Main articles: Beach Soccer World Championships and FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
| World cups in beach soccer |
|---|
| Beach Soccer World Championships (1995–2004) FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (2005–present) |
| Founded |
| 1995; 29 years ago (1995) |
| Editions held |
| 22 |
| Region |
| International (FIFA) |
| Number of teams |
| 16 (since 2006) |
| Current champions |
 Brazil (15th title; 2024)
|
| Most successful team |
| Brazil (15 titles)
|
| World cups in beach soccer | |
|---|---|
| Beach Soccer World Championships | |
| FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup | |
In competitive beach soccer, the world cup is the sport's paramount competition. It is contested by senior men's national teams.
To date, two iterations of a world cup in beach soccer have existed. The first was the Beach Soccer World Championships which ran annually from 1995 to 2004. FIFA then became the governing body of the sport. As a result, the World Championships were abolished and replaced by the second and current iteration, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which began in 2005 and was also held annually; since 2009, it has been a biennial event. Whilst being two independently governed competitions, both have occurred to determine the same outcome: the world champions in beach soccer.
Four nations have been crowned world champions of the 22 editions to date. By far the most successful team is Brazil (also current champions) who have historically dominated the title, winning 15; they and Portugal are the only two nations to win in both eras of the sport's world cup. The other victors are Russia and France.
The following lists a summary of the results of each world cup and associated statistics; the latter combines the data of all the editions of both iterations.
List of world cups
The numbers in parentheses indicate the total number of world titles won by that team as of that victory.
Beach Soccer World Championships (1995–2004)
| # | Year | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1995
|
Brazil (1)
|
 United States
|
 England
|
 Italy
|
| 2 | 1996
|
Brazil (2)
|
 Uruguay
|
Italy
|
United States
|
| 3 | 1997
|
Brazil (3)
|
Uruguay
|
United States
|
 Argentina
|
| 4 | 1998
|
Brazil (4)
|
 France
|
Uruguay
|
 Peru
|
| 5 | 1999
|
Brazil (5)
|
 Portugal
|
Uruguay
|
Peru
|
| 6 | 2000
|
Brazil (6)
|
Peru
|
 Spain
|
 Japan
|
| 7 | 2001
|
Portugal (1)
|
France
|
Argentina
|
Brazil
|
| 8 | 2002
|
Brazil (7)
|
Portugal
|
Uruguay
|
 Thailand
|
| 9 | 2003
|
Brazil (8)
|
Spain
|
Portugal
|
France
|
| 10 | 2004
|
Brazil (9)
|
Spain
|
Portugal
|
 Italy
|
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (2005–present)
| # | Year | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 2005
|
France (1)
|
Portugal
|
Brazil
|
Japan
|
| 12 | 2006
|
Brazil (10)
|
Uruguay
|
France
|
Portugal
|
| 13 | 2007
|
Brazil (11)
|
 Mexico
|
Uruguay
|
France
|
| 14 | 2008
|
Brazil (12)
|
Italy
|
Portugal
|
Spain
|
| 15 |  2009
|
Brazil (13)
|
 Switzerland
|
Portugal
|
Uruguay
|
| 16 | 2011
|
 Russia (1)
|
Brazil
|
Portugal
|
 El Salvador
|
| 17 |  2013
|
Russia (2)
|
Spain
|
Brazil
|
Tahiti
|
| 18 | 2015
|
Portugal (2)
|
Tahiti
|
Russia
|
Italy
|
| 19 |  2017
|
Brazil (14)
|
Tahiti
|
 Iran
|
Italy
|
| 20 |  2019
|
Portugal (3)
|
Italy
|
Russia
|
Japan
|
| 21 | 2021
|
 RFU (3)
|
Japan
|
Switzerland
|
 Senegal
|
| 22 | 2024
|
Brazil (15)
|
Italy
|
Iran
|
 Belarus
|
| 23 |  2025
|
Statistics
Successful nations
The following lists the teams that have finished in the top four.
Overall, 20 nations have made at least one top four finish. Of those 20 nations, only seven have made a top four finish in both iterations of the competition. Brazil remained the only nation to finish in the final four of every championship until 2015 when they finished in fifth place.
| Team | Titles | Years | Runners-up | Years | 3rd place | Years | 4th place | Years | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil
|
15 | 1995*, 1996*, 1997*, 1998*, 1999*, 2000*, 2002*, 2003*, 2004*, 2006*, 2007*, 2008, 2009, 2017, 2024 |
1 | 2011 | 2 | 2005*, 2013 | 1 | 2001* | 19 |
| Portugal
|
3 | 2001, 2015*, 2019 | 3 | 1999, 2002, 2005 | 5 | 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 | 1 | 2006 | 12 |
| Russia
|
3 | 2011, 2013, 2021* | 0 | 2 | 2015, 2019 | 0 | 5 | ||
 France
|
1 | 2005 | 2 | 1998, 2001 | 1 | 2006 | 2 | 2003, 2007 | 6 |
| Uruguay
|
0 | 3 | 1996, 1997, 2006 | 4 | 1998, 1999, 2002, 2007 | 1 | 2009 | 8 | |
| Italy
|
0 | 3 | 2008, 2019, 2024 | 1 | 1996 | 4 | 1995, 2004, 2015, 2017 | 8 | |
| Spain
|
0 | 3 | 2003, 2004, 2013 | 1 | 2000 | 1 | 2008 | 5 | |
| Tahiti
|
0 | 2 | 2015, 2017 | 0 | 1 | 2013* | 3 | ||
| United States
|
0 | 1 | 1995 | 1 | 1997 | 1 | 1996 | 3 | |
| Switzerland
|
0 | 1 | 2009 | 1 | 2021 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Japan
|
0 | 1 | 2021 | 0 | 3 | 2000, 2005, 2019 | 4 | ||
| Peru
|
0 | 1 | 2000 | 0 | 2 | 1998, 1999 | 3 | ||
| Mexico
|
0 | 1 | 2007 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Iran
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 2017, 2024 | 0 | 2 | |||
| Argentina
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 2001 | 1 | 1997 | 2 | ||
| England
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1995 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Belarus
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2024 | 1 | |||
| Senegal
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2021 | 1 | |||
| El Salvador
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2011 | 1 | |||
| Thailand
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2002 | 1 |
- * = Hosts
Success by region
| Region | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South America (CONMEBOL) | 15 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 32 |
| Europe (UEFA) | 7 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 40 |
| North America (CONCACAF) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Oceania (OFC) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Asia (AFC) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Africa (CAF) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Appearances and performance
Main article: FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup records and statisticsThe following lists the teams who have appeared in at least one tournament, in order from the most appearances down to the least, and that nation's best performance.
As of the 2021 edition, 47 countries have participated over the 21 tournaments. However, only one country has participated in all the events which is Brazil. European teams have dominated in appearances by continent, since 15 of the 47 countries have been from Europe, double than that of any other.
Only eight countries who appeared in an edition of the World Championships have failed to reappear in a FIFA World Cup. Peru (5) have appeared in the most events without any one of those being under FIFA's control. Senegal (8) have appeared in the most FIFA tournaments without having ever once appeared in the World Championships.
|
Italics – edition of the World Championships |
  Champions Runners-up Semi-finals Quarter-finals Round 1
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Notes
- 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. 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
- Five European places up for grabs at FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifying tournament in Moscow. Inside the Games. 18 July 2019.
- ^ "FIFA launches first ever FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup". fifa.com. 1 February 2005. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- DUBAI 2009: FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Bleacher Report. 25 November 2009.
- ^ Everything You Need to Know About FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Richard Isava. 31 January 2020.
- FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2017 Statistical Kit – post event edition. FIFA. 14 August 2017.
- "Beach Soccer World Cup 1995". Rsssf.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- "Beach Soccer World Cup 1996". Rsssf.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- "Beach Soccer World Cup 1997". Rsssf.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- "Beach Soccer World Cup 1998". Rsssf.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- "Beach Soccer World Cup 1999". Rsssf.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- "Beach Soccer World Cup 2000". Rsssf.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- "Beach Soccer World Cup 2001". Rsssf.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- "Beach Soccer World Cup 2002". Rsssf.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- "Beach Soccer World Cup 2003". Rsssf.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- "Beach Soccer World Cup 2004". Rsssf.com. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2005". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2006". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "FIFA.com". FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2007. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Marseilles 2008". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Dubai 2009". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Italy 2011". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Tahiti 2013". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Paraguay 2019". FIFA.com. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- "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.
External links
- FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, at FIFA.com
- FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, at Beach Soccer Worldwide
- Beach Soccer World Cup - Overview, at RSSSF
| World championships in beach soccer | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| International beach soccer | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Asia |  | |
| Africa | CAF – Cup of Nations | |
| North America Central America and Caribbean | CONCACAF – Championship | |
| South America | ||
| Oceania | OFC – Nations Cup | |
| Europe |
| |
| Games | ||