Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup
Organising bodyBSWW and DSC
Founded2011
RegionInternational (FIFA)
Number of teams8
Current champions Iran (4th title)
Most successful team(s) Iran
 Russia
(each with 4 titles)
WebsiteBSWW
2022 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup

The Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup is an international beach soccer tournament which is held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates every November as the finale of the competitive international beach soccer season. The invitation-only tournament has been held annually since the inaugural edition in 2011.[1]

The Intercontinental Cup is second only to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup as the largest and most prestigious event on the international beach soccer circuit,[2] featuring an exclusive assembly of the world's very best national teams from each continent. Since the World Cup is a biannual competition, this event is now the most important annual international beach soccer tournament.[3]

The competition bares many similarities to the FIFA Confederations Cup in association football,[4] with each of the six confederations of FIFA (UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC) represented by at least one nation,[5] however is not so strict on entry requirements – those countries competing do not necessarily have to be regional champions, but nevertheless will still be one of the best performing nations from their confederation's most recent regional championship.[6][7] The tournament hosts and reigning World Cup champions also take part, taking the total number of participants to eight.

Samsung was the lead sponsor and presenting partner of the tournament from its inception until 2016. Huawei became new lead sponsors for 2017–18.[8] The Dubai Sports Council (DSC) and Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) organise the competition.[9]

Russia and Iran are the most successful teams, having won four tournaments each. Iran is also the current champions.

Organisation

Foundation

Brazil, pictured here in 2015, are 3 times champions

Dubai first hosted a beach soccer event in 2000[10] and since 2006, the city began holding annual events, culminating with the hosting of beach soccer's premier event in 2009, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[11] During 2009, Emirates and FIFA struck an agreement to have the former sponsor and fund football tournaments worldwide. In connection to this deal, Dubai was offered to host an event in either youth football, women's football or beach soccer. DSC decided on beach soccer following the success and popularity of the World Cup.[7]

BSWW were also keen on returning beach soccer to Dubai, with Vice-president Joan Cusco claiming Dubai as beach soccer's "second most important city in this sport" save for Rio de Janeiro.[11] After using the time in 2010 to consider how to take beach soccer forward in the city following the World Cup success, an agreement was made between BSWW and DSC in 2011 to host the new Intercontinental Cup.[11]

It was desired by BSWW to have the tournament respect the legacy and be a celebration of the 2009 Dubai World Cup.[12] Therefore, it was believed the idea of the competition, featuring the world's very best teams from each continent, modelled notably similarly to association football's secondary international event, the FIFA Confederations Cup,[4] would be best suited to achieve these goals.[11] After a successful maiden event in 2011, BSWW and DSC decided to make the tournament an annual occurrence, signing a 5-year contract in 2012.[13] In 2017, at the end of the 5-year deal, the two parties extended the existing contract to 2020.[1]

During this time, the championship's reputation has grown quickly because of the high level of elite competition[14] only comparable to the World Cup and, combined with the yearly presence of the championship, it has become beach soccer's most prestigious annual event (considering the fact that the World Cup is now a biannual event).[3][15]

Venues

Despite always taking place in Dubai to date, the tournament has been staged in multiple different parts of the city.

Format

The Intercontinental Cup is a 5-day event. The eight teams are split into two groups of four. The tournament starts with the group stage, played in a round robin format, taking place during days one through three. The winners and runners-up from each group advanced to the knockout stage, in which the teams then compete in single-elimination matches, beginning with the semi-finals and ending with the final on days four and five respectively. A third-place play-off is also contested by the losing semi-finalists on day five. The third and fourth placed nations from each group play in a series of consolation matches to decide fifth through eighth place however these matches have only occurred since 2013.

Results

Source:[16]

Year Hosts Final Third place match
Champion Score Runner-up Third place Score Fourth place
2011
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Russia		 5 – 4 (a.e.t.)
Brazil
Switzerland		 4 – 4 (a.e.t.)
(1 – 0 pen.)
United Arab Emirates
2012
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Russia		 7 – 4
Brazil
United Arab Emirates		 8 – 7 (a.e.t.)
Nigeria
2013
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran		 4 – 3
Russia
United Arab Emirates		 8 – 7
Switzerland
2014
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Brazil		 3 – 2 (a.e.t.)
Russia
Portugal		 3 – 0
Iran
2015
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Russia		 5 – 2
Tahiti
Iran		 2 – 2 (a.e.t.)
(3 – 2 pen.)
Egypt
2016
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Brazil		 6 – 2
Iran
Russia		 4 – 3
Tahiti
2017
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Brazil		 2 – 0
Portugal
Iran		 4 – 2
Russia
2018
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran		 4 – 2
Russia
Brazil		 5 – 3
Egypt
2019
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran		 6 – 3
Spain
United Arab Emirates		 2 – 1 (a.e.t.)
Russia
2021
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Russia		 3 – 2
Iran
Senegal		 7 – 4
Portugal
2022
Details		 United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran		 2 – 1
Brazil
Paraguay		 4 – 1
United Arab Emirates

Medals (2011-2022)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Russia (RUS)4318
2 Iran (IRI)4228
3 Brazil (BRA)3317
4 Portugal (POR)0112
5 French Polynesia (TAH)0101
 Spain (ESP)0101
7 United Arab Emirates (UAE)0033
8 Paraguay (PAR)0011
 Senegal (SEN)0011
  Switzerland (SUI)0011
Totals (10 entries)11111133

Successful teams

# TeamTitlesRunners-upThird placeFourth place Total
1  Russia 4 (2011, 2012, 2015, 2021) 3 (2013, 2014, 2018,) 1 (2016) 2 (2017, 2019) 10
2  Iran 4 (2013, 2018, 2019, 2022) 2 (2016, 2021) 2 (2015, 2017) 1 (2014) 9
3  Brazil 3 (2014, 2016, 2017) 3 (2011, 2012, 2022) 1 (2018) – 7
4  Portugal – 1 (2017) 1 (2014) 1 (2021) 3
5  Tahiti – 1 (2015) – 1 (2016) 2
6  Spain – 1 (2019) – – 1
7  United Arab Emirates – – 3 (2012, 2013, 2019) 2 (2011, 2022) 5
8   Switzerland – – 1 (2011) 1 (2013) 2
9  Paraguay – – 1 (2022) – 1
 Senegal – – 1 (2021) – 1
10  Egypt – – – 2 (2015, 2018) 2
11  Nigeria – – – 1 (2012) 1

Success by confederation

Total times teams played by confederation
AFC CAF CONCACAF CONMEBOL OFC UEFA Total
Teams2710101252488
Top 41440821644
Top 260061922
1st40030411
2nd20031511
3rd51020311
4th33001411

Awards

Year Top goalscorer(s) Gls Best player Best goalkeeper Ref.
2011 Switzerland Dejan Stankovic 12 Switzerland Dejan Stankovic Brazil Mão
2012 Brazil Fernando DDI 10 Russia Egor Shaykov Russia Andrey Bukhlitskiy
2013 Switzerland Dejan Stankovic 17 Iran Mohammad Ahmadzadeh Russia Andrey Bukhlitskiy
2014 Brazil Bruno Xavier
Russia Dmitry Shishin
Iran Mohammad Ahmadzadeh
Japan Takasuke Goto		 6 Brazil Mão Brazil Mão
2015 Egypt Mohamed Gamal 9 Russia Yury Krasheninnikov United Arab Emirates Humaid Albalooshi
2016 Brazil Bruno Xavier 8 Brazil Bruno Xavier Iran Peyman Hosseini
2017 Portugal Jordan Santos 8 Brazil Rodrigo Brazil Mão
2018 Russia Fedor Zemskov 9 Brazil Rodrigo Iran Hamid Behzadpour
2019 Iran Amir Hossein Akbari 6 United Arab Emirates Waleed Beshr United Arab Emirates Mohamad Al Jasmi
2021 Spain Chiky 9 Russia Boris Nikonorov Iran Hamid Behzadpour
2022 Paraguay Carlos Carballo 8 Iran Amir Hossein Akbari Iran Hamid Behzadpour

Total Awards (2011-2022)

Rank Team Numbers
1 Brazil10
2 Iran8
3 Russia8
4 United Arab Emirates3
5  Switzerland3
6 Spain, Japan, Portugal, Paraguay1

Summary (2011-2022)

RankTeamPartMWWEWPLGFGAGDPoints
1 Russia1050304313250163+87101
2 Brazil84030217233115+11895
3 Iran945271710182130+5290
4 United Arab Emirates1155193330172217–4566
5 Portugal420100197579–431
6 Japan52310001310198+330
7 Egypt5259101596119–2329
8 Tahiti5217101386108–2223
9 Paraguay31561086664+220
10 Spain420601138387–419
11  Switzerland31351167766+1118
12 Mexico523400196694–2812
13 Senegal1530022924+59
14 Italy21030074454–109
15 Nigeria2830053646–109
16 United States5233002061133–729
17 Morocco21021073544–98
18 Poland1510221718–15
19 Oman130003616–100
20 Argentina1500051427–130
21 Saudi Arabia150005330–270

Points: W = 3 points / WE = 2 points / WP = 1 points / L = 0 points

Performance timeline & Appearances

Key
Teams \ Years 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 Apps
 Argentina ××××8th××××××1
 Brazil 2nd2nd5th1st×1st1st3rd××2nd8
 Egypt ××××4th6th6th4th6th××5
 Iran ××1st4th3rd2nd3rd1st1st2nd1st9
 Italy ××6th×××××7th××2
 Japan ×7th×7th××××5th5th5th5
 Mexico 6th×7th×7th×8th×8th××5
 Morocco ××8th5th×××××××2
 Nigeria 5th4th×××××××××2
 Oman 7th××××××××××1
 Paraguay ××××××7th××7th3rd3
 Poland ×××××5th×××××1
 Portugal ×××3rd6th×2nd××4th×4
 Russia 1st1st2nd2nd1st3rd4th2nd4th1st×10
 Saudi Arabia ××××××××××8th1
 Senegal ×××××××××3rd×1
 Spain ×××××××6th2nd6th7th4
  Switzerland 3rd5th4th××××××××3
 Tahiti 8th6th××2nd4th×8th×××5
 United Arab Emirates 4th3rd3rd6th5th7th5th7th3rd8th4th11
 United States ×8th×8th×8th×5th××6th5

All-time top goalscorers

As of 2022

The following table shows the all-time top 20 goalscorers.

Rank Player Team Pld Goals GPG
1Bruno Xavier Brazil28421.50
2Dejan Stanković  Switzerland13372.85
3Mohammad Ahmadzadeh Iran39360.92
4Dmitry Shishin Russia37280.76
5Yuri Krasheninnikov Russia45270.60
6 Boris Nikonorov Russia23 251.09
7Alexey Makarov Russia35240.69
8Rodrigo Brazil17231.35
Ali Karim United Arab Emirates450.51
10Egor Shaykov Russia18221.22
11Mauricinho Brazil24210.88
Ahmed Beshr United Arab Emirates400.53
13Fernando DDI Brazil21200.95
Artur Paporotnyi Russia290.69
Mohammad Mokthari Iran340.59
Waleed Beshr United Arab Emirates390.51
17Naea Bennett Tahiti20190.95
18Anatoly Permitin Russia19170.89
Ozu Moreira Japan200.85
Takaaki Oba Japan200.85
Sources:
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022

References

  1. 1 2 "Спортивный совет Дубая принял решение о проведении Межконтинентального кубка до 2020 года - BeachSoccerRussia". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  2. ↑ "Intercontinental Cup Dubai agreement extended". 2 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 "BAREFOOT: The Beach Soccer Mag".
  4. 1 2 "У стен Башни Халифа. Россия хочет покорить сердце Дубая - BeachSoccerRussia". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  5. ↑ "Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup 2015 only hours away". 2 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "По заветам Штирлица. 6-й Межконтинентальный кубок стартует в Дубае - BeachSoccerRussia". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  7. 1 2 "Али Омар: организаторам выгодно, чтобы победитель менялся каждый год - BeachSoccerRussia". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  8. ↑ "Huawei, official sponsor of the Intercontinental Cup". 27 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup draw held". 4 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Beach SOCCER RESULTS". Archived from the original on 2018-12-14. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Dubai makes waves on the beach soccer scene". 7 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "Dubai to host Beach Soccer Cup - Sports - FootBall - Emirates24|7".
  13. ↑ Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Memorandum Signing Archived 21 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ "Portugal's Madjer looks toward Intercontinental Cup". 22 October 2014.
  15. ↑ "Growth of beach soccer exites Cusco". Gulf News. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2023 – via Press Reader.
  16. ↑ "Emirates Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup 2022 | November 1st - November 6th | Dubai, UAE". beachsoccer.com. Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW). Retrieved 23 October 2022.
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