FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

CONMEBOL qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Organizing bodyCONMEBOL
Founded2006
Abolished2022
RegionSouth America
Number of teams10
Qualifier forFIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Last champion(s) Brazil (8th title)
Most successful team(s)Brazil Brazil (8 titles)
Websiteconmebol.com
2021 CONMEBOL qualifiers

The CONMEBOL qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (natively in Spanish: Eliminatorias CONMEBOL al Mundial de la FIFA de Fútbol Playa),[1][2] previously known as the South American Beach Soccer Championship (Spanish: Sudamericano de Fútbol Playa),[3] was the main championship for beach soccer in South America,[4] contested between the senior men's national teams of the members of CONMEBOL.

The tournament acted as the qualification route for South American nations to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[1] The winners of the championship were also crowned continental champions. 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 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).[5] The first edition was preceded by a joint qualification tournament between CONMEBOL and CONCACAF in 2005; a second and final joint event was held in 2007.[6][7] FIFA currently allocate South America three berths at the World Cup[8] and hence the top three teams (the winners, runners-up and third place play-off winner) qualify to the World Cup finals.

Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) originally organized the competition[9] under the title FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup CONMEBOL qualifier.[10] In 2013, CONMEBOL began reporting on the event using the aforementioned Sudamericano title[11] (which the tournament became informally known as) before taking organizational control under a new title in 2017.

In July 2022, CONMEBOL decided to interrupt the tournament since CONMEBOL's representatives in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup would be determined via the Copa América de Beach Soccer,[12] a tournament established by CONMEBOL in 2016 but which did not grant places for the World Cup.

Brazil were the last champions and the most successful nation with eight titles. They also won the 2005 joint event.

  1. ^ a b "Eliminatorias de Fútbol Playa - Paraguay 2017" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 18 February 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  2. ^ "First points fly to Paraguay, Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Sudamericano de Fútbol Playa" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  4. ^ "En Conferencia de Prensa dieron detalles de las Eliminatorias de Playa" (in Spanish). Paraguayan Football Association. 4 February 2017. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ "En Conmebol lanzan Eliminatorias del Mundial de Fútbol Playa Bahamas 2017" (in Spanish). Paraguayan Football Association. 19 January 2017. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  7. ^ "About the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship". CONCACAF. 2015. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  8. ^ "World Cup gets bigger". FIFA. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  9. ^ "Regulations FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2006" (PDF). fifa.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ Gaich, Rémi (11 January 2016). BSWW competitions / National teams. Barcelona: Beach Soccer Worldwide. pp. 14, 15, 19.
  11. ^ "Argentina and their first beach soccer title". CONMEBOL. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  12. ^ "Calendario de torneos de la CONMEBOL 2023" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 7 July 2022.