FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Europe qualifier
Organising bodyBSWW
Founded2008 (2008)
RegionEurope (UEFA)
Number of teams~25
Qualifier forFIFA Beach Soccer
World Cup
Most successful team(s) Spain (4 titles)
2023 UEFA qualifiers

The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Europe qualifier is a beach soccer championship that takes place to determine the nations who will represent Europe at the upcoming edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[1] It is contested between the senior men's national teams of the members of UEFA.

In 2006, FIFA made qualification to the World Cup mandatory (previously, nations were simply invited).[2] Originally, the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) doubled as Europe's qualification tournament;[3][4] in 2008, this separate championship was created as the European qualification route.[5] FIFA currently allocate Europe five berths at the World Cup[6] and hence the top five teams qualify to the World Cup finals.[see notes] Coinciding with the annual staging of the World Cup, the competition took place yearly until 2010; the World Cup then became biennial, and as its supplementary qualification event, the championship followed suit.

Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) have organised the event since its inception. Europe's governing body for football, UEFA, only began involvement in 2019 – sending delegates and financial support.[7] Unlike the World Cup qualifiers for UEFA in football, it is a knockout tournament with a champion crowned. Its large scale and competitiveness are often noted, making it viewed as a major title to win.[8][9]

Spain are the most successful team with four titles. However, Portugal have secured qualification to the World Cup on the most occasions (seven).

Founding

In 2006, FIFA declared that for teams to enter the World Cup, they now must qualify (previously, most teams entered by invitation).[2] Qualification tournaments were subsequently established in all continental zones, except for Europe.[10] For European teams, a qualification process had already been implemented for the previous handful of World Cups – the top placed teams of the most recent season of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) earned qualification to the upcoming edition of the World Cup.[11] Thus, the EBSL continued to double as the qualifying route for European teams.[3][4]

In 2008, FIFA proclaimed that the next editions of the World Cup would take place in different countries.[12] Until that point, all World Cups had been held in Brazil during summertime of the Southern Hemisphere, months after the conclusion of that year's EBSL season. That year, the World Cup was held in Marseille, France, and during a different time of the year – in July.[12] The usual European qualification route, the EBSL, was not due to conclude until weeks after the World Cup had taken place.[5] This separate knockout tournament, dedicated purely to determining the teams qualifying to the World Cup, was organised instead; free to be placed anywhere in the calendar, it took place in the May.[5] It "made history", becoming the biggest international beach soccer event ever held at the time with 24 participants.[13] It has since returned in all future years as Europe's qualification tournament.[9] The organisers, Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), decided not to revert to using the EBSL.

Results

For all tournaments, the top four teams qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (except for 2009 and 2019, when the top five teams qualified).[9]

Year Location Final Third place play-off Fifth place[lower-alpha 1]
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
2008
details		 Spain Benidorm, Spain
Spain		 4–3
Portugal
Russia		 4–2
Italy		 [f 1]
2009
details		 Spain Castellón, Spain
Spain		 4–4 (a.e.t.)
(13–12 p.)
Russia
Switzerland		 8–6
Portugal
Italy
2010
details		 Italy Bibione, Italy
Ukraine		 4–2
Portugal
Russia		 5–2
Switzerland		 [f 1]
2012
details		 Russia Moscow, Russia
Spain		 5–3
Russia
Ukraine		 3–0
Netherlands		 [f 2]
2014
details		 Italy Jesolo, Italy
Russia		 6–5
Switzerland
Italy		 5–4
Spain		 [f 1]
2016
details		 Italy Jesolo, Italy
Poland		 6–3
Switzerland
Portugal		 8–3
Italy		 [f 3]
2019
details		 Russia Moscow, Russia
Russia		 7–1
Italy
Belarus		 6–2
Switzerland
Portugal
2021
details		 Portugal Nazaré, Portugal[23]
Spain		 5–2
Ukraine[f 4]
Portugal		 6–5
Belarus
Switzerland[f 4]
2023
details		 Azerbaijan Baku, Azerbaijan
No final or third place match took place.
Belarus
Italy
Portugal
Ukraine		qualified to the World Cup.[r23]
 [f 5]
  1. ↑ Only shown when qualified to the World Cup.

Performance

Successful nations

Team Titles Runners-up Third place Fourth place Total top 4
 Spain 4 (2008*, 2009*, 2012, 2021) – – 1 (2014) 5
 Russia 2 (2014, 2019*) 2 (2009, 2012*) 2 (2008, 2010) – 6
 Ukraine 1 (2010) 1 (2021) 1 (2012) – 3
 Poland 1 (2016) – – – 1
 Portugal – 2 (2008, 2010) 2 (2016, 2021*) 1 (2009) 5
  Switzerland – 2 (2014, 2016) 1 (2009) 2 (2010, 2019) 5
 Italy – 1 (2019) 1 (2014*) 2 (2008, 2016*) 4
 Belarus – – 1 (2019) 1 (2021) 2
 Netherlands – – – 1 (2012) 1
* Hosts

Awards

Year Top goalscorer(s) Gls Best player Best goalkeeper Ref.
Spain 2008 Switzerland Dejan Stankovic 16 Spain Amarelle Spain Roberto Valeiro
Spain 2009 Italy Pasquale Carotenuto 24 Russia Ilya Leonov Russia Andrey Bukhlitskiy
Italy 2010 Portugal Madjer 16 Russia Ilya Leonov Portugal Paulo Graça
Russia 2012 Poland Bogusław Saganowski 15 Spain Amarelle Ukraine Vitalii Sydorenko
Italy 2014 Switzerland Dejan Stankovic 21 Italy Dario Ramacciotti Switzerland Valentin Jaeggy
Italy 2016 Switzerland Dejan Stankovic 25 Poland Bogusław Saganowski Poland Szymon Gąsiński
Russia 2019 Italy Gabriele Gori 14 Russia Yury Krasheninnikov Russia Maxim Chuzhkov
Portugal 2021 Switzerland Noël Ott
Switzerland Philip Borer		 10 Spain Chiky Ardil Ukraine Andreii Nerush
Azerbaijan 2023 Germany Oliver Romrig 10 Belarus Ihar Bryshtel Italy Leandro Casapieri

All-time top goalscorers

As of 2023

The following table shows the all-time top 25 goalscorers.

Source: Match reports. (However, note that some match reports are incomplete resulting in nine undocumented goalscorers (Italy 4, Azerbaijan 4, Romania 1) which, if they were to be known, may affect the table below.).

Rank Player Team Goals
1Dejan Stankovic  Switzerland114
2Madjer Portugal65
3Gabriele Gori Italy56
4Bogusław Saganowski Poland55
5Belchior Portugal54
Dmitry Shishin Russia
7Marian Măciucă Romania43
8Noël Ott  Switzerland39
Oleg Zborovskyi Ukraine
10Ihar Bryshtel Belarus38
11Jérémy Basquaise France37
Aleksey Makarov Russia
13Amarelle Spain36
14Christian Biermann Germany35
Barış Terzioğlu Turkey
16Llorenç Gómez Spain33
17Paolo Palmacci Italy31
18Alan Portugal30
Sabir Allahguliyev Azerbaijan
Viktor Fekete Hungary
Paris Konstantakopoulos Greece
22Witold Ziober Poland29
23Chiky Ardil Spain28
Ferenc Besenyei Hungary
Pasquale Carotenuto Italy
Oliver Romrig Germany
Jordan Santos Portugal

All-time table

As of 2023

Pos Team App Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts PPG Win %
1 Spain960413313335173+1621322.2078.3 (47–13)
2 Russia75142108284117+1671282.5184.3 (43–8)
3 Italy954382311276162+1141212.2479.6 (43–11)
4 Portugal851390210321135+1861192.3380.4 (41–10)
5  Switzerland958373117345214+1311182.0370.7 (41–17)
6 Ukraine849322312226143+831032.1075.5 (37–12)
7 Poland954293022228193+35931.7259.3 (32–22)
8 Belarus950241421200156+44781.5658.0 (29–21)
9 France846222319203183+20731.5958.7 (27–19)
10 Azerbaijan950171230175215−40551.1040.0 (20–30)
11 Germany943141127154158−4451.0537.2 (16–27)
12 Hungary739122322141168−27431.1043.6 (17–22)
13 Romania736131121138202−64421.1741.7 (15–21)
14 Turkey839130224148181−33411.0538.5 (15–24)
15 Czech Republic933130119109156−47401.2142.4 (14–19)
16 Estonia942102129133178−45350.8331.0 (13–29)
17 Netherlands5221002107388−15321.4554.5 (12–10)
18 Greece73891028135175−40290.7626.3 (10–28)
19 Denmark31680085386−33241.5050.0 (8–8)
20 England7256211664112−48230.9236.0 (9–16)
21 Moldova7286112069146−77210.7528.6 (8–20)
22 Lithuania520501144596−51160.8030.0 (6–14)
23 Norway9314012671157−86130.4216.1 (5–26)
24 Israel31130083748−1190.8227.3 (3–8)
25 Austria41230094264−2290.7525.0 (3–9)
26 Kazakhstan417300143991−5290.5317.6 (3–14)
27 Belgium1420021913+661.5050.0 (2–2)
28 Slovakia3920072661−3560.6722.2 (2–7)
29 Sweden2610051520−530.5016.7 (1–5)
30 Latvia516100153194−6330.196.3 (1–15)
31 Malta130003412−800.000
32 Serbia130003525−2000.000
33 Georgia2500051341−2800.000
34 Andorra3800081656−4000.000
35 Bulgaria515000153186−5500.000

Key: Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out WP = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points / Points per game PPG

Appearances & performance timeline

The following is a performance timeline of the teams who have appeared in the UEFA qualifiers and how many appearances they each have made.

Legend
‡. ^ In some years, teams knocked-out at rounds 2 or 3 played no further matches (these results are marked as R2 or R3). In other years, classification matches were then played to determine all final placements.
Timeline
Year
Team
 2008
Spain
(24)		 2009
Spain
(26)		 2010
Italy
(27)		 2012
Russia
(24)		 2014
Italy
(24)		 2016
Italy
(28)		 2019
Russia
(20)		 2021
Portugal
(21)		 2023
Azerbaijan
(20)		 Apps
⁄9
 Andorra R1 R1 R1 × × × × × × 3
 Austria R1 R1 R1 × R1 •• × × × 4
 Azerbaijan R1 8th R2 R2 13th 8th 8th 8th 13th 9
 Belarus R2 R1 R1 R3 5th 11th 3rd 4th R3[r23] 9
 Belgium × R2 × × × × × × × 1
 Bulgaria × R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 × × × 5
 Czech Republic R3 R1 R1 R2 R1 6th R1 R1 R1 9
 Denmark × × × × × R1 × 13th R3 3
 England R2 R2 R1 R1 12th R1 × R1 × 7
 Estonia R2 R2 R2 R1 11th R1 R1 14th 10th 9
 France × 6th R2 R3 14th 7th R2 9th R3 8
 Georgia R1 × × × •• R1 × × × 2
 Germany R2 R1 R1 R1 10th 12th R2 6th 12th 9
 Greece R3 R1 R2 R2 16th 14th × × 16th 7
 Hungary R2 R1 R3 R3 7th 15th R2 × × 7
 Israel × R2 R1 R2 × × × × × 3
 Italy 4th 5th R2 R2 3rd 4th 2nd 7th R3[r23] 9
 Kazakhstan × •• R1 × × R1 R2 16th × 4
 Latvia R1 R1 × R1 R1 × R2 × × 5
 Lithuania R1 × × × × R1 R2 R1 15th 5
 Malta × × × × × × × × R1 1
 Moldova × × R2 R1 R1 16th R2 R1 R3 7
 Netherlands R1 R2 R2 4th × R1 × × × 5
 Norway R2 R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 15th R1 9
 Poland R2 R2 R3 R3 15th 1st 7th 10th 11th 9
 Portugal 2nd 4th 2nd R2 × 3rd 5th 3rd R3[r23] 8
 Romania R1 7th R3 R1 8th R1 × 12th × 7
 Russia 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 1st 5th 1st × ×× 7
 Serbia × × × × × R1 × × × 1
 Slovakia R1 •• R1 × R1 × × × × 3
 Spain 1st 1st R3 1st 4th 9th 6th 1st R3 9
 Sweden × × × × × × × R1 R1 2
  Switzerland R3 3rd 4th R2 2nd 2nd 4th 5th[f 4] 14th 9
 Turkey × R2 R2 R2 9th 13th R2 11th 9th 8
 Ukraine R3 R2 1st 3rd 6th 10th •• 2nd[f 4] R3[r23] 8

Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup

The following is a performance timeline of the UEFA teams who have gone on to appear in the World Cup, having qualified from the above events.

Legend
Timeline
Year
Team
 France
2008		 United Arab Emirates
2009		 Italy
2011		 French Polynesia
2013		 Portugal
2015		 The Bahamas
2017		 Paraguay
2019		 Russia
2021		 United Arab Emirates
2023		 Seychelles
2025		 Total
 BelarusR1R1q3
 FranceQF1
 Italy2ndQFQF4th4th2ndq7
 NetherlandsR11
 PolandR11
 Portugal3rd3rd3rd1stQF1stR1q8
 Russia[RFU]QFQF1st1st3rd3rd1st7
 Spain4thQF2ndR1QF5
  Switzerland2ndR1QFQFQF3rd6
 UkraineR1R1••q3
Total no. of unique qualifiers10

Notes

  • The fifth placed team does not always qualify to the World Cup:
  1. 1 2 3 The fifth placed team did not qualify to the World Cup because France (2008),[14] Italy (2010)[15] and Portugal (2014)[16] claimed the fifth European spot automatically as World Cup hosts. Italy took part in the 2010 qualifiers as FIFA had yet to confirm their automatic qualification at the time.[17] France and Portugal[18] did not take part in the respective 2008 and 2014 events in knowing qualification was already secured.
  2. ↑ The fifth placed team did not qualify to the World Cup in 2013. Tahiti had already qualified automatically for the World Cup as its host nation, occupying the sole OFC berth available. With the most berths, UEFA were therefore chosen by FIFA to give one of their slots to Oceania to allow an additional second team from the OFC to compete regionally and qualify to the World Cup.[19][20]
  3. ↑ The fifth placed team did not qualify to the World Cup in 2017. The Bahamas had already qualified automatically for the World Cup as its host nation, occupying one of the two CONCACAF berths available. With the most berths, UEFA were therefore chosen by FIFA to give one of their spots to North America to allow two teams from CONCACAF to compete regionally and qualify to the World Cup as normal.[21][22]
  4. 1 2 3 4 As the runners-up, Ukraine originally qualified for the 2021 World Cup. However, the Ukrainian Association of Football subsequently refused to sanction the participation of the team at the World Cup finals in Moscow.[24] It was reported that the decision was made as part of a wider sporting boycott of Russia by Ukrainian authorities due to ongoing tensions between the two states.[25] Originally, the fifth placed team did not qualify to the 2021 World Cup because Russia claimed the fifth European spot automatically as World Cup hosts; they did not take part in the 2021 event in knowing qualification was already secured. However, as the next best-placed team in the qualifiers in fifth place, Switzerland qualified post factum in order to replace Ukraine.[24]
  5. ↑ The fifth placed team did not qualify to the World Cup in 2023. The United Arab Emirates had already qualified automatically for the World Cup as its host nation, occupying one of the three AFC berths available. With the most berths, UEFA were therefore chosen by FIFA to give one of their spots to Asia to allow three teams from the AFC to compete regionally and qualify to the World Cup as normal.[26]
  • RFU:
  1. ^
    At the 2021 edition, in accordance with a ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the team from Russia was not permitted to use the Russian name, flag, or anthem; it participated in the World Cup as "the team of the Russian Football Union (RFU)", and used the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee.[27] For the purpose of continuity in this article, the results of the RFU team in 2021 are considered as de facto results of the Russian national team.
  • 2023 results:
  1. ^
    The format of the 2023 event was different to all previous editions in that the tournament ended immediately following the matches that confirmed the four qualifiers to the World Cup (in prior years these matches would have been considered as the tournament's quarter-finals). There was therefore no semi-finals, final or third place match, and hence no champion of the event was crowned; all four qualifiers received a trophy recognising their achievement of qualification.[28]

References

  1. ↑ REGULATIONS; FIFA BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP 2011; QUALIFIER BIBIONE. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  2. 1 2 "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 qualifiers to start in Brazil on 5 March". FIFA. 3 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  3. 1 2 Spain back among the best. FIFA.com. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 Russians heading for Rio. FIFA.com. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 Евролига и Кубок Мира разошлись... [The Euroleague and the World Cup have parted ways ...] (in Russian). beachsoccer.ru. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "World Cup gets bigger". FIFA. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  7. ↑ "Алаев: пляжный футбол движется под зонтик УЕФА, процесс начался" [Alaev: beach soccer moves under the UEFA umbrella, the process has begun] (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  8. ↑ Moscow to pass World Cup sentence. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 Сверхъестественный отбор. Как в Европе сражаются за путёвки на чемпионат мира (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  10. ↑ Tahiti hosts OFC qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 23 March 2006. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "BSWW – What". beachsoccer.com. 2001. Archived from the original on 9 April 2001. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  12. 1 2 Marseille: see you next year. FIFA.com. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  13. ↑ Spanish Castellón to host Beach Soccer European Qualifier. Banderas News. February 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  14. ↑ Презентация отборочного турнира в Бенидорме. (in Russian). beachsoccer.ru. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  15. ↑ FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2011 - Qualifier Bibione ready to start. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 10 July 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  16. ↑ FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2015 - Europe Qualifier Jesolo. Beach Soccer Worldwide. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  17. ↑ Fifa World Cup Qualifier: a Bibione in palio quattro posti per il Mondiale (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  18. ↑ UM CAMINHO QUE NOS É FAVORÁVEL (in Portuguese). Futebol de Praia Portugal. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  19. ↑ "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Tahiti 2013 – slot allocation" (PDF). FIFA.com. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  20. ↑ "The road to Tahiti 2013 begins". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 9 June 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  21. ↑ "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017 – slot allocation" (PDF). FIFA.com. 4 April 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-10-30. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  22. ↑ "Лихачёв: не понимаю, почему Европа снова должна страдать" [Likhachev: I don't understand why Europe should suffer again] (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  23. ↑ "Nazaré to host the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup - Qualifier Europe!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  24. 1 2 "Switzerland To Replace Ukraine At Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021™". FIFA. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  25. ↑ ""Грати, щоб звучав наш гімн": відомий український тренер виступив проти бойкоту пляжного ЧС у Москві" (in Ukrainian). TSN. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  26. ↑ "Regulations - FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup UAE 2023™ - Article 12. Number of teams" (PDF). FIFA. 1 March 2023. p. 18. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  27. ↑ "ВАДА разрешило провести в Москве ЧМ по пляжному футболу" [WADA allowed to host the Beach Soccer World Cup in Moscow]. Interfax (in Russian). 21 May 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  28. ↑ "Belarus, Portugal, Ukraine and Italy qualify for the FBSWC 2024!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 9 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
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