2007 Euro Beach Soccer League – Last chance bracket

The 2007 Euro Beach Soccer League – Last chance bracket, simply known as the Last chance bracket was an additional round of the 2007 Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) that was specially organised to determine the fifth and final European nation that would qualify for the 2007 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[1] The event was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), in parallel with the staging of the 2007 EBSL Superfinal, taking place during the same dates (23–26 August) and in the same location of Marsielle, France.

2007 EBSL Last Chance Bracket
Tournament details
Dates23 August – 26 August
Teams12 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions Italy
Runners-up  Switzerland
Tournament statistics
Matches played11
Goals scored105 (9.55 per match)

Five berths were allocated to European teams in the 2007 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, four of which were filled when Portugal, Spain, Russia and France reached the semi-finals of the Superfinal.[2] This meant there was still one final berth at the World Cup to be filled. As in 2006, in order to decide which nation would get this fifth and final spot at the World Cup, BSWW decided the prospective nations would compete in a knockout tournament called the Last chance bracket, with the winner claiming the final World Cup ticket.

Italy won the event by beating Switzerland in the final and claimed the last remaining World Cup berth.[3]

The last chance bracket was retired from use after this edition due to the establishment of a dedicated World Cup qualifying competition for UEFA nations the following year.

Teams

This round of the 2007 EBSL was a distinctly separate and unique event from the regular structure of the league, but nevertheless related to the league since it involved inviting back teams previously knocked out of World Cup qualifying contention during this year's EBSL to compete in the event for a second chance at qualification, as well as four wild-card entries, as listed below.

Results

The success of teams in this season's EBSL also affected what round the nations began their last chance bracket campaign's in as follows:

  • With the least credentials, the four wild cards and four of the five Preliminary round teams who failed to qualify for Division A started in the first round. (Germany received a bye into the quarter finals because there were too many wild card and preliminary round nations to all enter the 1st round)
  • With the most credentials, the Division A nation which failed to make the Superfinal, and the two who were knocked out in the group stage of the Superfinal, received a bye in the first round, and entered straight into the quarter finals (along with Germany as explained above)
  First round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
                                     
WC  Bulgaria 2  
WC  Austria 7  
  A3   Switzerland 13  
    WC  Austria 5  
 
  A3   Switzerland 6  
  PR  Ukraine 5  
PR  Ukraine 3  
WC  Estonia 1  
  DA  Poland 4
    PR  Ukraine 5  
 
  A3   Switzerland 5
  B3  Italy 8
 
 
  PR  Germany 6
    PR  Norway 2  
PR  Turkey 6
PR  Norway 7  
  PR  Germany 3
  B3  Italy 4  
 
 
  B3  Italy 6
    PR  Hungary 1  
PR  Hungary 4
WC  Romania 2  

Key:

A3 This team finished 3rd in group A of the group stage of the Superfinal
B3 This team finished 3rd in group B of the group stage of the Superfinal
DA indicates this team was knocked out of the EBSL at the end of the Division A regular season
PR indicates this team was knocked out of the EBSL at the end of the Preliminary round
WC indicates a wild-card entry (these teams had not competed in the 2007 EBSL until this point)

World Cup qualifiers

The following table shows the five nations qualified to the 2007 World Cup and their qualification route.

№ Nation Qualification route
1 PortugalSuperfinal semifinalists
2 France
3 Russia
4 Spain
5 ItalyLast chance bracket Winners

Sources
  1. "European league to kick-off on 28 June". fifa.com. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  2. "Russians heading for Rio". fifa.com. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  3. "Italy complete European quintet". fifa.com. 26 August 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
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