| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1 June – 7 September |
| Teams | 10 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 11 (in 11 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Portugal (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Spain |
| Third place |  France |
| Fourth place |  Turkey |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 67 |
| Goals scored | 733 (10.94 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Alan |
| Best player(s) |  Gianni Fruzzetti |
| Best goalkeeper | Roberto Valeiro |
← 2001 2003 → | |
Southern Group events
Northern Group events
SuperfinalThe 2002 Euro Beach Soccer League, was the fifth edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the premier beach soccer competition contested between European men's national teams, known as the European Pro Beach Soccer League at the time, occurring annually since its establishment in 1998. The league was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) between June 1 and September 7, 2002 in nine different nations across Europe.
This season BSWW introduced Divisions to the EBSL for the first time; the nations of the league were split into two groups based on similar levels of ability. These groups were known as the Southern and Northern groups, named so after the roughly similar geographical locations in Europe the nations in the respective divisions could be found. The Southern group consisted of the best 4 nations of the EBSL and was considered as the top division. Whilst the Northern group consisted of the other teams of lesser ability and was considered the lower division of the two. The difference in abilities of the two divisions was reflected in there being less Superfinal qualification spots available for the Northern group.[1]
Each team competed in their respective division/group to try and earn a place in the season-finale event, the Superfinal, in which the league title was then contested directly.[2]
Spain entered the competition as three-time defending champions. However it was Portugal, who having finished runners-up in the league for the last two years, finally found success and claimed their maiden European title by beating the Spanish in the final.[3][4]
The league also doubled as the qualification process for the 2003 Beach Soccer World Championship. The nations finishing in first, second and third place qualified.[5]
- ^ "EPBSL 2002 New structure". beachsoccer.com. 19 August 2002. Archived from the original on 7 March 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Calendar – June 2002". beachsoccer.com. June 2002. Archived from the original on 16 June 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "PORTUGAL definitely the winner". beachsoccer.com. 7 September 2002. Archived from the original on 13 October 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "PORTUGAL wins the EPBSL 2002 after 4 consecutive attempts". beachsoccer.com. 7 September 2002. Archived from the original on 13 October 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
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