FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA)
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.
Organising body | Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) |
---|---|
Founded | 2008 |
Region | Europe (UEFA) |
Number of teams | ~25 |
Qualifier for | FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup |
Current champions | Russia (2nd title) |
Most successful team(s) | Spain (3 titles) |
2019 UEFA qualifiers |
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. It's 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 three titles. However, Russia have qualified for the World Cup on the most occasions (six).
Founding
In 2006, FIFA declared that for teams to enter to 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 |
Benidorm, Spain | Spain |
4–3 | Portugal |
Russia |
4–2 | Italy |
[note 1] | |||
2009 details |
Castellón, Spain | Spain |
4–4 (a.e.t.) (13–12 p.) |
Russia |
Switzerland |
8–6 | Portugal |
Italy | |||
2010 details |
Bibione, Italy | Ukraine |
4–2 | Portugal |
Russia |
5–2 | Switzerland |
[note 1] | |||
2012 details |
Moscow, Russia | Spain |
5–3 | Russia |
Ukraine |
3–0 | Netherlands |
[note 2] | |||
2014 details |
Jesolo, Italy | Russia |
6–5 | Switzerland |
Italy |
5–4 | Spain |
[note 1] | |||
2016 details |
Jesolo, Italy | Poland |
6–3 | Switzerland |
Portugal |
8–3 | Italy |
[note 3] | |||
2019 details |
Moscow, Russia | Russia |
7–1 | Italy |
Belarus |
6–2 | Switzerland |
Portugal | |||
2021 details |
Jesolo, Italy[23] | [note 1] |
- Only shown when qualified to the World Cup.
^ Notes – The fifth placed team does not always qualify to the World Cup:
- The fifth placed team did not qualify to the World Cup because France (2008),[14] Italy (2010),[15] Portugal (2014)[16] and Russia (2021) 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 2015 events in knowing qualification was already secured.
- 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]
- The fifth placed team did not qualify to the World Cup in 2017. The Bahamas had already qualified automatically for 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]
Performance
Successful nations
Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Total top 4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spain | 3 (2008*, 2009*, 2012) | – | – | 1 (2014) | 4 | |
Russia | 2 (2014, 2019*) | 2 (2009, 2012*) | 2 (2008, 2010) | – | 6 | |
Ukraine | 1 (2010) | – | 1 (2012) | – | 2 | |
Poland | 1 (2016) | – | – | – | 1 | |
Switzerland | – | 2 (2014, 2016) | 1 (2009) | 2 (2010, 2019) | 5 | |
Portugal | – | 2 (2008, 2010) | 1 (2016) | 1 (2009) | 4 | |
Italy | – | 1 (2019) | 1 (2014*) | 2 (2008, 2016*) | 4 | |
Belarus | – | – | 1 (2019) | – | 1 | |
Netherlands | – | – | – | 1 (2012) | 1 |
- * Hosts
Awards
Year | Top goalscorer(s) | Gls | Best player | Best goalkeeper | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Dejan Stankovic | 16 | Amarelle | Roberto Valeiro | |
2009 | Pasquale Carotenuto | 24 | Ilya Leonov | Andrey Bukhlitskiy | |
2010 | Madjer | 16 | Ilya Leonov | Paulo Graça | |
2012 | Bogusław Saganowski | 15 | Amarelle | Vitalii Sydorenko | |
2014 | Dejan Stankovic | 21 | Dario Ramacciotti | Valentin Jaeggy | |
2016 | Dejan Stankovic | 25 | Bogusław Saganowski | Szymon Gąsiński | |
2019 | Gabriele Gori | 14 | Yury Krasheninnikov | Maxim Chuzhkov |
All-time table
As of 2019
Pos | Team | App | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Russia | 7 | 51 | 42 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 284 | 117 | +167 | 128 | 2.51 | 84.3 |
2 | Spain | 7 | 50 | 36 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 287 | 144 | +143 | 113 | 2.26 | 80.0 |
3 | Switzerland | 7 | 47 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 281 | 158 | +123 | 103 | 2.19 | 74.5 |
4 | Italy | 7 | 44 | 31 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 227 | 143 | +84 | 98 | 2.23 | 79.5 |
5 | Portugal | 6 | 41 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 269 | 110 | +159 | 92 | 2.24 | 78.0 |
6 | Ukraine | 6 | 39 | 26 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 188 | 118 | +70 | 81 | 2.08 | 74.4 |
7 | Poland | 7 | 44 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 186 | 150 | +36 | 81 | 1.84 | 63.6 |
8 | France | 6 | 37 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 169 | 149 | +20 | 60 | 1.62 | 59.5 |
9 | Belarus | 7 | 40 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 138 | 128 | +10 | 54 | 1.35 | 52.5 |
10 | Azerbaijan | 7 | 39 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 140 | 161 | –21 | 46 | 1.18 | 41.0 |
11 | Hungary | 7 | 39 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 141 | 168 | –27 | 43 | 1.10 | 43.6 |
12 | Germany | 7 | 32 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 104 | 115 | –11 | 35 | 1.09 | 37.5 |
13 | Romania | 6 | 28 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 116 | 162 | –46 | 33 | 1.18 | 42.9 |
14 | Czech Republic | 7 | 28 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 98 | 146 | –48 | 33 | 1.18 | 39.3 |
15 | Netherlands | 5 | 22 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 73 | 88 | –15 | 32 | 1.45 | 54.5 |
16 | Turkey | 6 | 29 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 105 | 136 | –31 | 30 | 1.03 | 34.5 |
17 | Greece | 6 | 31 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 113 | 143 | –30 | 26 | 0.84 | 29.0 |
18 | Estonia | 7 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 89 | 122 | –33 | 22 | 0.76 | 27.6 |
19 | England | 6 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 58 | 106 | –48 | 19 | 0.86 | 31.8 |
20 | Moldova | 5 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 54 | 129 | –75 | 15 | 0.68 | 27.3 |
21 | Israel | 3 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 37 | 48 | –11 | 9 | 0.82 | 27.3 |
22 | Austria | 4 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 42 | 64 | –22 | 9 | 0.75 | 25.0 |
23 | Belgium | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 13 | +6 | 6 | 1.50 | 50.0 |
24 | Kazakhstan | 3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 22 | 55 | –33 | 6 | 0.60 | 20.0 |
25 | Slovakia | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 26 | 61 | –35 | 6 | 0.67 | 22.2 |
26 | Lithuania | 3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 66 | –46 | 6 | 0.60 | 20.0 |
27 | Norway | 7 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 53 | 116 | –63 | 6 | 0.27 | 9.1 |
28 | Latvia | 5 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 31 | 94 | –63 | 3 | 0.19 | 6.3 |
29 | Denmark | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 22 | –18 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
30 | Serbia | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 25 | –20 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
31 | Georgia | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 41 | –28 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
32 | Andorra | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 56 | –40 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
33 | Bulgaria | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 31 | 86 | –55 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
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 (24) |
2009 (26) |
2011 (27) |
2013 (24) |
2015 (24) |
2017 (28) |
2019 (20) |
2021 |
Apps ⁄7 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andorra | R1 | R1 | R1 | × | × | × | × | 3 | ||
Austria | R1 | R1 | R1 | × | R1 | •• | × | 4 | ||
Azerbaijan | R1 | 8th | R2 | R2 | 13th | 8th | 8th | 7 | ||
Belarus | R2 | R1 | R1 | R3 | 5th | 11th | 3rd | 7 | ||
Belgium | × | R2 | × | × | × | × | × | 1 | ||
Bulgaria | × | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | × | 5 | ||
Czech Republic | R3 | R1 | R1 | R2 | R1 | 6th | R1 | 7 | ||
Denmark | × | × | × | × | × | R1 | × | 1 | ||
England | R2 | R2 | R1 | R1 | 12th | R1 | × | 6 | ||
Estonia | R2 | R2 | R2 | R1 | 11th | R1 | R1 | 7 | ||
France | × | 6th | R2 | R3 | 14th | 7th | R2 | 6 | ||
Georgia | R1 | × | × | × | •• | R1 | × | 2 | ||
Germany | R2 | R1 | R1 | R1 | 10th | 12th | R2 | 7 | ||
Greece | R3 | R1 | R2 | R2 | 16th | 14th | × | 6 | ||
Hungary | R2 | R1 | R3 | R3 | 7th | 15th | R2 | 7 | ||
Israel | × | R2 | R1 | R2 | × | × | × | 3 | ||
Italy | 4th | 5th | R2 | R2 | 3rd | 4th | 2nd | 7 | ||
Kazakhstan | × | × | R1 | × | × | R1 | R2 | 3 | ||
Latvia | R1 | R1 | × | R1 | R1 | × | R2 | 5 | ||
Lithuania | R1 | × | × | × | × | R1 | R2 | 3 | ||
Moldova | × | × | R2 | R1 | R1 | 16th | R2 | 5 | ||
Netherlands | R1 | R2 | R2 | 4th | × | R1 | × | 5 | ||
Norway | R2 | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | 7 | ||
Poland | R2 | R2 | R3 | R3 | 15th | 1st | 7th | 7 | ||
Portugal | 2nd | 4th | 2nd | R2 | × | 3rd | 5th | 6 | ||
Romania | R1 | 7th | R3 | R1 | 8th | R1 | × | 6 | ||
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 | 7 | ||
Switzerland | R3 | 3rd | 4th | R2 | 2nd | 2nd | 4th | 7 | ||
Turkey | × | R2 | R2 | R2 | 9th | 13th | R2 | 6 | ||
Ukraine | R3 | R2 | 1st | 3rd | 6th | 10th | •• | 6 |
Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup
The following is a performance timeline of the UEFA teams who have appeared in the Beach Soccer World Cup since being sanctioned by FIFA in 2005.
- Legend
|
|
Team \ Years | 2005[†] |
2006[†] |
2007[†] |
2008 |
2009 |
2011 |
2013 |
2015 |
2017 |
2019 |
2021 |
Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Belarus | R1 | 1 | ||||||||||
France | 1st | 3rd | 4th | QF | 4 | |||||||
Italy | R1 | R1 | 2nd | QF | QF | 4th | 4th | 2nd | 8 | |||
Netherlands | R1 | 1 | ||||||||||
Poland | R1 | R1 | 2 | |||||||||
Portugal | 2nd | 4th | QF | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 1st | QF | 1st | 9 | ||
Russia | R1 | QF | QF | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | q | 8 | |||
Spain | QF | R1 | QF | 4th | QF | 2nd | R1 | 7 | ||||
Switzerland | 2nd | R1 | QF | QF | QF | 5 | ||||||
Ukraine | QF | R1 | R1 | 3 | ||||||||
Total no. of unique qualifiers | 10 |
- Notes
- ^ In 2005, 2006 and 2007, the UEFA qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup were determined by the Euro Beach Soccer League:
- 2005: Three spots by 2004 Euro Beach Soccer League, final spot by playoffs.
- 2006: Four spots by 2006 Euro Beach Soccer League, final spot by last chance bracket.
- 2007: Four spots by 2007 Euro Beach Soccer League, final spot by last chance bracket.
References
- REGULATIONS; FIFA BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP 2011; QUALIFIER BIBIONE. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- "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.
- Spain back among the best. FIFA.com. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- Russians heading for Rio. FIFA.com. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- Евролига и Кубок Мира разошлись... [The Euroleague and the World Cup have parted ways ...] (in Russian). beachsoccer.ru. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 29 Octboer 2020.
- "World Cup gets bigger". FIFA. 25 August 2005. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- "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.
- Moscow to pass World Cup sentence. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- Сверхъестественный отбор. Как в Европе сражаются за путёвки на чемпионат мира (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- Tahiti hosts OFC qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 23 March 2006. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- "BSWW – What". beachsoccer.com. 2001. Archived from the original on 9 April 2001. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- Marseille: see you next year. FIFA.com. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- Spanish Castellón to host Beach Soccer European Qualifier. Banderas News. February 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- Презентация отборочного турнира в Бенидорме. (in Russian). beachsoccer.ru. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2011 - Qualifier Bibione ready to start. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 10 July 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2015 - Europe Qualifier Jesolo. Beach Soccer Worldwide. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- 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.
- UM CAMINHO QUE NOS É FAVORÁVEL (in Portuguese). Futebol de Praia Portugal. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Tahiti 2013 – slot allocation" (PDF). FIFA.com. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- "The road to Tahiti 2013 begins". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 9 June 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017 – slot allocation" (PDF). FIFA.com. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- "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.
- "El Covid-19 amenaza también al fútbol playa" (in Spanish). Diari de Tarragona. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
External links
- Beach Soccer Worldwide, official website