AFC Beach Soccer Championship
 | |
| Founded | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Region | Asia (AFC) |
| Number of teams | 15 (2015) |
| Current champions |
 Oman(1st title) |
| Most successful team(s) |
 Japan United Arab Emirates(2 titles) |
The AFC Beach Soccer Championship is the main international championship for beach soccer in Asia, mirroring that of the AFC Asian Cup in association football. Also known as the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers for AFC, the championship was established in 2006 after FIFA made requirements for all confederations to begin holding a qualification tournament to determine the best national team(s) in the region and hence those who would proceed to represent their continent in the World Cup.
Asia was awarded three spots at the finals under FIFA's new changes to the organisation of the World Cup and hence the winners, runners-up and winner of the third place play-off qualify to the succeeding World Cup finals. Before 2006, there was no consistent method of qualification or number of spots at the World Cup for Asian nations, with countries often simply being invited to play in the finals, without competing for a regional crown beforehand.
The most successful nations are the United Arab Emirates and Japan, who have both won two of the seven tournaments. However Japan may be considered as the most successful of the two since they have qualified for the World Cup all seven years by at least reaching the final, whereas the United Arab Emirates have only qualified for the World Cup on three occasions.
Now that the World Cup takes place every two years, so does the championship, which started with the qualifiers for the 2011 World Cup.
Tournaments
| Year | Location | Final | Third Place Play-off | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winners | Score | Runners-up | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place | ||||
| 2006 details |
Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
 Bahrain |
5–3 | Japan |
 Iran |
6–4 |  China | ||
| 2007 details |
Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
United Arab Emirates |
4–3 | Japan |
Iran |
6–0 | Bahrain | ||
| 2008 details |
Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
United Arab Emirates |
4–3 | Japan |
Iran |
4–1 | China | ||
| 2009 details |
Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
Japan |
4–2 | Bahrain |
Oman |
1–1 aet (2–1) pen |
Iran | ||
| 2011 details |
Muscat, Oman |
Japan |
2–1 | Oman |
Iran |
6–2 | United Arab Emirates | ||
| 2013 details |
Doha,  Qatar |
Iran |
6–6 aet (5–4) pen |
Japan |
United Arab Emirates |
3–2 |  Australia | ||
| 2015 details |
Doha, Qatar |
Oman |
1–1 aet (3–2) pen |
Japan |
Iran |
8–3 |  Lebanon | ||
| 2017 details |
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Successful nations
| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth Place | Top 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan |
2 (2009, 2011) | 5 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2015) | - | - | 7 |
| United Arab Emirates |
2 (2007, 2008) | - | 1 (2013) | 1 (2011) | 4 |
| Oman |
1 (2015) | 1 (2011) | 1 (2009) | - | 3 |
| Bahrain |
1 (2006) | 1 (2009) | - | 1 (2007) | 3 |
| Iran |
1 (2013) | - | 5 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015) | 1 (2009) | 7 |
| China |
- | - | - | 2 (2006, 2008) | 2 |
| Australia |
- | - | - | 1 (2013) | 1 |
| Lebanon |
- | - | - | 1 (2015) | 1 |
Overall standings
| Team | Part | Pld | W | WE | WP | L | GF | GA | Dif | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan |
7 | 32 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 153 | 87 | +66 | 70 |
| Iran |
7 | 32 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 165 | 91 | +74 | 63 |
| United Arab Emirates |
6 | 26 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 109 | 73 | +36 | 57 |
| Oman |
4 | 22 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 92 | 52 | +40 | 48 |
| Bahrain |
6 | 27 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 87 | 76 | +11 | 43 |
| China |
7 | 28 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 85 | 111 | -26 | 29 |
 Uzbekistan |
5 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 64 | 77 | -13 | 12 |
| Lebanon |
2 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 39 | 43 | -4 | 11 |
| Australia |
2 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 24 | +1 | 10 |
 Palestine |
1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 8 |
 Iraq |
3 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 32 | 53 | -21 | 8 |
 Afghanistan |
1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 21 | -5 | 6 |
 Thailand |
2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 27 | -9 | 6 |
 Kuwait |
2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 23 | 30 | -7 | 3 |
 Laos |
1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 21 | -10 | 3 |
 Saudi Arabia |
1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 26 | -13 | 3 |
| Qatar |
2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 23 | 41 | -18 | 3 |
 Vietnam |
1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 14 | -3 | 0 |
 India |
1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 0 |
 Indonesia |
1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 18 | -12 | 0 |
 Syria |
1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 19 | -13 | 0 |
 Philippines |
3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 90 | -77 | 0 |
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
Performance
The following is a performance timeline of the Asian nations who have qualified to appear in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup since 2006 when qualifying rounds were introduced for all confederations.
- Legend
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- 4th – Fourth place
- QF – Quarterfinals
- R1 – Round 1 (group stage)
- q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
- – Hosts
| Team |  2006 |
2007 |
 2008 |
2009 |
 2011 |
 2013 |
 2015 |
 2017 |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahrain | QF | R1 | 2 | ||||||
| Iran | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | QF | QF | 6 | ||
| Japan | QF | R1 | R1 | QF | R1 | QF | QF | 7 | |
| Oman | R1 | R1 | 2 | ||||||
| Thailand | 1 | ||||||||
| United Arab Emirates | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | 4 |
External links
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