Beach Soccer at the European Games
 | |
| Organising bodies | EOC BSWW |
|---|---|
| Region | Europe (UEFA) |
| Men's event | |
| EG event since | 2015 |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Current champions |  Switzerland (1st title) |
| Most successful team(s) |  Russia Portugal Switzerland(1 title each) |
| Women's event | |
| EG event since | 2023 |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Current champions |  Spain (1st title) |
| Most successful team(s) | Spain (1 title) |
Beach Soccer has been part of each edition of the European Games (EG) – a quadrennial, multi-sport event – since the inaugural edition in 2015 as a men's sport,[1] and since the third edition in 2023 as a women's sport.[2] The competition is under the direction of the European Olympic Committees (EOCs);[3] beach soccer's governing bodies (FIFA and UEFA) are represented by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) at the Games.[4]
Men's tournament
[edit]Eight teams take part. The hosts qualify automatically; of the most recent edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the top six teams of the Superfinal and winners of the Promotion Final also qualify. To participate, nations must be members of both the EOCs and UEFA.[4]
Portugal and Switzerland are most successful nations having won a total of two medals, including one gold each.
Results
[edit]| Year | Location | Gold medal match | Bronze medal match | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold medalists | Score | Silver medalists | Bronze medalists | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 2015 details |
 Baku, Azerbaijan
|
 Russia |
3–2 |  Italy |
 Portugal |
6–5 |  Switzerland | ||
| 2019 details |
 Minsk, Belarus
|
Portugal |
8–3 |  Spain |
Switzerland |
5–4 |  Ukraine | ||
| 2023 details |
 Kraków, Poland
|
 Switzerland |
5–2 | Italy |
Spain |
5–5 (a.e.t.) (2–0 p) |
Portugal | ||
Performance
[edit]Medal table
[edit]| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Portugal (POR) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
 Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 3 |  Russia (RUS) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 |  Italy (ITA) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 |  Spain (ESP) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Totals (5 entries) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
All-time top goalscorers
[edit]As of 2023
The following table shows the all-time goalscorers (minimum 10 goals).
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dejan Stankovic | Switzerland |
25 | 2023 top scorer (11 goals) |
| 2 | Gabriele Gori |  Italy |
18 | 2019 top scorer (11 goals) |
| 3 | Léo Martins | Portugal |
14 | |
| 4 | Chiky Ardil | Spain |
13 | |
| Noël Ott | Switzerland
| |||
| Emmanuele Zurlo | Italy
| |||
| 7 | Belchior | Portugal |
11 | 2015 top scorer (8 goals) |
| 8 | Llorenç Gómez | Spain |
10 | |
| Bê Martins | Portugal
| |||
| Antonio Mayor | Spain
| |||
| Jordan Santos | Portugal
|
Overall standings
[edit]As of 2023
| Pos | Team | App | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal
|
3 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 78 | 51 | +27 | 31 | 2.07 |
| 2 | Italy
|
3 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 72 | 57 | +15 | 26 | 1.73 |
| 3 | Spain
|
3 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 69 | 58 | +11 | 25 | 1.67 |
| 4 | Switzerland
|
3 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 77 | 59 | +18 | 24 | 1.60 |
| 5 |  Ukraine
|
3 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 58 | 63 | –5 | 19 | 1.27 |
| 6 | Russia
|
2 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 16 | 1.60 |
| 7 | Belarus
|
1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 7 | 1.40 |
| 8 | Azerbaijan
|
2 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 28 | 49 | –21 | 5 | 0.50 |
| 9 | Poland
|
1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 25 | –7 | 3 | 0.60 |
| 10 |  Hungary
|
1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 21 | –7 | 3 | 0.60 |
| 11 |  Moldova
|
1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 31 | –8 | 3 | 0.60 |
| 12 |  Romania
|
1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 39 | –31 | 0 | 0.00 |
Key: Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out WP = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points / Points per game PPG
Appearances & performance timeline
[edit]- Key
|
|
Year Team
|
2015 (8) |
2019 (8) |
2023 (8) |
Apps ⁄3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azerbaijan
|
8th | × | 5th | 2 | |
| Belarus
|
× | 7th | × | 1 | |
| Hungary
|
7th | × | × | 1 | |
| Italy
|
S | 5th | S | 3 | |
| Moldova
|
× | × | 6th | 1 | |
| Poland
|
× | × | 8th | 1 | |
| Portugal
|
B | G | 4th | 3 | |
| Romania
|
× | 8th | × | 1 | |
| Russia
|
G | 6th | ×× | 2 | |
| Spain
|
5th | S | B | 3 | |
| Switzerland
|
4th | B | G | 3 | |
| Ukraine
|
6th | 4th | 7th | 3 | |
| 12 nations | |||||
Women's tournament
[edit]Six teams take part. The hosts qualify automatically; of the most recent edition of the Women's Euro Beach Soccer League (WEBSL), the top five teams of the Superfinal qualify. To participate, nations must be members of both the EOCs and UEFA.[5] For the 2023 edition, England finished in one of the qualification spots via the WEBSL.[6] However, because England does not have an independent EOC, they could not compete at the Games and so were replaced by the Czech Republic.
Results
[edit]| Year | Location | Gold medal match | Bronze medal match | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold medalists | Score | Silver medalists | Bronze medalists | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 2023 details |
Kraków, Poland
|
Spain |
2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p) |
Ukraine |
Portugal |
2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–0 p) |
 Poland | ||
Performance
[edit]Medal table
[edit]| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain (ESP) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 |  Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Portugal (POR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (3 entries) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
Overall standings
[edit]As of 2023
| Pos | Team | App | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain
|
1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 8 | 2.00 |
| 2 | Portugal
|
1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 7 | 1.75 |
| 3 | Ukraine
|
1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 6 | 1.50 |
| 4 | Poland
|
1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 3 | 0.75 |
| 5 | Italy
|
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0.67 |
| 6 |  Czech Republic
|
1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 13 | –9 | 0 | 0.00 |
Key: Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out WP = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points / Points per game PPG
Appearances & performance timeline
[edit]- Key
|
|
Year Team
|
2023 (8) |
Apps ⁄1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic
|
6th | 1 | |||
| Italy
|
5th | 1 | |||
| Poland
|
4th | 1 | |||
| Portugal
|
B | 1 | |||
| Spain
|
G | 1 | |||
| Ukraine
|
S | 1 | |||
| 6 nations | |||||
See also
[edit]- Beach soccer at the African Beach Games
- Beach soccer at the Asian Beach Games
- Beach soccer at the South American Beach Games
References
[edit]- ^ Crawford, Alex (27 May 2014). "Beach soccer at Baku 2015 will showcase a growing and innovative form of the "beautiful game"". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- ^ Palmer, Dan (16 May 2023). "Holders to meet hosts as 2023 European Games beach soccer draw made". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
A women's beach soccer tournament has not been held at the European Games before.
- ^ "European Games Minsk 2019". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ a b "Qualification System – Beach Soccer" (PDF). Minsk 2019. March 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – 3RD EUROPEAN GAMES - KRAKOW & MALOPOLSKA 2023" (PDF). European Olympic Committees. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- ^ "Italy and Spain to meet in the EBSL final". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 10 September 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
England to join Spain, Italy, Ukraine and Portugal at the 2023 European Games in Krakow
External links
[edit]- Beach Soccer Worldwide, official website
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