AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup
Organising bodyAFC
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
RegionAsia
Number of teams~16
Qualifier forFIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Current champions Iran (3rd title)
Most successful team(s) Iran
 Japan
(3 titles each)
Websiteafc.com
2023 AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

The AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup is the main championship for beach soccer in Asia, contested between the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the sport's version of the better known AFC Asian Cup in association football.

The winners of the championship are crowned continental champions; the tournament also acts as the qualification route for Asian nations to the upcoming edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[1] Coinciding with the annual staging of the World Cup, the competition took place yearly until 2009; the World Cup then became biennial, and as its supplementary qualification event, the championship followed suit.

The championship was established in 2006 after FIFA made it a requirement for all confederations to begin holding qualification tournaments to determine the best national team(s) in their region who would proceed to represent their continent in the upcoming World Cup (previously, nations were simply invited to play, without having to earn their place).[2] FIFA currently allocate Asia three berths at the World Cup[3] and hence top three teams qualify to the World Cup finals.[1]

Asia's governing body for football, the AFC, organise the championship. However, it was not originally an AFC competition – it was created by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW)[4] under the title, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup AFC qualifier;[5][6] they organised the first six editions. During this time it also became informally known by the misnomer, the AFC Beach Soccer Championship.[7] In 2015, the AFC adopted the competition and branded it using its informal title in an official capacity; they jointly organised that year's edition with BSWW.[8] Since 2017, the AFC have been sole organisers.[1] For 2021, the competition was renamed as the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup, bringing it in line with the naming of other AFC senior national tournaments.[9]

Japan are the most successful nation with three titles and having also qualified for the World Cup on every occasion.

  1. ^ a b c AFC Beach Soccer Championship 2017 Competition Regulations. Asian Football Confederation. 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  2. ^ "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 qualifiers to start in Brazil on 5 March". FIFA. 3 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  3. ^ "World Cup gets bigger". FIFA. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Regulations FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2006" (PDF). fifa.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  5. ^ Gaich, Rémi (11 January 2016). BSWW competitions / National teams. Barcelona: Beach Soccer Worldwide. pp. 14, 15, 19.
  6. ^ FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2015 - AFC Qualifier Qatar Archived 2020-10-20 at the Wayback Machine. Beach Soccer Worldwide. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  7. ^ See the following for examples: [1]; [2]; [3][dead link]; [4]; [5]; [6].
  8. ^ FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015 – AFC Qualifier Qatar Regulations. Asian Football Confederation. 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  9. ^ "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". AFC. 2 October 2020.