Organizing body | CONCACAF |
---|---|
Founded | 2006 |
Region | North America, Central America and the Caribbean |
Number of teams | 12–16 |
Qualifier for | FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup |
Current champion(s) | United States (3rd title) |
Most successful team(s) | Mexico (4 titles) |
Website | concacaf.com |
2023 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship |
The CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship is the main championship for beach soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, contested between senior men's national teams of the members of CONCACAF.[1] It is the sport's version of the better known CONCACAF Gold Cup in association football. North America's governing body for football, CONCACAF, organize the championship,[2] with cooperation from Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW).[3]
The winners of the championship are crowned continental champions;[4] the tournament also acts as the qualification route for North American nations to the upcoming edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup[1] and is therefore also known as the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup CONCACAF qualifier.[5] Coinciding with the annual staging of the World Cup, the competition took place yearly until 2010; 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 and hence those 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).[6] The first edition was preceded by a joint qualification tournament with CONMEBOL in 2005; a second and final joint event was held in 2007.[7][8] FIFA currently allocate North America two berths at the World Cup[9] and hence the top two teams (the winners and the runners-up) qualify to the World Cup finals.[5]
Mexico are the most successful nation with four titles.[10] They are followed by the United States with three titles (also current champions), El Salvador with two and Panama with one.