FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Organising bodyBSWW
FIFA
Founded2005 (2005)
RegionInternational
Number of teams16 (finals)
Current champions RFU (3rd title)
Most successful team(s) Brazil (5 titles)
WebsiteOfficial website
2024 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the Beach Soccer World Championships established in 1995 which took place every year for the next decade under the supervision of Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) and its predecessors. FIFA joined hands with BSWW in 2005 to take over the organization of the competition, 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 current tournament format lasts over approximately 10 days and involves 16 teams initially competing 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 first edition held outside Brazil was in 2008 in Marseille, France. The most recent edition in 2021 was held in Moscow, Russia, and crowned the hosts, playing as RFU, as champions for the third time – after defeating Japan 5–2 in the final.

History

The first world cup of beach soccer 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 Championships. The last edition took place in 2004.

In 2005, FIFA paired up with BSWW to co-organise a new world cup competition under FIFA's name. 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, 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.

A scene from the 2007 event in Brazil

By the end of the 2007 World Cup, the tournament had become more popular, with the FIFA board taking over the competition, driving more countries to recognize beach soccer as a "major" sport. FIFA decided to have a change of venue. It was voted to extend the sport's popularity that 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 the first time that Brazil would have to qualify for the tournament since they weren't the hosts. The 2009 World Cup is the Beach Soccer World Cup's 15th birthday, with Brazil continuing their dominance.[1][2]

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 the confederations and FIFA.[3] 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.[4]

In 2013, FIFA extended the FIFA Champions Badge to the winners of the competition, where it was won by Russia.[5]

Qualification

Following 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 championships for each confederation. 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 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 the number of teams that 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 2017 2019 2021
UEFA Europe FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA) 5 teams 171 221 24 26 27 24 24 28 20 27
CONMEBOL South America Copa América de Beach Soccer 3 teams 6 3 7 8 9 9 10 10 10 10
AFC Asia AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup 3 teams 6 6 6 7 11 16 15 14 15 –
CAF Africa Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations 2 teams 6 8 8 9 9 8 20 15 13 14
CONCACAF North, Central America and the Caribbean CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship 2 teams 5 4 4 6 8 10 16 16 16 12
OFC Oceania OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup 1 team 4 4 – 4 3 3 – – 5 –
Total 16 teams 44 47 49 50 67 70 85 83 79 63

^ As part of the Euro Beach Soccer League

The host country's confederation 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 2015 UEFA qualifiers, only four teams qualified from the championships to join the hosts making the total of five European nations.

As shown in the table, attendance of nations in qualification tournaments generally continues to rise year on year; the total global number of participants has nearly doubled since 2006.

Despite being the premier tournament in most regions, since the primary objective is to qualify to the World Cup, on some occasions teams have not participated 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

# Year Location Final Third place play-off No. of
teams		 Goals
(match avg.)
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1 2005
Details
BrazilCopacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
France		 3–3 (a.e.t.)
(1–0 p.)
Portugal
Brazil		 11–2
Japan		 12 164 (8.2)
2 2006
Details
BrazilCopacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil		 4–1
Uruguay
France		 6–4
Portugal		 16 286 (8.9)
3 2007
Details
BrazilCopacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazil		 8–2
Mexico
Uruguay		 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(1–0 p.)
France		 16 261 (8.2)
4 2008
Details
FrancePlages du Prado, Marseille, France
Brazil		 5–3
Italy
Portugal		 5–4
Spain		 16 258 (8.3)
5 2009
Details
United Arab EmiratesJumeirah Beach, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Brazil		 10–5
Switzerland
Portugal		 14–7
Uruguay		 16 269 (8.7)
6 2011
Details
ItalyMarina di Ravenna, Ravenna, Italy
Russia		 12–8
Brazil
Portugal		 3–2
El Salvador		 16 269 (8.4)
7 2013
Details
French PolynesiaPlace To'atā, Papeete, Tahiti
Russia		 5–1
Spain
Brazil		 7–7 (a.e.t.)
(1–0 p.)
Tahiti		 16 243 (7.6)
8 2015
Details
PortugalPraia da Baía, Espinho, Portugal
Portugal		 5–3
Tahiti
Russia		 5–2
Italy		 16 257 (8.0)
9 2017
Details
The BahamasMalcolm Park, Nassau, The Bahamas
Brazil		 6–0
Tahiti
Iran		 5–3
Italy		 16 266 (8.3)
10 2019
Details
ParaguayOlympic Park, Luque, Paraguay
Portugal		 6–4
Italy
Russia		 5–4
Japan		 16 286 (8.9)
11 2021
Details
RussiaLuzhniki Complex, Moscow, Russia
RFU[RFU]		 5–2
Japan
Switzerland		 9–7
Senegal		 16 302 (9.4)
12 2024
Details
United Arab EmiratesDesign District, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
 16
13 2025
Details
SeychellesVictoria, Seychelles
 16

Teams reaching the top four

Overall, 14 of the 39 nations who have ever competed have made a top four finish; four have won the title.

Brazil are the most successful nation, with five wins. Since the start of the 2010s, their hold on the title has become less apparent, with four of their five successes coming in the 2000s. They are followed by Russia with three titles, Portugal with two titles and France with one title. Brazil and Portugal are the only teams to win a world title before and after FIFA began sanctioning the sport.

Brazil were the only nation to finish in the final four of every tournament until 2015 when they finished in fifth place. They are also the only country that never miss any editions.

Team Titles Runners-up Third place Fourth place Total top 4
 Brazil 5 (2006*, 2007*, 2008, 2009, 2017) 1 (2011) 2 (2005*, 2013) – 8
 Russia[RFU] 3 (2011, 2013, 2021*) – 2 (2015, 2019) – 5
 Portugal 2 (2015*, 2019) 1 (2005) 3 (2008, 2009, 2011) 1 (2006) 7
 France 1 (2005) – 1 (2006) 1 (2007) 3
 Italy – 2 (2008, 2019) – 2 (2015, 2017) 4
 Tahiti – 2 (2015, 2017) – 1 (2013*) 3
 Uruguay – 1 (2006) 1 (2007) 1 (2009) 3
  Switzerland – 1 (2009) 1 (2021) – 2
 Japan – 1 (2021) – 2 (2005, 2019) 3
 Spain – 1 (2013) – 1 (2008) 2
 Mexico – 1 (2007) – – 1
 Iran – – 1 (2017) – 1
 El Salvador – – – 1 (2011) 1
 Senegal – – – 1 (2021) 1
Key
* = Hosts

By confederation

Total times teams played by confederation
AFC CAF CONCACAF CONMEBOL OFC UEFA Total
Teams322122331252172
Top 811752343888
Top 44121132344
Top 2101721122
1st00050611
2nd10122511
3rd10030711
4th21111511

Tournament appearances

Since the tournament's establishment in 2005, as of the 2021 World Cup, 39 countries have participated over the 11 competitions. Two countries have participated in all World Cups, which are Brazil and Japan. European teams have dominated in unique qualifiers by continent, since 10 of the 39 countries have been from Europe, double that of any other.

Eight countries who appeared in the precursor championships have failed to appear in a FIFA World Cup; Peru (5) appeared in the most competitions without yet attending a FIFA controlled World Cup. Meanwhile, Senegal (8) have appeared in the most FIFA sanctioned tournaments without having ever appeared in the old World Championships before 2005.

Attendance

In all tournaments, one venue was used to host all matches, with the exception of 2009, when two venues were used.[at 1]

Year Location Stadium capacity Matches Total gate Lowest gate Highest gate Average gate Attendance %[at 2]
2005 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 10,000 20 110,500 500 10,000 5,525 55%
2006 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 10,000 32 179,800 800 10,000 5,619 56%
2007 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 10,000 32 157,300 1,000 10,000 5,525 49%
2008 France Marseille, France 7,000 32 176,500 3,000 7,000 5,516 79%
2009 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates 5,700[at 1] 32 97,500 150 5,700 3,047 63%
2011 Italy Ravenna, Italy 5,500 32 119,370 1,000 5,500 3,730 68%
2013 French Polynesia Papeete, Tahiti 4,200 32 109,650 1,100 4,200 3,427 82%
2015 Portugal Espinho, Portugal 3,500 32 96,300 1,600 3,500 3,009 86%
2017 The Bahamas Nassau, Bahamas 3,500 32 57,450 400 3,500 1,795 51%
2019 Paraguay Luque, Paraguay 2,820 32 34,997 216 2,847 1,094 39%
2021 Russia Moscow, Russia 2,500[at 3] 32 53,149 472 2,500 1,661 66%
Overall (2005–2021)3401,192,51615010,0003,63262%
  1. 1 2 Two venues were used; the smaller was used for six matches and had a capacity of 1,200, from which the lowest gate figure came.[6]
  2. ↑ This is the overall attendance percentage for the tournament, from the total possible maximum attendance figure if all matches were at full capacity: total gate / (stadium capacity x matches played).
  3. ↑ The actual capacity figure was approximately 4,500.[7] However, it was restricted to a maximum of 2,500 in order to accommodate social distancing measures due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia.[8]

See also

Notes

  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.[9] 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.

References

  1. ↑ FIFA.com (24 November 2009). "Brazil the undisputed kings of sand". Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  2. ↑ "DUBAI 2009: FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup". Bleacher Report. 25 November 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Valcke: Beach soccer on the move". FIFA.com. 21 November 2009. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "FIFA Executive Committee approves special funding for Chile and Haiti". FIFA.com. 19 March 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  5. ↑ "FIFA World Champions Badge honours Real Madrid's impeccable year". FIFA. 20 October 2014. Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019. The latest tournament to be introduced to this exclusive award was the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Tahiti 2013, where reigning champions Russia were awarded the FIFA World Champions Badge.
  6. ↑ "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Dubai 2009 Technical Report and Statistics" (PDF). FIFA. p. 56. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-13. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  7. ↑ "Samoura: We Want The World Cup To Be A Safe Place For Everyone". FIFA. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  8. ↑ "Матчи ЧМ по пляжному футболу можно посетить без теста на COVID-19 и QR-кода о вакцинации" [Beach soccer World Cup matches can be attended without COVID-19 test and vaccination QR code]. Sports.ru (in Russian). 9 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "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.
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