 qualification)
Current champions  Portugal
(1st title, 2 overall)
Most successful team(s)  Brazil
(4 titles, 13 overall)
Website Beach Soccer World Cup
2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body.

The tournament was established in 1995 as the Beach Soccer World Championship, taking place every year for the next decade under the supervision of Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) and its predecessors. Due to the sport's rapid growth, FIFA took an interest in the sport, and as the main tournament in world beach soccer, joined hands with BSWW over the organization of the competition in 2005, re-branding it as an official FIFA tournament. Since 2009, the tournament has taken place every two years to allow continental tournaments to flourish without the burden of the World Cup qualifiers crowding the schedule every 12 months. The growing global popularity of beach soccer resulted in FIFA's decision to move the stage of the World Cup from its native home in Brazil to other parts of the globe to capitalise on and continue to stimulate global interest. The first edition held outside Brazil was in 2008 in Marseille, France.

The current tournament format lasts over 10 days and involves 16 teams competing initially in four groups of four teams. The group winners and runners-up advance to a series of knock-out stages until the champion is crowned. The losing semi-finalists play each other in a play-off match to determine the third and fourth-placed teams.

The most recent edition was held in Espinho, Portugal, and crowned Portugal as champions for the second time – first under the patronage of FIFA – after defeating Tahiti 5–3 in the final.

History

Foundation

The first Beach Soccer World Cup was held in Brazil, in 1995, organised by the precursors to the modern-day founders of the standardised rules, Beach Soccer Worldwide, held under the title Beach Soccer World Championship. Eight teams were selected to take part, without going through a qualification process. However Brazil, the hosts, dominated and easily won the cup without losing a game. The tournament was successful and BSWW announced that the competition would take place every year.

Growth worldwide

By 1997, more teams had already stated their interest in participating and therefore BSWW extended their selection to 10 teams for 1998. Brazil continued to dominate, despite this change. Immediately, BSWW extended to 12 teams for 1999, spreading their selection across five continents, introducing more new teams to the tournament. However, with all these changes it still took until the 2001 World Cup for Brazil to lose the title after winning the competition six years on the run since the establishment. It was Portugal who won the tournament, with Brazil finishing in a disappointing fourth place.

Brazil national beach soccer team: 13 times winners

With this change of champions, more countries thought there was a chance for themselves to win the tournament and this sparked more interest worldwide. Not surprisingly, Brazil reclaimed their title in 2002, when BSWW reduced the number of contestants back to eight. The last Beach Soccer World Championship to be organised purely by BSWW was in 2004 when twelve teams played, seven from Europe.

FIFA Era

In 2005, FIFA paired up with BSWW to co-organise the World Cup, although FIFA seem to have the most control. They kept the tradition of holding the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro and continued to allow 12 teams to participate, following on from the 2004 competition. It was Eric Cantona's France that won the competition, after beating Portugal on penalties in the final. The tournament was deemed a major success and therefore FIFA took advantage. For the 2006 competition and beyond, FIFA decided to standardise the participants to 16 countries. It was then that the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifiers were also established, that would take place throughout the year. Again this decision was a successful one and more countries became interested in a now standard FIFA competition.

A scene from the 2007 event in Brazil

Extending the World Cup

By the end of the 2007 World Cup, the tournament had become very popular throughout the world, with the FIFA board taking over the competition, driving more countries to recognize beach soccer as a major sport. Since the World Cup had become a success worldwide, FIFA decided to have a change of venue. It was voted, to extend the sport's popularity, the 2008 World Cup would take place in Marseille, France, and the 2009 World Cup would take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. These tournaments would be the first to take place outside Brazil. The 2008 competition was once again a major success, despite being held in a different country. This was the first time that Brazil would have to qualify for the tournament, since they weren't the hosts. However Brazil won the qualifiers and the World Cup in July. The 2009 World Cup in Dubai was an even bigger success, as the second competition outside Brazil and the Beach Soccer World Cup's 15th birthday, Brazil continued their dominance.

Two year basis

Just before the final of the 2009 World Cup, FIFA announced that a new format would see the World Cup now take place every two years, starting from the 2011 World Cup. FIFA justified the decision by stating that they wanted Confederations to have more time to develop the sport, therefore allowing a year in between World Cups for Confederations to organise their own local tournaments. This was a mutual decision between Confederations and FIFA.[1] In March 2010 FIFA confirmed that the 2011 World Cup would take place in Italy and the 2013 World Cup would take place in Tahiti.[2]

Qualification

Pre-2006

From 1995 until 2005 there was no standard qualification system for nations to go through to earn a place at the World Cup finals. The process in which teams gained entry into the finals was inconsistent from one year to the next throughout the confederations, often down to a simple invite to participate in the finals from BSWW, or potentially qualification by reaching the latter stages in a premier regional tournament with no prior ties with the World Cup, or perhaps by performing well in the previous World Cup.

During this period, nations from Africa, Asia and sometimes North America were the usual recipients of invitations, due to a lack of regional tournaments for BSWW to determine who was best in said region and worthy to play in the finals. Typically, European nations qualified by doing well in the Euro Beach Soccer League and South American nations in the Americas' League, sometimes jointly with North American nations who also qualified along with them in such circumstances. It was still common for other 'wild-card' European and South American nations to receive invites despite not performing well continentally. However, during the early years of the championships, invitation was the common form of eligibility for all nations.

2006 onwards

Following the success of the inaugural FIFA tournament in 2005, the number of teams at the finals was increased by FIFA to a record 16 and so the governing body along with BSWW met with individual confederations to set up a standard qualifying process for each world cup, by establishing regional championships for each continent. The winners of these championships would be crowned the best team in the region, promoting regional competitiveness, and most importantly act as a consistent method of qualification to the World Cup for the best teams of each confederation. This would also help increase the sport's awareness across all corners of the globe and make sure all confederations were represented at the finals at every following World Cup, unlike in the past.

Besides Europe, who continued to use the Euro Beach Soccer League as the method of World Cup qualification until 2008, all other confederations hosted their first championships in 2006 in view of the finals later that year.

Attendance

The allocation of World Cup spots and hence how many teams qualify from their regional championship to the World Cup was decided by FIFA in 2006 as follows:

Confederation Continent Qualifying tournament Amount of qualifying nations Participating teams in qualification rounds
2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2013 2015
UEFA Europe FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA) 5 teams 17[A] 22[A] 24 26 27 24 24
CONMEBOL South America CONMEBOL Beach Soccer Championship 3 teams 6 3 7 8 9 9 10
AFC Asia AFC Beach Soccer Championship 3 teams 6 6 6 7 11 16 15
CAF Africa CAF Beach Soccer Championship 2 teams 6 8 8 9 9 8 20
CONCACAF North, Central America and the Caribbean CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship 2 teams 5 4 4 6 8 10 16
OFC Oceania OFC Beach Soccer Championship 1 team 4 4 - 4 3 3 -
Total 16 teams 44 47 49 50 67 70 85

^ As part of the Euro Beach Soccer League

Qualification continues to be the same since 2006. Note that the host country's continent loses one qualification spot. I.e. since the 2015 World Cup was held in Portugal, they automatically qualified taking up one of the five European spots. Therefore, in the UEFA Beach Soccer Word Cup qualifiers, only four teams qualified from the championships to join the hosts making the total of five European squads.

As shown in the table, attendance of nations at the qualification championships generally continues to rise year on year with five confederations having over 10 participants in qualifying for the first time in 2015, with the total global number of participants having nearly doubled since 2006. European interest has currently leveled-out whilst Oceania is the only continent struggling to attract more nations to compete.

Despite being the premier tournament in most regions, since the primary objective is to qualify to the World Cup, on a rare occasion teams have not bothered to participate due to qualifying to the finals automatically as hosts such as Brazil deferring from the 2007 CONMBEBOL Beach Soccer Championship and Tahiti in the 2013 OFC Beach Soccer Championship.

Results

Beach Soccer World Championships

Year Location Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place Number
of teams
Best player Top goalscorer(s) Best
goalkeeper
Goals scored
(avg. per game)
1995
Details
Brazil Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil

United States

England

Italy
8 Zico (BRA)
Júnior (BRA)
12 goals
Zico (BRA)
Altobelli (ITA)
Paulo Sérgio (BRA) 149 (9.3)
1996
Details
Brazil Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil

Uruguay

Italy

United States
8 Edinho
(BRA)
14 goals
Altobelli (ITA)
Paulo Sérgio (BRA) 131 (8.2)
1997
Details
Brazil Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil

Uruguay

United States

Argentina
8 Júnior
(BRA)
11 goals
Júnior (BRA)
Ramos (URU)
Paulo Sérgio (BRA) 144 (9.0)
1998
Details
Brazil Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil

France

Uruguay

Peru
10 Júnior
(BRA)
14 goals
Júnior (BRA)
Paulo Sérgio (BRA) 219 (9.1)
1999
Details
Brazil Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil

Portugal

Uruguay

Peru
12 Jorginho
(BRA)
10 goals
Júnior (BRA)
Matosas (URU)
Pedro Crespo (POR) 186 (9.3)
2000
Details
Brazil Marina da Glória, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil

Peru

Spain

Japan
12 Júnior
(BRA)
13 goals
Júnior (BRA)
Eichi Kato
(JPN)
172 (8.6)
2001
Details
Brazil Costa do Sauípe, Bahia, Brazil
Portugal

France

Argentina

Brazil
12 Hernâni
(POR)
10 goals
Alan (POR)
Pascal Olmeta (FRA) 144 (7.2)
2002
Details
Brazil Vitória, Espírito Santo and
Guarujá, São Paulo, Brazil

Brazil

Portugal

Uruguay

Thailand
8 Neném
(BRA)
9 goals
Neném (BRA)
Madjer (POR)
Nico (URU)
Vilarb Nomcharoen (THA) 145 (9.1)
2003
Details
Brazil Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil

Spain

Portugal

France
8 Amarelle
(ESP)
15 goals
Neném (BRA)
Robertinho
(BRA)
150 (9.4)
2004
Details
Brazil Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil

Spain

Portugal

Italy
12 Jorginho
(BRA)
12 goals
Madjer (POR)
Roberto Valeiro
(ESP)
155 (7.8)

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups

Year Location Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place Number
of teams
Best player Top goalscorer(s) Best
goalkeeper
Goals scored
(avg. per game)
2005
Details
Brazil Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
France

Portugal

Brazil

Japan
12 Madjer
(POR)
12 goals
Madjer (POR)
164 (8.2)
2006
Details
Brazil Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil

Uruguay

France

Portugal
16 Madjer
(POR)
21 goals
Madjer (POR)
286 (8.9)
2007
Details
Brazil Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil

Mexico

Uruguay

France
16 Buru
(BRA)
10 goals
Buru (BRA)
261 (8.2)
2008
Details
France Plages du Prado, Marseille, France
Brazil

Italy

Portugal

Spain
16 Amarelle
(ESP)
13 goals
Madjer (POR)
Roberto Valeiro (ESP) 258 (8.3)
2009
Details
United Arab Emirates Jumeirah Beach, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Brazil

Switzerland

Portugal

Uruguay
16 Dejan Stankovic
(SUI)
16 goals
Dejan Stankovic (SUI)
Mão
(BRA)
269 (8.7)
2011
Details
Italy Marina di Ravenna, Ravenna, Italy
Russia

Brazil

Portugal

El Salvador
16 Ilya Leonov
(RUS)
14 goals
André (BRA)
Andrey Bukhlitskiy (RUS) 269 (8.4)
2013
Details
French Polynesia Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Russia

Spain

Brazil

Tahiti
16 Bruno Xavier
(BRA)
11 goals
Dmitrii Shishin (RUS)
Dona
(ESP)
243 (7.6)
2015
Details
Portugal Praia da Baía, Espinho, Portugal
Portugal

Tahiti

Russia

Italy
16 Heimanu Philippe Taiarui
(TAH)
8 goals
Pedro Moran (PAR)
Madjer (POR)
Noel Ott (SUI)
Jonathan Rotui Torohia
(TAH)
257 (8.0)
2017
Details
The Bahamas Bahamas 16
Key
Bold Years = FIFA tournaments
* = Hosts

Successful national teams

Brazil are by far the most successful nation, with 13 titles. However their hold on the title has become less apparent since the tournament came under the control of FIFA and moved outside of Rio. They are followed by Russia (2011 and 2013) and Portugal (2001 and 2015) with two wins, and France with one title (2005). France won the first FIFA-sanctioned tournament in 2005. Brazil and Portugal are the only teams to win the world championship before and after FIFA started sanctioning the sport.

Overall 17 of the 42 nations who have ever competed have made a top four finish. Brazil remained the only nation to finish in the final four every championship until 2015 when they finished in fifth place. Of those 17 nations, only 7 have made a top four finish before and after FIFA started sanctioning the World Cup.

Nation Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place
 Brazil 13 (1995*, 1996*, 1997*, 1998*, 1999*, 2000*, 2002*, 2003*, 2004*, 2006*, 2007*, 2008, 2009) 1 (2011) 2 (2005*, 2013) 1 (2001*)
 Portugal 2 (2001, 2015*) 3 (1999, 2002, 2005) 5 (2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011) 1 (2006)
 Russia 2 (2011, 2013) 1 (2015)
 France 1 (2005) 2 (1998, 2001) 1 (2006) 2 (2003, 2007)
 Uruguay 3 (1996, 1997, 2006) 4 (1998, 1999, 2002, 2007) 1 (2009)
 Spain 3 (2003, 2004, 2013) 1 (2000) 1 (2008)
 Italy 1 (2008) 1 (1996) 3 (1995, 2004, 2015)
 United States 1 (1995) 1 (1997) 1 (1996)
 Peru 1 (2000) 2 (1998, 1999)
 Tahiti 1 (2015) 1 (2013*)
  Switzerland 1 (2009)
 Mexico 1 (2007)
 Argentina 1 (2001) 1 (1997)
 England 1 (1995)
 Japan 2 (2000, 2005)
 El Salvador 1 (2011)
 Thailand 1 (2002)
Key
Bold Years = FIFA tournaments
* = Hosts

Tournament appearances as of 2015

Since the tournament's establishment in 1995, as of the 2015 World Cup, 42 different countries have participated over the 18 competitions. However, only one country has participated in all World Cups, which is Brazil. European teams have dominated in appearances by continent, since 14 of the 42 different countries have been from Europe, at least double than that of any other. Since qualification has been standardized, fewer new countries are expected to make an appearance.

Only 8 of the 42 countries have failed to appear in a FIFA controlled World Cup. Peru (5) have appeared in the most competitions without any one of those being under FIFA's control. Meanwhile, Iran (6) have appeared in the most FIFA sanctioned tournaments without having ever appeared in the old World Championships before 2005.

Map of the countries that have appeared in any World Cup
Appearances Country Last Appearance Appearances Country Last Appearance
18  Brazil2015 2  Bahrain
 South Africa
 Thailand
 Cameroon
 Ivory Coast
 Netherlands
 Costa Rica
 Oman
 Paraguay
2009
2005
2005
2008
2013
2013
2015
2015
2015
15  Uruguay
 Italy
 Argentina
 Portugal
2009
2015
2015
2015
14  Spain2015
13  United States2013
12  France
 Japan
2008
2015
7  Russia2015
6  Iran2015 1  Australia
 Belgium
 Chile
 Denmark
 England
 Malaysia
 Poland
 Turkey
 Madagascar
2005
2004
1998
1996
1995
1999
2006
2001
2015
5  Peru
 El Salvador
 Solomon Islands
 Senegal
2004
2013
2013
2015
4  Germany
 United Arab Emirates
 Nigeria
 Mexico
  Switzerland
2004
2013
2011
2015
2015
3  Canada
 Venezuela
 Ukraine
 Tahiti
2006
2011
2013
2015
Key
Italics indicates pre-2005, non-FIFA World Championships

General Statistics FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2005-2015

Map of best results in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup by countries
Team Part Pld W WE WP L GF GA Dif Pts
 Brazil 84538034288136+152117
 Portugal 739242310226137+8979
 Russia 6291920813987+5261
 Spain 72915001411097+1345
 Argentina 8271301138589-440
 France 421120369767+3039
 Uruguay 52410211110194+735
 Tahiti 31571166462+224
 Japan 8277111893126-3324
 Senegal 51761288174+722
  Switzerland 31370066360+321
 Italy 620613107574+119
 Nigeria 41450276571-617
 Mexico 41650294361-1817
 El Salvador 416410114981-3214
 Iran 620400167497-2312
 Solomon Islands 5154001155105-5012
 Ukraine 3930063228+49
 United States 41130083660-249
 Paraguay 2620042829-16
 United Arab Emirates 412200104556-116
 Canada 1410121226-144
 Bahrain 2710152138-174
 Poland 1310021218-63
 Oman 2610051826-83
 Ivory Coast 2610052637-113
 Netherlands 130012612-61
 Cameroon 2600151235-231
 Madagascar 130003712-50
 Australia 12000228-60
 Venezuela 130003817-90
 Thailand 120002313-100
 South Africa 120002415-110
 Costa Rica 260006831-230

Note: Win in Common Time W = 3 Points / Win in Extra Time WE = 2 Points / Win in Penalty shoot-out WP = 1 Point / Lose L = 0 Points

Awards

Golden Ball

The adidas Golden Ball award is awarded to the player who plays the most outstanding football during the tournament. It is selected by the media poll.

World Cup Golden Ball Silver Ball Bronze Ball Ref(s)
2005 Brazil Portugal Madjer Brazil Neném Spain Amarelle [3]
2006 Brazil Portugal Madjer Brazil Benjamin Brazil Bruno [4]
2007 Brazil Brazil Buru Portugal Madjer Mexico Morgan Plata [5]
2008 France Spain Amarelle Brazil Benjamin Portugal Belchior [6]
2009 United Arab Emirates Switzerland Dejan Stankovic Portugal Madjer Brazil Benjamin [7]
2011 Italy Russia Ilya Leonov Brazil André El Salvador Frank Velasquez [8]
2013 Tahiti Brazil Bruno Xavier Japan Ozu Moreira French Polynesia Raimana Li Fung Kuee [9]
2015 Portugal French Polynesia Heimanu Philippe Taiarui Portugal Alan Portugal Madjer [10]

Golden Shoe

The adidas Golden Shoe is awarded to the topscorer of the tournament. If more than one players are equal by same goals, the players will be selected based by the most assists during the tournament.

World Cup Golden Shoe Goals Silver Shoe Goals Bronze Shoe Goals Ref(s)
2005 Brazil Portugal Madjer 12 Brazil Neném 9 France Mendy 8 [3]
2006 Brazil Portugal Madjer 21 Brazil Benjamin 12 Brazil Bruno 10 [4]
2007 Brazil Brazil Buru 10 Mexico Morgan Plata 9 Brazil Bruno 8 [5]
2008 France Portugal Madjer 13 Spain Amarelle 11 Portugal Belchior 10 [6]
2009 United Arab Emirates Switzerland Dejan Stankovic 16 Portugal Madjer 11 Brazil Buru 10 [7]
2011 Italy Brazil André 14 Portugal Madjer 12 El Salvador Frank Velásquez 9 [8]
2013 Tahiti Russia Dmitrii Shishin 11 Brazil Bruno Xavier 10 El Salvador Agustín Ruiz 7 [9]
2015 Portugal Paraguay Pedro Moran 8 Portugal Madjer 8 Switzerland Noel Ott 8 [10]

Golden Glove

The Golden Glove Award is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

World Cup Golden Glove Ref(s)
2008 France Spain Roberto Valeiro [6]
2009 United Arab Emirates Brazil Mão [7]
2011 Italy Russia Andrey Bukhlitskiy [8]
2013 Tahiti Spain Dona [9]
2015 Portugal French Polynesia Jonathan Torohia [10]

FIFA Fair Play Award

FIFA Fair Play Award is given to the team who has the best fair play record during the tournament with the criteria set by FIFA Fair Play Committee.

Tournament FIFA Fair Play Award Ref(s)
2005 Brazil Japan Japan [3]
2006 Brazil France France [4]
2007 Brazil Brazil Brazil [5]
2008 France Russia Russia [6]
2009 United Arab Emirates Japan Japan
Russia Russia
[7]
2011 Italy Nigeria Nigeria [8]
2013 Tahiti Russia Russia [9]
2015 Portugal Brazil Brazil [10]

References

  1. "Valcke : Beach soccer on the move". Fifa.com. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  2. Archived March 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 3 "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2005". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2006". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2007". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Marseilles 2008". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Dubai 2009". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Ravenna/Italy 2011". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Tahiti 2013". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Dubai 2009". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 20 July 2015.

External links

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