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. 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).
Originally, the
Euro Beach Soccer League
The Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) is the premier competition in beach soccer contested between European men's national teams. The competition has been held annually since its establishment in 1998, making it the oldest beach soccer tournament in ...
(EBSL) doubled as Europe's qualification tournament;
[Spain back among the best](_blank)
FIFA.com. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2020.[Russians heading for Rio](_blank)
FIFA.com. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2020. in 2008, this separate championship was created as the European qualification route.
The Euroleague and the World Cup have parted ways ...">/nowiki>The Euroleague and the World Cup have parted ways .../nowiki> (in Russian). beachsoccer.ru. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2020. FIFA currently allocate Europe five berths at the World Cup and hence the top five teams qualify to the World Cup finals.
">ee notes/sup> Coinciding with the annual staging of the World Cup, the competition took place yearly until 2010; the World Cup then became biennial
Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years.
In particular, it can refer to:
* Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...
, and as its supplementary qualification event, the championship followed suit.
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 know ...
(BSWW) have organised the event since its inception. Europe's governing body for football, UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
, only began involvement in 2019 – sending delegates and financial support. Unlike the World Cup qualifiers for UEFA in football, it is a knockout tournament
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
with a champion crowned. Its large scale and competitiveness are often noted, making it viewed as a major title to win.[Сверхъестественный отбор. Как в Европе сражаются за путёвки на чемпионат мира](_blank)
(in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
are the most successful team with four titles. However, Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
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
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
, they now must qualify (previously, most teams entered by invitation). Qualification tournaments were subsequently established in all continental zones, except for Europe. 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
The Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) is the premier competition in beach soccer contested between European men's national teams. The competition has been held annually since its establishment in 1998, making it the oldest beach soccer tournament in ...
(EBSL) earned qualification to the upcoming edition of the World Cup. Thus, the EBSL continued to double as the qualifying route for European teams.
In 2008, FIFA proclaimed that the next editions of the World Cup would take place in different countries.[Marseille: see you next year](_blank)
FIFA.com. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2020. Until that point, all World Cups had been held in Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
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
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, and during a different time of the year – in July. The usual European qualification route, the EBSL, was not due to conclude until weeks after the World Cup had taken place. This separate knockout tournament
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
, 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. It "made history", becoming the biggest international beach soccer event ever held at the time with 24 participants.Spanish Castellón to host Beach Soccer European Qualifier
Banderas News. February 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2020. It has since returned in all future years as Europe's qualification tournament. The organisers, 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 know ...
(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).
Performance
Successful nations
Awards
All-time top goalscorers
''As of 2021''
The following table shows the all-time top 25 goalscorers.
Source: Match reports. (However, note that some match reports are incomplete resulting in nine undocumented goalscorers (Italy 4, Azerbaijan 4, Romania 1) which, if they were to be known, may affect the table below.).
All-time table
''As of 2021''
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
* – Champions
* – Runners-up
* – Third place
* – Fourth place
* – Fifth place (if qualified to World Cup)
*5th...16th – Fifth to sixteenth place
*R3 – Round 3 (Quarter-finals or 2nd group stage)
*R2 – Round 2 (round of 16)
*R1 – Round 1 (group stage)
*•• – Entered but withdrew
*× – Did not enter
* – Did not enter (because already qualified to World Cup as hosts)
* – Hosts
*Apps – No. of appearances
;Timeline
Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup
The following is a performance timeline of the UEFA teams who have gone on to appear in the World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
, having qualified from the above events.
;Legend
* – Champions
* – Runners-up
* – Third place
* – Fourth place
* – Hosts (qualify automatically)
*QF – Quarter-finals
*R1 – Round 1 (group stage)
*•• – Qualified but withdrew
*q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
*Total – Total times qualified for World Cup
;Timeline
Notes
*The fifth placed team does not always qualify to the World Cup:
*RFU:
References
External links
Beach Soccer Worldwide
official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup Qualification (Uefa)
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Recurring sporting events established in 2008
2008 establishments in Europe