| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 20 June – 24 August |
| Teams | 17 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Portugal (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  Netherlands |
| Third place |  Russia |
| Fourth place |  Italy |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 36 |
| Goals scored | 309 (8.58 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Madjer (11 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Madjer |
| Best goalkeeper | Ran Reijer |
← 2007 2009 → | |
The 2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, was the eleventh edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the premier beach soccer competition contested between European men's national teams, occurring annually since its establishment in 1998. The league was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) between June 20 and August 24, 2008.
Unprecedented organisational changes had to be made to the EBSL in 2008 leading to a drastically shorter season than usual – just two regular season stages were scheduled due to a clash of dates with the arrangements of the 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the first edition to take place in Europe. As a result of the shorter season, BSWW also abandoned the concept of Divisions A and B, opting to have the teams compete in one collective division regardless of ability.
Portugal entered the tournament as defending champions and successfully retained their title, beating the Netherlands in the final to claim their third European crown.[1] Portugal became only the second team after Spain to defend the EBSL crown as incumbent champions, after the Spanish did so twice in 2000 and 2001. The Netherlands, as runners-up, claimed their best finish and only top four placing to date.
This was the first time this decade that the league did not double as the European qualification process for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. In 2008, a dedicated World Cup qualifying competition for UEFA nations was established, replacing the EBSL as the qualifying route for European teams from this year onward.[2]
- ^ "Portugal win the Superfinal". englandbeachsoccer.com. 27 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ "Euro Beach Soccer League 2008". englandbeachsoccer.com. 2 July 2008. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2017.