FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA)

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FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Europe qualifier
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers UEFA logo.png
Organising bodyBeach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW)
Founded2008; 13 years ago (2008)
RegionEurope (UEFA)
Number of teams~25
Qualifier forFIFA Beach Soccer
World Cup
Current champions Spain (4th title)
Most successful team(s) Spain (4 titles)
2021 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. 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 four titles. However, Portgual and Russia have secured qualification to 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[a]
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
2008
details 		Spain Benidorm, Spain
Spain 		4–3
Portugal
Russia 		4–2
Italy 		[n 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 		[n 1]
2012
details 		Russia Moscow, Russia
Spain 		5–3
Russia
Ukraine 		3–0
Netherlands 		[n 2]
2014
details 		Italy Jesolo, Italy
Russia 		6–5
Switzerland
Italy 		5–4
Spain 		[n 1]
2016
details 		Italy Jesolo, Italy
Poland 		6–3
Switzerland
Portugal 		8–3
Italy 		[n 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[n 4]
Portugal 		6–5
Belarus
Switzerland[n 4]
  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 [1]
Spain 2009 Italy Pasquale Carotenuto 24 Russia Ilya Leonov Russia Andrey Bukhlitskiy [2]
Italy 2010 Portugal Madjer 16 Russia Ilya Leonov Portugal Paulo Graça [3]
Russia 2012 Poland Bogusław Saganowski 15 Spain Amarelle Ukraine Vitalii Sydorenko [4]
Italy 2014 Switzerland Dejan Stankovic 21 Italy Dario Ramacciotti Switzerland Valentin Jaeggy [5]
Italy 2016 Switzerland Dejan Stankovic 25 Poland Bogusław Saganowski Poland Szymon Gąsiński [6]
Russia 2019 Italy Gabriele Gori 14 Russia Yury Krasheninnikov Russia Maxim Chuzhkov [7]
Portugal 2021 Switzerland Noël Ott
Switzerland Philip Borer 		10 Spain Chiky Ardil Ukraine Andreii Nerush [8]

All-time table[]

As of 2021

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 (43–8)
2  Spain 8 56 39 3 3 11 318 161 +157 126 2.25 80.4 (45–11)
3   Switzerland 8 53 37 2 1 13 323 188 +135 116 2.19 75.5 (40–13)
4  Italy 8 50 35 1 3 11 263 155 +108 110 2.20 78.0 (39–11)
5  Portugal 7 47 35 0 2 10 293 122 +171 107 2.28 78.7 (37–10)
6  Ukraine 7 45 29 1 3 12 210 135 +75 92 2.04 73.3 (33–12)
7  Poland 8 49 27 3 0 19 209 174 +35 87 1.78 61.2 (30–19)
8  France 7 42 20 2 3 17 189 167 +22 67 1.60 59.5 (25–17)
9  Belarus 8 46 20 1 4 21 170 145 +25 66 1.43 54.3 (25–21)
10  Azerbaijan 8 45 17 0 1 27 158 194 –36 52 1.16 40.0 (18–27)
11  Hungary 7 39 12 2 3 22 141 168 –27 43 1.10 43.6 (17–22)
12  Romania 7 36 13 1 1 21 138 202 –64 42 1.17 41.7 (15–21)
13  Germany 8 38 13 1 1 23 127 131 –4 42 1.11 39.5 (15–23)
14  Turkey 7 34 12 0 0 22 132 155 –23 36 1.06 35.3 (12–22)
15  Czech Republic 8 30 11 0 1 18 102 150 –48 34 1.13 40.0 (12–18)
16  Netherlands 5 22 10 0 2 10 73 88 –15 32 1.45 54.5 (12–10)
17  Estonia 8 37 9 1 1 26 115 158 –43 30 0.81 29.7 (11–26)
18  Greece 6 31 8 1 0 22 113 143 –30 26 0.84 29.0 (9–22)
19  England 7 25 6 2 1 16 64 112 –48 23 0.92 36.0 (9–16)
20  Moldova 6 24 4 1 1 18 57 134 –77 15 0.63 25.0 (6–18)
21  Norway 8 29 4 0 1 24 69 144 –75 13 0.45 17.2 (5–24)
22  Denmark 2 10 4 0 0 6 28 62 –34 12 1.20 40.0 (4–6)
23  Israel 3 11 3 0 0 8 37 48 –11 9 0.82 27.3 (3–8)
24  Austria 4 12 3 0 0 9 42 64 –22 9 0.75 25.0 (3–9)
25  Kazakhstan 4 17 3 0 0 14 39 91 –52 9 0.53 17.6 (3–14)
26  Belgium 1 4 2 0 0 2 19 13 +6 6 1.50 50.0 (2–2)
27  Slovakia 3 9 2 0 0 7 26 61 –35 6 0.67 22.2 (2–7)
28  Lithuania 4 12 2 0 0 10 24 72 –48 6 0.50 16.7 (2–10)
29  Latvia 5 16 1 0 0 15 31 94 –63 3 0.19 6.3 (1–15)
30  Sweden 1 3 0 0 0 3 6 10 –4 0 0 0
31  Serbia 1 3 0 0 0 3 5 25 –20 0 0 0
32  Georgia 2 5 0 0 0 5 13 41 –28 0 0 0
33  Andorra 3 8 0 0 0 8 16 56 –40 0 0 0
34  Bulgaria 5 15 0 0 0 15 31 86 –55 0 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
Spain
(24) 		2009
Spain
(26) 		2010
Italy
(27) 		2012
Russia
(24) 		2014
Italy
(24) 		2016
Italy
(28) 		2019
Russia
(20) 		2021
Portugal
(21) 		Apps
⁄8
 Andorra R1 R1 R1 × × × × × 3
 Austria R1 R1 R1 × R1 •• × × 4
 Azerbaijan R1 8th R2 R2 13th 8th 8th 8th 8
 Belarus R2 R1 R1 R3 5th 11th 3rd 4th 8
 Belgium × R2 × × × × × × 1
 Bulgaria × R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 × × 5
 Czech Republic R3 R1 R1 R2 R1 6th R1 R1 8
 Denmark × × × × × R1 × 13th 2
 England R2 R2 R1 R1 12th R1 × R1 7
 Estonia R2 R2 R2 R1 11th R1 R1 14th 8
 France X 6th R2 R3 14th 7th R2 9th 7
 Georgia R1 × × × •• R1 × × 2
 Germany R2 R1 R1 R1 10th 12th R2 6th 8
 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 7th 8
 Kazakhstan × × R1 × × R1 R2 16th 4
 Latvia R1 R1 × R1 R1 × R2 × 5
 Lithuania R1 × × × × R1 R2 R1 4
 Moldova × × R2 R1 R1 16th R2 R1 6
 Netherlands R1 R2 R2 4th × R1 × × 5
 Norway R2 R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 15th 8
 Poland R2 R2 R3 R3 15th 1st 7th 10th 8
 Portugal 2nd 4th 2nd R2 X 3rd 5th 3rd 7
 Romania R1 7th R3 R1 8th R1 × 12th 7
 Russia 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 1st 5th 1st X 7
 Serbia × × × × × R1 × × 1
 Slovakia R1 × R1 × R1 × × × 3
 Spain 1st 1st R3 1st 4th 9th 6th 1st 8
 Sweden × × × × × × × R1 1
  Switzerland R3 3rd 4th R2 2nd 2nd 4th 5th[n 4] 8
 Turkey × R2 R2 R2 9th 13th R2 11th 7
 Ukraine R3 R2 1st 3rd 6th 10th •• 2nd[n 4] 7

Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup[]

Main article: National team appearances in the FIFA Beach Soccer 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 Brazil
2005[†] 		Brazil
2006[†] 		Brazil
2007[†] 		France
2008 		United Arab Emirates
2009 		Italy
2011 		French Polynesia
2013 		Portugal
2015 		The Bahamas
2017 		Paraguay
2019 		Russia
2021 		Total
 Belarus R1 q 2
 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 q 10
 Russia R1 QF QF 1st 1st 3rd 3rd q 8
 Spain QF R1 QF 4th QF 2nd R1 q 8
  Switzerland 2nd R1 QF QF QF q 6
 Ukraine QF R1 R1 • 3
Total no. of unique qualifiers 10
Notes
  1. ^
    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.

Notes[]

The fifth placed team does not always qualify to the World Cup:

  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c d 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]

References[]

  1. ^ REGULATIONS; FIFA BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP 2011; QUALIFIER BIBIONE. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b "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. ^ a b Spain back among the best. FIFA.com. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  4. ^ a b Russians heading for Rio. FIFA.com. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  5. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b Marseille: see you next year[dead link]. 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. ^ a b "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.

External links[]

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