Beach Soccer at the European Games
Organising bodiesEOC
BSWW
RegionEurope (UEFA)
Men's event
EG event since2015; 9 years ago (2015)
Number of teams8
Current champions  Switzerland (1st title)
Most successful team(s) Russia
 Portugal
  Switzerland
(1 title each)
Women's event
EG event since2023; 1 year ago (2023)
Number of teams6
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

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

Year Location Gold medal match Bronze medal match
Gold medalists Score Silver medalists Bronze medalists Score Fourth place
2015
details
Azerbaijan Baku, Azerbaijan
Russia
3–2
Italy

Portugal
6–5
Switzerland
2019
details
Belarus Minsk, Belarus
Portugal
8–3
Spain

Switzerland
5–4
Ukraine
2023
details
Poland Kraków, Poland
Switzerland
5–2
Italy

Spain
5–5 (a.e.t.)
(2–0 p)

Portugal

Performance

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Portugal (POR)1012
 Switzerland (SUI)1012
3 Russia (RUS)1001
4 Italy (ITA)0202
5 Spain (ESP)0112
Totals (5 entries)3339

All-time top goalscorers

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

Sources: 2015, 2019, 2023.

Overall standings

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

Key
Year
Team
2015
Azerbaijan
(8)
2019
Belarus
(8)
2023
Poland
(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

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

Year Location Gold medal match Bronze medal match
Gold medalists Score Silver medalists Bronze medalists Score Fourth place
2023
details
Poland Kraków, Poland
Spain
2–2 (a.e.t.)
(5–3 p)

Ukraine

Portugal
2–2 (a.e.t.)
(3–0 p)

Poland

Performance

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Spain (ESP)1001
2 Ukraine (UKR)0101
3 Portugal (POR)0011
Totals (3 entries)1113

Overall standings

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

Key
Year
Team
2023
Poland
(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

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "European Games Minsk 2019". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Qualification System – Beach Soccer" (PDF). Minsk 2019. March 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. ^ "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – 3RD EUROPEAN GAMES - KRAKOW & MALOPOLSKA 2023" (PDF). European Olympic Committees. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  6. ^ "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