 Logo of the Superfinal of the 2016 EBSL (A new style of logo was introduced for the 2016 season, replacing the old style in use since 2009.) | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host countries | Russia Spain Hungary Italy |
| Dates | 1 July – 28 August 2016 |
| Teams | 26 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Ukraine (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Portugal |
| Third place |  Russia |
| Fourth place |  Spain |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 84 |
| Goals scored | 681 (8.11 per match) |
← 2015 2017 → | |
The 2016 Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) was the 19th edition of the annual, premier European competition in beach soccer contested between men's national teams, in a league and play-off format, taking place between 1 July and 28 August 2016.
This season a record 26 teams took part in two divisions. Twelve teams continued to contest Division A as in recent seasons, consisting of the top eleven finishers from the previous year plus Romania who were promoted. Whilst Division B was expanded to accommodate fourteen nations; those who did not gain promotion from the previous season, returning and debuting nations, plus Hungary who were relegated from the top tier.
This season there were three stages of fixtures. Each team from Division A played in two stages whilst each team from Division B played in one, earning points for the overall league tables.
At the end of the stages, according to the league tables, the eight best teams in Division A advanced to the Superfinal to compete to become the winners of this year's EBSL. Meanwhile, the top seven teams in Division B and the team ranked bottom of Division A played in the Promotion final to try to earn a spot in Division A next year.
Azerbaijan were promoted to Division A for the first time after beating Hungary in the Promotion Final who were looking to be promoted straight back up in their first season after relegation. Romania finished last in Division A and failed to defend their place in the Promotion Final and were therefore subsequently relegated straight back down to Division B having been promoted in 2015.
Ukraine won the league after a strong performance in the Superfinal, despite only finishing sixth after the preliminary three stages were complete, claiming their first EBSL title, defeating defending champions Portugal in the final in a repeat of the previous season's title deciding match.