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70-544: Organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the teams compete in two divisions; A, consisting of the league's 12 best nations and B, consisting of the other teams competing that year. A system of promotion and relegation exists between the two divisions. The typical league format is played in two phases; a regular season and a post-season . Teams play in stages of fixtures during the regular season, hoping to earn enough points for their division's league table to qualify for their respective post-season events; for Division A,

140-491: A Philadelphia based investment group, acquired BSI's rights to stage professional beach soccer events, forming a partnership with Signorini to create Beach Soccer Company . Koch Tavares and BSC went on to be the main two entities involved in promoting beach soccer for the rest of the 1990s, with the former responsible for organising the Beach Soccer World Championships beginning in 1995, and

210-564: A regular season , typically taking place between June and August, and two post-season events, taking place in August or September. Minor amendments to the format were made in 2013 that focused on increasing the size of Division A and the number of teams advancing to the post-season events. The nations of the EBSL are divided between two divisions ; A, the league's top tier, and B, the league's lower tier. Each season, Division A nations aim to win

280-614: A Division A only event and establishing a second post-season event exclusively for Division B nations, the Promotion Final , in which promotion is achieved. The regular seasons of the two divisions were also reverted back to occur concurrently as in 2001–05. (see current format for more) During this era participation has continued to increase, breaking the 20-team barrier in 2011 and a record 27 nations competed in 2017 , seeing participation expand to some of Europe's least populated nations such as Lithuania and Andorra , and to

350-423: A career in the new sport. Commercially, the league enjoyed some of its greatest success at this time; BSWW secured "vastly expanded television coverage" of the EBSL from such networks as Sky Sports (UK) , RAI (Italy) , SIC (Portugal) and NRK (Norway) and "unprecedented demand from promoters" to host league events. Major sponsorship deals were also struck with McDonald's , Coca-Cola and MasterCard ; in 2004,

420-463: A name for themselves, most notably the young duo of Spain's Amarelle and Portugal's Madjer . In 2001, thanks to a merger deal , Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) became the league's new organisers. Subsequently, the competition underwent significant changes. The league was split into two phases – the existing regular season and a new post-season play-off phase called the Superfinal , in which

490-537: A pilot event in Los Angeles in order to test out and perfect these rules which remain very similar today. In July 1993, with the aid of his own company, BSI, Signorini organised the first professional beach soccer event, held on Miami Beach , Florida . A keen interest was taken by Brazilian sports marketing agency, Koch Tavares, who replicated the event in 1994 in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil and Viking Graham Sports Group,

560-523: A round robin format. The two group winners then proceed to the final to play for promotion. The Division B nation which wins this match is promoted to Division A the next season, with the team bottom of Division A relegated. However, if the defending Division A team successfully wins the Promotion Final, fending off the challenge of the Division B teams, they will retain their Division A status for

630-405: A singular institution to develop the sport and organise international beach soccer competitions across the globe, primarily between national teams. The company is recognised as playing the biggest role in helping to establish the rules of beach soccer, to spread and evolve the sport around the world as cited by FIFA who took on governing body status of the sport from BSWW in 2005. Having established

700-409: Is attributed to the recognisable retired association footballers who made the transition to the sand, attracting fans to attend and watch matches on TV. These included Eric Cantona , Michel , Claudio Gentile , Uli Stielike , Karl-Heinz Rummenigge , Emilio Butragueño and Andreas Brehme to name a few. Meanwhile, dedicated beach soccer players, without the footballing fame of these stars also made

770-590: The Superfinal , in which league title is then directly contested, and for Division B, the Promotion Final , in which promotion to A is then directly contested. The competition takes place between June and September. The league's rounds of matches are staged in a series of locations across Europe in which multiple nations gather to play, having spread as west as Dublin , Ireland and as east as Baku , Azerbaijan . Matches take place every few weeks over

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840-597: The 2008 World Cup . The EBSL continued to double as the World Cup qualification route for European nations into the FIFA era. These years saw the Iberian nations return to the summit; Spain won their fifth title in 2006 and Portugal their second in 2007, narrowly denying France their own second crown by a single goal in the final. However the latter year saw the birth of a new European power, that of Russia who finished top of

910-477: The 2021 season , 24 teams comprise the Euro Beach Soccer League, split between two divisions: Division A consisting of 12 teams and Division B comprising 12 teams. Teams move between the divisions through a promotion and relegation process established in the 2009 season . One team a season can be promoted/relegated from each division. Prior to 2009, teams were simply allocated to divisions at

980-637: The Asian Beach Games integrating beach soccer from 2008 onward, the South American Beach Games from 2009 and the European Games starting from 2015. The ultimate aim is to have beach soccer a sport in the summer Olympics . But despite a campaign for inclusion in the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics. , the sport was ultimately not included and so lobbying in cooperation with FIFA continues, to ultimately fulfil

1050-460: The 2021 season. And in 2022, longstanding and major league members, Russia and Belarus, were excluded from the competition in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine . In 2009, BSWW overhauled the existing league structure and introduced a new format that remains in use, featuring a system of promotion and relegation between two divisions of teams. The league currently consists of two phases –

1120-782: The Czech Republic, with the Euro Winners Cup having a 16-club women's version for the first time in 2016 and the first Women's Euro Beach Soccer Cup also taking place in 2016. BSWW has organised and delivered over 200 international events in more than 50 countries worldwide, involving over 110 nations from all confederations, assembling an audience of over 250 million households in 180 countries. Vice-president Joan Cuscó continues to serve on FIFA's Beach Soccer committee as BSWW's representative. In 2017, BSWW and FIFA agreed to extend their partnership until at least 2024. It has been standard practice for BSWW to award prizes to

1190-459: The Division A regular season table in just their first season in the top tier, ultimately finishing third in the Superfinal. This era saw the rise of the likes of Switzerland and Poland, establishing themselves as regular participants of the top tier. The 2008 season was greatly affected by the scheduling of the World Cup which shortened the league's calendar. Because of the time constraints,

1260-485: The EBSL title, whilst Division B nations aim to be promoted to Division A, with one promotion spot available per season. 12 countries comprise Division A. These are the league's best teams. It features the top 11 finishers from the previous year's final Division A regular season league table, plus the one nation who earned promotion from Division B at end of the preceding season (the Promotion Final winners). Division B hosts all other participants, those with lesser ability on

1330-529: The EPBSL and Monte Carlo was chosen to host the final stage each year including a gala event. Spain went on to win the 1999 and 2000 editions, the latter famed for its conclusion with the title decided in the very last match of the season with the narrow 6–5 Spanish defeat of arch-rivals Portugal. Austria and the Netherlands also debuted during these years. Much of the success of the league's early years

1400-550: The European game, namely Natalie Aubery (Monaco), Joël Cantona (France), Alex Colombo (Italy), Nicola Owen (Germany), Eric Steffan (Portugal), and Joan Cusco and Santi Soler (Spain). They perceived that the media, sponsors and fans in Europe desired a multi-event, summer-long competition, touring the continent with consistent national teams and star players to support in a competitive environment. Consequently, BSC proceeded to launch

1470-496: The Old Continent through such unity. This has meant that BSWW have hosted and continue to host EBSL events right across Europe. The table below shows the countries which have hosted EBSL events, in order from that which has hosted the most, down to the least. The specific host towns and cities in each country are also listed. Overall, in 24 seasons, there have been 138 events hosted in 69 different locations in Europe. As of

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1540-402: The Promotion Final winners gained promotion. These special circumstances are explained via footnotes. The first phase of the EBSL is the regular season. The matches of the regular season have been organised as both small-scale knockout tournaments and also round robin tournaments known as stages ; the latter is the current format being used. The team which earns the most points at the end of

1610-482: The Superfinal during same dates and in the same location. The top seven ranking nations with the most points in the Division B league table at the end of the regular season proceed to the Promotion Final. In this event, teams directly compete for the single promotion spot available. An eighth nation also takes part, the team that finished last in Division A, who compete to try and defend their Division A status. The eight teams are split into two groups of four, competing in

1680-424: The Superfinal. In this event, the participating nations directly compete for the league title. A four-day event, the eight teams are split into two groups of four, competing in a round robin format. The two group winners then proceed to the final, with the winner of this concluding match crowned champions of the EBSL. The post-season event for Division B nations is called the Promotion Final , staged in parallel with

1750-651: The World Cup qualifiers, as well as establishing new regular international competitions such as the Intercontinental Cup (similar to the FIFA Confederations Cup ) since 2011 and generating more interest from big sponsors like Samsung and Huawei . BSWW representatives, in partnership with FIFA, have liaised with the International Olympic Committee a number of times, with Olympic-affiliated events such as

1820-406: The awards presented to the players listed between 1998 and 2007 were based on those players' performances and goals amassed over the entire season. From 2008 onwards, season-encompassing awards were made defunct – the players listed received the awards based solely on their performance in the season-ending Superfinal. The following table lists the results from the final match of the Promotion Final –

1890-490: The company name) has remained BSWW's main asset, gathering up to 27 nations to compete in recent editions compared to just 7 in the first event in 1998 in a summer-long event. The Pro Beach Soccer Tour has also been renamed to the BSWW Tour for the same reasons, continuing exhibition events to promote the sport as far wide and remote as Réunion and Cape Verde with around 10 tour events a year. BSWW has continued organising

1960-473: The competition was renamed to the shortened Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), and the latter became lead sponsors. The EBSL once again underwent significant changes in 2006, entering its third distinct format era. In summary, the new format had Division B start and complete their regular season first, early in the summer. The top teams then qualified to play in Division A, to compete alongside the top tier's automatic entrants, which began its regular season later in

2030-652: The continent's most eastern periphery with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan debuting and becoming league regulars. The Superfinal and regular season stages have also spread out further across Europe; the former has been staged in Estonia , The Netherlands and Russia , whilst the latter have been hosted in Serbia , Hungary and Ukraine . Russia's rise culminated with their first title in 2009; with four further titles since, Russia equalled Spain and Portugal's long standing record tally of five titles in 2017, and at least finishing in

2100-580: The course of a weekend, including Fridays. At most, Division A teams play 10 games a season and Division B nations, 7 games. 38 nations of Europe have competed since the initial 1998 season . Only four have featured in every season – France , Italy , Portugal and Spain . The most successful nation is Portugal with nine titles (and also current champions ), followed by Spain and Russia with five titles each. Italy have three titles, Switzerland have two titles, whilst Germany , France and Ukraine have one title each. After beach soccer's inception in 1992,

2170-454: The course of the season and has been compared to FIFA's The Best awards and the Ballon d'Or in association football , in both importance, grandeur and equivalence for those involved in beach soccer. Some of the many prizes awarded on the night include best player of the year, best coach of the year, best goal and best team. BSWW organises and has an input in many different competitions;

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2240-432: The elite by reaching their first final in 2021 . On the other hand, this era has seen the demise of nations like France, who saw relegation to Division B in 2010 and again 2012, meanwhile Spain have only made two finals during these ten years, despite their five previous titles. The 2020s began with a series of disruptions to the league. The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the 2020 season and also somewhat affected

2310-505: The entity of Koch Tavares responsible for beach soccer and PBS came together to register one single company in order to streamline development of the sport under one unifying company, as opposed to multiple parties involved trying to synchronise progress between one another, officially forming Beach Soccer Worldwide, opting to remain based in Barcelona. Starting with the 2001 season, BSWW took on roles of organising all major competitions of

2380-651: The federation to promote the club side of the game more, establishing the Mundialito de Clubs (Club World Cup) in 2011 and the Euro Winners Cup (similar to the UEFA Champions League ) in 2013. Development of the women's game has also become a target for BSWW, with the first official game between Switzerland and Germany in 2009, promoting further international exhibition tournaments and friendlies involving nations such as England, Italy and

2450-502: The final of each respectively. Nations like England , Norway , Belgium , Poland , Hungary , Ukraine and Russia all joined the league during this period, expanding participation to more northern and eastern Europeans nations. However, they failed to make an impact against the superior, established Southern European quartet. Personnel-wise, European teams were quickly transitioning away from being composed of retired star footballers to comprising predominately younger players attempting

2520-653: The first European Pro Beach Soccer League season (EPBSL) in 1998, moulded and structured as such. In the inaugural season of 1998, seven countries took part, mostly from Western and Southern Europe – France , Spain , Germany , Italy , Yugoslavia, Switzerland and Portugal . The league events travelled across Europe, with multiple countries hosting rounds of fixtures called stages (see defunct formats for more), concluding in Monte Carlo, which saw Germany crowned champions – their only title to date. During this time, Prince Albert of Monaco became Honorary President of

2590-425: The following are regular events that are ongoing: Advisory role: Considerable input, with involvement from confederations, under the supervision of FIFA: Affiliation only: National teams with year of first international game: BSWW established a ranking system for European teams in the mid-2000s as the majority of tournaments are held in Europe and it is the most active continent for national teams. Hence

2660-399: The future. However, note that Monaco are not a FIFA member and so are not eligible to return to compete – their solo appearance in 2004 took place before FIFA became governing body of beach soccer. The results shown were decided via the Superfinal since 2001 and via the end of season league table between 1998 and 2000. The awards shown were presented after the Superfinal. However note that

2730-486: The goal of making beach soccer an Olympic sport. In 2017, BSWW secured beach soccer as a sport at the inaugural Olympic-affiliated World Beach Games in 2019 and hope to use its inclusion as a springboard for future absorption into the Summer Olympics. More recently, a greater involvement from certain confederations in organising World Cup qualifying championships has eased the full involvement of BSWW, allowing

2800-405: The history of the competition. Having started with seven nations in 1998 ( France , Spain , Germany , Italy , Yugoslavia, Switzerland and Portugal ), the milestone of 10 participating nations was reached in the 2002 season and 20 teams first took part in the 2011 season ; the record is currently 27 teams, first achieved in the 2017 season . Overall, 36 different nations have competed since

2870-413: The incumbent format could not be implemented. Instead, all teams competed in one unified division in what was ultimately an anomalous season in terms of its format. Heading into the 2009 season , BSWW did not return to the 2006–07 format but instead completely revamped the league's configuration, primarily introducing a system of promotion and relegation between Divisions A and B by making the Superfinal

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2940-608: The latter establishing the Pro Beach Soccer Tour in 1996, a series of worldwide professional exhibition tournaments to promote the sport, and the European Pro Beach Soccer League in 1998, all contested between national teams as opposed to clubs. BSC relocated to Monaco in 1998 and again to Barcelona in 1999, renaming to become Pro Beach Soccer, S.L. (PBS) in 2000 to reflect the branding of their established events. In October 2000,

3010-424: The league champions would be determined instead of via the end of regular season league table. Furthermore, BSWW divided the nations of the league into two divisions (A and B) in 2002, with a short-lived third division (C) created in 2004 (see defunct formats for more). The league also doubled as the qualification route for European nations to the upcoming edition of the Beach Soccer World Championships . Despite

3080-436: The main entity behind past and more importantly continuing promotion and development of the sport elsewhere besides the new World Cup, and so BSWW retained the organisation responsibilities and control of other beach soccer championships like the EBSL, with FIFA only taking full control of the World Cup. So much so that after the first successful World Cup in 2005, when FIFA established World Cup qualifying tournaments to promote

3150-434: The most Superfinals (seven) without yet winning the title. Division or status in 2020: Beach Soccer Worldwide Beach Soccer Worldwide ( BSWW ) is the organisation responsible for the founding and growth of association football 's derivative sport of beach soccer . The founding partners of BSWW codified the rules of beach soccer in 1992, with BSWW as it is known today having been officially founded in late 2000 as

3220-454: The most points during the event are declared stage winners and are presented with a trophy. Individual awards are also presented for the MVP , best goalkeeper and top scorer. The post-season event for Division A teams is called the Superfinal . Of the 12 teams in Division A, the top eight ranking nations with the most points in the Division A league table at the end of the regular season proceed to

3290-497: The new format, Iberian dominance continued initially. Spain claimed their third straight title in 2001 , two-time runners-up Portugal finally claimed their first title in 2002 , and Spanish superiority resumed as they won their fourth crown after just six seasons in 2003 . However, such dominance ended with the results of 2004 and 2005 which finally saw new champions in France and Italy respectively, overcoming Spain and Portugal in

3360-409: The next season, denying any prospective Division B team promotion. Stages : Divisions, Superfinal berths : Superfinal : Stages : Part of the original concept of the EBSL was to link the multiple promoters of beach soccer in the different countries of Europe under the umbrella of a single Europe-wide competition. This was to ensure a strong structure of development for beach soccer throughout

3430-437: The opening edition. 20 members of UEFA are yet to enter the league. National teams such as Croatia, Malta and Slovenia have expressed interest in joining the league in the past, but have so far not participated. 2022 season results: Of the 36 nations that have competed at some point since the start of the EBSL, 16 are currently inactive – absent from competing in the league in recent years, but may return to compete again in

3500-505: The organisation serve on FIFA's Beach Soccer Committee. First international matches was played in 1993 for men and 2009 for women. Now (July 2023) 193 Men / 64 Women club and 101 Men / 23 Women national team sorted in World Ranking. BSWW's routes are traced back to 1992 with the establishment of the official rules of the sport by Giancarlo Signorini, the founding partner of Beach Soccer Company (BSC) . In 1992, Signorini staged

3570-409: The participating teams compete in groups of four in a round robin format (sometimes Division B nations play in groups of three) over the course of three days (usually Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Teams earn points for their divisions’ league table for winning matches during these stages, trying to earn enough to qualify for their respective divisions' post-season events (see below). The team who earned

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3640-834: The preceding companies including the Pro Beach Soccer Tour and European Pro Beach Soccer League , whilst supervising the World Championships and the newly created America's League, all remaining focused on national teams. This was also done to make it easier to bring on board sponsors, coordinate media coverage and present the football alternative to FIFA under a clearly defined, all-encompassing, representative body for beach soccer. BSWW's attention immediately turned to FIFA. Beach Soccer Company had already ensured all tournaments from 2000 onwards were played under FIFA's fair play rules and delegates from both parties met multiple times to discuss for BSWW's rules of

3710-491: The ranking was used for seeding in competitions like the EBSL. However, in 2014, BSWW created the first world ranking table based on a similar system to FIFA's world ranking for association football national teams. Official Global Partners: Official partners: Technical Partners: Beach Soccer Worldwide extends its commitment beyond purely sport development. In 2009, the Beach Soccer Foundation

3780-472: The regular season, consisting of multiple rounds of fixtures taking place every few weeks. Each set of matches is treated as its own event, known as a stage . Each stage of the season is hosted in a different European country. Typically, both Division A and Division B matches are organised to take place together during the same stage event. Overall, Division A nations generally take part in two stages per year and Division B nations, one stage each. In each stage,

3850-413: The sand than those in the top tier. The division features teams from the previous Division B season who were not promoted, nations returning after an absence from competing, the team relegated from Division A at the end of the previous season, and any debutants. Hence the total number of nations competing in Division B varies by season and as such is not fixed in size like Division A. The league begins with

3920-434: The secondary post-season event in existence since 2009 from which the winner is promoted from Division B to Division A. ( see Competition structure#Promotion Final for more) The table also shows which defending Division A team failed to defend their place in the top tier during the Promotion Final and were therefore relegated (if applicable). The promoted teams are also listed because, in some seasons, more teams than simply

3990-406: The sport across all confederations to start in 2006, all responsibility was handed to BSWW to organise and execute such events, with FIFA only supervising. Since then, BSWW has continued to develop the sport worldwide, now aided greatly with FIFA's beach soccer training courses and refereeing. The Euro Beach Soccer League (dropping the pro from the title in 2004 as it was no longer reflecting of

4060-653: The sport and competitions to gain recognition and backing of football's governing body. By 2002, FIFA had come to an agreement with BSWW to adopt the rules and regulations that had been established over the previous decade, with some minor changes to ensure FIFA's interest in key components of regular football were respected and acknowledging key major tournaments in the sport including the World Championships. During this time, BSWW also brought on board major sponsors such as MasterCard , McDonald's and Coca-Cola for certain time period. The involvement with FIFA

4130-608: The sport grew quickly. In 1996, the Pro Beach Soccer Tour (PBST) was created by Beach Soccer Company (BSC) – a series of exhibition events across the world, totalling in 60 games by the end of 1997. In Europe, the interest generated was particularly prevalent. Unsatisfied with the status quo, representatives of six European beach soccer promoter entities met with the Graham family and Gabby Roe of BSC at Le Méridien hotel in Monte Carlo , Monaco , to discuss how to collectively grow

4200-481: The sport's key regulations, FIFA acknowledged BSWW's framework, making their rules the official laws of beach soccer and now controls them and any modifications. Today, under the recognition of FIFA, BSWW continues to be main organisation that organises beach soccer tournaments and development (with FIFA's assistance) around the world, mainly in Europe, including the Euro Beach Soccer League, BSWW exhibition tour events and others, having involved over 110 national teams in

4270-428: The sport, as well as newly founded club competitions. Its founders also established the Beach Soccer World Championships ; BSWW created a partnership with FIFA , FIFA Beach Soccer S.L. , in 2005 to manage the tournament as the newly named FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup , the only major international beach soccer tournament that BSWW does not have a hand in organising but which is all the management of FIFA. Members of

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4340-424: The stage are declared stage winners and receive a trophy. The following tables list every nation that has ever won a stage and how many stages in total they have won, by division. For comparison, the number of stages said team has ever played in that division in order to achieve the number of stage victories is also shown. This table shows the teams which have won Division A regular season stages. This table shows

4410-426: The start of each season. An eight team group from 2009 to 2012, the size of the top division has been fixed at 12 since 2013 , seeing four extra teams promoted at the end of the 2012 season . However, teams returning after an absence from competing and new nations debuting are placed into the bottom division, hence its size, and the overall number nations participating in the league, has varied every season throughout

4480-504: The summer. The top teams at the end of the Division A regular season then proceeded to the Superfinal to contest the league title as usual. (see defunct formats for more) Having switched from Monte Carlo to Marseille in 2005, BSWW made the French city the Superfinal's permanent new home for 2006 and 2007 . Its impressive hosting was key in FIFA 's decision to award the city as hosts of

4550-428: The teams which have won Division B regular season stages since the division was introduced in 2002. The following teams have previously competed in Division A or B but currently have zero stage victories in that division. The notes that apply to the above two tables also apply here. The Superfinal is the post-season event in which the nations with the most points at the end of the regular season qualify to play in, with

4620-479: The top four every season from 2007–19, the Russians have cemented their position as a superpower. During this period Portugal have continued to be a dominant side, becoming only the second team after Spain (1999–2001) to win three titles in a row (2019–2022), to move clear as the record-holding champions, now with eight. Meanwhile, Switzerland and Ukraine claimed their maiden crowns, and Belarus have also broken into

4690-478: The top scorer, MVP and best goalkeeper at the conclusion every event of their organisation. However, in 2014, BSWW took this concept of awards to a new level, establishing beach soccer's first annual end of season awards ceremony , taking place during November in Dubai . The ceremony, a gala event attended by many of the world's leading figures in the sport, celebrates the achievements of top performers worldwide over

4760-450: The winner becoming league champions. The table below lists all the teams who have ever qualified for Superfinal and the total number of times said team has appeared in the event. Portugal are the only team to appear in all 22 Superfinals. Of the eight winners of the EBSL, Switzerland appeared in most Superfinals before finally winning the title, claiming the crown at their ninth attempt. Meanwhile, Poland and Belarus have appeared in

4830-624: Was created by BSWW to tackle three main issues surrounding the sport: Austria national beach soccer team The Austria national beach soccer team represents Austria in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the ÖFB , the governing body for football in Austria . Correct as of January 2011 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Coach: Gustav Stieglitz This article about an Austrian football club

4900-494: Was furthered in 2004 when FIFA Beach Soccer S.L. was established in agreement and partnership with BSWW, to take over responsibility of the World Championships, being beach soccer's primary tournament, to become an official FIFA competition. The newly named FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup would start in 2005, with BSWW staff acting as advisers. It was also agreed that FIFA would become the sport's governing body, taking over from BSWW. However at this time FIFA also recognised BSWW as

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