2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Copa Mundial de Fútbol Playa de la FIFA Paraguay 2019
Tournament details
Host countryParaguay
Dates21 November – 1 December
Teams16 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Portugal (2nd title)
Runners-up Italy
Third place Russia
Fourth place Japan
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored286 (8.94 per match)
Attendance34,997 (1,094 per match)
Top scorer(s)Italy Gabriele Gori (16 goals)
Best player(s)Japan Ozu Moreira
Best goalkeeperPortugal Elinton Andrade
Fair play award Senegal
← 2017
2021 →

The 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the 10th FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the premier international beach soccer championship contested by men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. Overall, this was the 20th 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. This was the fifth tournament to take place under the biennial basis; the World Cup now takes place once every two years, having taken place annually until 2009.

The tournament was confirmed publicly on 3 November 2017, during the annual FIFA Beach Soccer Workshop in Dubai as part of the recently renewed partnership between FIFA and Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW).[1] In October 2018, it was announced that the tournament would take place in Paraguay in the city of Luque, near the capital, Asunción,[2] between 21 November and 1 December 2019.[3][4][5] Fifteen teams advanced through preliminary continental qualification competitions, which started in September 2018 and ended in July 2019, to join the hosts in the final tournament which included Belarus as the sole team making their debut at the finals[6] and notably saw the third placed team of the previous edition, Iran, fail to qualify.[7] This was the first FIFA tournament to be hosted by Paraguay, the first edition of the World Cup held in South America since 2007, and the first time a landlocked country hosted beach soccer's principal event.[8]

Following two narrow loses, hosts Paraguay were eliminated at the group stage.[9] Brazil were the defending champions, but were defeated at the quarter-finals stage by Russia in what was a repeat of the scenario of 2015,[10] thereby condemning Brazil to their joint-worst ever result. Portugal won the tournament, besting Italy in the final to claim their second FIFA World Cup crown (following 2015) and third world title overall (including the 2001 World Championships);[11] Italy collected a second runners-up medal, following 2008.[12] For the first time, the podium teams were all European nations.[13] Japan finished fourth, matching their best ever placing previously achieved in 2005.[13] A joint-record tally of 286 goals were scored (with 2006).[13]

Madjer of Portugal made his last international beach soccer tournament appearance at this competition. The all-time top scorer of the competition, often heralded as the best player of all time, announced his retirement following the final, aged 42.[14]

  1. ^ "FIFA Beach Soccer Workshop held in Dubai". beachsoccer.com. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Luz, cámara, Mundial 2019" (in Spanish). Paraguayan Football Association. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  3. ^ "FIFA Council makes key decisions for the future of football development". FIFA.com. 26 October 2018. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Organising Committee meets in Zurich". FIFA.com. 4 March 2019.
  5. ^ "FIFA Council decides on key steps for upcoming international tournaments". FIFA.com. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Beach soccer's finest ready for Asuncion challenge". FIFA.com. 20 November 2019. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Japan reclaim crown, Iran miss out on Paraguay 2019". FIFA.com. 18 March 2019. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  8. ^ "African elite converge for beach showpiece". FIFA.com. 7 December 2018. Archived from the original on 8 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  9. ^ "Paraguay's pride and pain after early exit". FIFA.com. 26 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  10. ^ "Russia's Romanov delights in repeat of 2015 heroics". FIFA.com. 28 November 2019. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Portugal vence Itália por 6 a 4 e conquista a Copa do Mundo de futebol de areia pela segunda vez" (in Portuguese). globoesporte. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Portugal on top of the world, Italy and Russia claim silver and bronze". FIFA.com. 2 December 2019. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  13. ^ a b c "Portugal and Europe dominant once more". FIFA.com. 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Thanks for the memories". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.