The Beach Soccer World Cup of FIFA is a worldwide seashore soccer opposition contested through the country-wide groups of the member associations of FIFA, the game’s international governing frame. The competition was preceded by the Beach Soccer World Championships, established in 1995 and held annually for the next decade under the supervision of Beach Soccer World (BSWW) and its predecessors. In 2005, FIFA partnered with BSWW to take over the organization of the event and renamed it the Official FIFA Event.
The competitions have been held every two years since 2009 to allow continental competition to flourish without the burden of hosting World Cup qualifiers every 12 months. The present tournament format lasts around 10 days and involves 16 teams, initially divided into four groups of four teams. The group runners-up and winners advance to a series of knockout stages until they are crowned champions. The losing semi-finalists will face off in a playoff to determine the third- and fourth-placed teams.
The first held outside Brazil was in Marseille, France in 2008. The most recent 2021 edition was held in Moscow, Russia, where hosts RFU have crowned champions for the third time after beating Japan 5-2 in the final.
History of FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
The first Beach Soccer World Cup was held in Brazil in 1995, hosted by the precursors of the founders of modern standardized rules, and the Beach Soccer World Championship was held as the Beach Soccer World Championship. The previous edition took place in 2004. In 2005, FIFA and BSWW jointly organized a new World Cup on behalf of FIFA. They have maintained the tradition of hosting the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, allowing 12 teams to participate since 2004. Eric Cantona’s France won the game after beating Portugal on penalties in the final.
The tournament was considered a “huge success”, so FIFA decided to standardize participants across 16 countries for the 2006 tournament and beyond. It was then that the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers were also introduced, which will take place throughout the year.
The competition became even more popular towards the end of the 2007 World Cup when the FIFA Council took over, prompting more countries to diagnose beach soccer as a “major” sport. FIFA has decided to change the venue. To increase the sport’s popularity, votes were cast to host the 2008 World Cup in Marseille, France and the 2009 World Cup in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
These matches will be the first to be played outside of Brazil. The 2008 tournament marked the first time Brazil had to qualify because they were not the host. The 2009 World Cup marked the 15th anniversary of the Beach Soccer World Cup and Brazil’s dominance continued.
Qualification in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
After the first FIFA tournament in 2005, FIFA increased the number of teams taking part in the final to a record 16, so the governing body, in conjunction with BSWW, met with the federations to set the standard for each World Cup through the tournament The qualifying process for the league.
The winners of these titles will be crowned the best team in the region, “boosting regional competitiveness and, importantly, serving as a cohesive approach for the best teams from each confederation to qualify for the World Cup. It will also help to elevate the profile of the sport as different from that of the past, ensuring that all federations are represented in the finals of every subsequent World Cup.”
Except for Europe, which continued to use the European Beach Soccer League as a means of qualifying for the World Cup until 2008, all other federations held their first tournament in 2006, intending to reach the final later in the year.
Attendance at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
FIFA decided in 2006 on the allocation of World Cup places and the number of teams that qualified for the World Cup among the regional champions as follows:
The Federation of the host country loses a qualifying place, that’s to say. Since the 2015 World Cup was held in Portugal, they automatically qualified among the top five in Europe. As a result, in the 2015 UEFA qualifiers, only four Champions League teams qualified for the hosts, out of a total of five European teams.
As the table shows, there is an overall year-on-year increase in the number of countries participating in the Qualifiers; since 2006, the total number of global participants has nearly doubled.
The top four teams in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Overall, 14 of the 39 countries that played finished in the top four; four won.
Brazil was the most successful country, with five victories. Their hold on the title has become less pronounced since the early 2010s, with four of their five hits in the 2000s. They are followed by Russia with three titles, Portugal with two and France with one. Brazil and Portugal were the only teams to win world titles before and after FIFA began embargoing the sport.
Tournament appearances in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Since the event’s inception in 2005, starting with the 2021 World Cup, a total of 39 countries have participated in 11 events. Two countries have participated in all World Cup events, Brazil and Japan. European teams dominate the single qualifiers for each continent, as 10 of the 39 countries come from Europe, twice as many as any other country.
Eight countries that participated in the previous tournament did not participate in the FIFA World Cup; Peru (5) participated in most competitions but did not participate in the World Cup organized by FIFA. Meanwhile, Senegal (8) has played in the most FIFA-sanctioned competitions but never played in the old-World Championships until 2005.
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2023
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2023 will be the 12th version of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the international premier beach soccer championship for men’s national teams of FIFA member associations. Overall, this will be the 22nd Beach Soccer World Cup since the inception World Beach Soccer Championships, 1995-2004, but it was not regulated by FIFA.
Holding Process the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup takes location every two years and brings together 16 countries to compete on the international stage. From the road to continental qualifiers to the thrilling final, the tournament has seen four former champions: Brazil, Portugal, Russia and France.
You need Everything to know about the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
The 12th FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup will take place in 2023
Find out which teams made it and the remaining qualifying dates
Read the list of former Ballon d’Or champions and winners
It is expected to take place in November 2023. All matches will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Format The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2023
The 16 teams will be separated into four groups four. A team gets 3 points for a win in regulation time, 2 points for a win in overtime and 1 point for a win from the penalty spot. The top two players from each group will advance to the knockout stage. Quarter-finals, semi-finals, playoffs and finals will follow.
