| Campeonato do Mundo de Futebol de Praia da FIFA Portugal 2015 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Portugal |
| City | Espinho |
| Dates | 9–19 July |
| Teams | 16 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Portugal (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Tahiti |
| Third place |  Russia |
| Fourth place |  Italy |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 253 (7.91 per match) |
| Attendance | 96,300 (3,009 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Pedro Moran Madjer Noel Ott(8 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Heimanu Taiarui |
| Best goalkeeper | Jonathan Torohia |
| Fair play award |  Brazil |
The 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the premier international beach soccer competition for men's national teams, which has been organized by FIFA since 2005. Overall, this was the 18th edition of a world cup in beach soccer since the establishment of the Beach Soccer World Championships which ran from 1995 to 2004 but was not governed by FIFA. It was also the third edition to take place under the biennial system introduced in 2009.
The tournament took place from 9 to 19 July 2015 at Praia da Baía in Espinho, Portugal,[1] after the country's bid was selected by the FIFA Executive Committee on 28 May 2013, from among twelve proposals. This was the second time that Portugal hosted a FIFA competition, after the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship. Fifteen teams advanced through their respective continental qualification competitions to join the host team in the final tournament. The final draw occurred on 28 April 2015 at the Espinho Multimedia Auditorium,[2] setting up a total of 32 matches that were played at the Espinho Stadium – a purpose-built temporary venue with a capacity of 3,500 – and attended by a total of 96,300 people.
After missing the previous edition, Portugal reached the final – eliminating two-time defending champions Russia in the semi-finals – and defeated first-time finalists Tahiti 5–3 to claim their second world title and their first in the FIFA era.[3] Alan and Madjer were the only two surviving players from the Portuguese squad that won their previous world title in 2001 to also win these championships.[4]
- ^ "Fut. Praia: Datas do Mundial confirmadas" (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
- ^ "Espinho presents XIX Mundialito Futebol de Praia... and announces FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015!". Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW). 23 July 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ "Portugal claim historic trophy win". Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). 19 July 2015. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- ^ "Portugal's Beach Soccer World Cup triumph shines light on emerging sport". ESPN. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.