FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
| Founded | 1995 (rebranded in 2005) |
|---|---|
| Region | International (FIFA) |
| Number of teams | 16 (final tournament) 85 (2015 qualification) |
| Current champions |
 Portugal(1st title, 2 overall) |
| Most successful team(s) |
 Brazil(4 titles, 13 overall) |
| Website | Beach Soccer World Cup |
 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
|
|
.jpg)
A scene from the 2006 World Cup
|
|
| World Championships (pre-FIFA) | |
|---|---|
| FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups | |
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body.
The tournament was established in 1995 as the Beach Soccer World Championship, taking place every year for the next decade under the supervision of Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) and its predecessors. Due to the sport's rapid growth, FIFA took an interest in the sport, and as the main tournament in world beach soccer, joined hands with BSWW over the organization of the competition in 2005, re-branding it as an official FIFA tournament. Since 2009, the tournament has taken place every two years to allow continental tournaments to flourish without the burden of the World Cup qualifiers crowding the schedule every 12 months. The growing global popularity of beach soccer resulted in FIFA's decision to move the stage of the World Cup from its native home in Brazil to other parts of the globe to capitalise on and continue to stimulate global interest. The first edition held outside Brazil was in 2008 in Marseille, France.
The current tournament format lasts over 10 days and involves 16 teams competing initially in four groups of four teams. The group winners and runners-up advance to a series of knock-out stages until the champion is crowned. The losing semi-finalists play each other in a play-off match to determine the third and fourth-placed teams.
The most recent edition was held in Espinho, Portugal, and crowned Portugal as champions for the second time – first under the patronage of FIFA – after defeating Tahiti 5–3 in the final.
The first Beach Soccer World Cup was held in Brazil, in 1995, organised by the precursors to the modern-day founders of the standardised rules, Beach Soccer Worldwide, held under the title Beach Soccer World Championship. Eight teams were selected to take part, without going through a qualification process. However Brazil, the hosts, dominated and easily won the cup without losing a game. The tournament was successful and BSWW announced that the competition would take place every year.
...
Wikipedia