Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations

The Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations (BSAFCON) is the main championship for beach soccer in Africa,[1] contested between senior men's national teams who are members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).[2] It is the sport's version of the better known Africa Cup of Nations in association football.

Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations

Founded	2006 (2006)
Region	Africa (CAF)
Number of teams	8 (finals) Nº in qualifiers varies
Qualifier for	FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Current champions	Senegal (5th title)
Most successful team(s)	Senegal (5 titles)
Website	cafonline.com
2018 Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations

The winners of the championship are crowned continental champions;[3] the tournament also acts as the qualification route for African nations to the upcoming edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[2] 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 when 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).[4] FIFA currently allocate Africa two berths at the World Cup[5] and hence the top two teams (the winners and the runners-up) qualify to the World Cup finals.[6]

Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) originally organised the competition[7] under the title FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup CAF qualifier[8] (also known informally as the CAF Beach Soccer Championship).[9] Despite historically having minimal input (often only sending delegates),[10] CAF became lead organisers in 2015,[11] establishing a qualification phase to determine the elite eight nations to compete in the tournament finals. CAF also began using the BSAFCON title to which the competition was officially renamed for the next edition,[12] scheduled for 2017. However, CAF later announced that since three of its competitions were already held in odd-numbered years, the tournament would now be held in even-numbered years henceforth to desaturate the calendar, starting with 2016.[13]

Senegal are the most successful nation having won the event five times and are also the current champions. In terms of success in qualifying to the World Cup, again Senegal are the most outstanding nation, having qualified in seven out of nine attempts. Nigeria follow closely behind, with six qualifications.

Results

For all tournaments, the top two teams qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Year	Location		Final				Third place match
			Champions	Score	Runners-Up		Third Place	Score	Fourth Place
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup CAF qualifier (CAF Beach Soccer Championship)
2006 details	Durban, South Africa		Cameroon	5 – 3	Nigeria		Egypt	8 – 3	Ivory Coast
2007 details	Durban, South Africa		Nigeria	6 – 5	Senegal		Ivory Coast	2 – 0	South Africa
2008 details	Durban, South Africa		Senegal	12 – 6	Cameroon		Ivory Coast	6 – 3	Egypt
2009 details	Durban, South Africa		Nigeria	7 – 4	Ivory Coast		Senegal	6 – 4	Egypt
2011 details	Casablanca, Morocco		Senegal	7 – 4	Nigeria		Egypt	4 – 4 (a.e.t.) 1–0 (p)	Madagascar
2013 details	El Jadida, Morocco		Senegal	4 – 1	Ivory Coast		Morocco	7 – 2	Nigeria
Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations
2015 details	Roche Caiman, Seychelles		Madagascar	1 – 1 (a.e.t.) 2–1 (p)	Senegal		Nigeria	9 – 1	Ivory Coast
2016 details	Lagos, Nigeria		Senegal	8 – 4	Nigeria		Egypt	4 – 1	Morocco
2018 details	Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt		Senegal	6 – 1	Nigeria		Egypt	3 – 2	Morocco
2020 details	TBA

Performance

Successful nations

Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third Place	Fourth Place		Total top 4
Senegal	5 (2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018)	2 (2007, 2015)	1 (2009)	–		8
Nigeria	2 (2007, 2009)	4 (2006, 2011, 2016*, 2018)	1 (2015)	1 (2013)		8
Cameroon	1 (2006)	1 (2008)	–	–		2
Madagascar	1 (2015)	–	–	1 (2011)		2
Ivory Coast	–	2 (2009, 2013)	2 (2007, 2008)	2 (2006, 2015)		6
Egypt	–	–	4 (2006, 2011, 2016, 2018*)	2 (2008, 2009)		6
Morocco	–	–	1 (2013*)	2 (2016, 2018)		3
South Africa	–	–	–	1 (2007*)		1

* = Hosts

Overall standings

As of 2016

Pos	Team	App	Pld	W	W+	WP	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Avg. Pts
1	Senegal	7	33	24	1	1	7	192	120	+72	75	2.27
2	Nigeria	8	35	21	2	1	11	215	148	+67	68	1.94
3	Ivory Coast	8	35	15	1	4	15	156	154	+2	51	1.46
4	Egypt	8	34	14	1	2	17	152	137	+15	46	1.35
5	Morocco	6	24	12	0	0	12	110	94	+16	36	1.5
6	Madagascar	4	17	7	1	2	7	85	70	+15	24	1.41
7	Cameroon	3	12	6	0	1	5	55	55	0	19	1.58
8	South Africa	5	15	4	0	0	11	60	65	–5	12	0.8
9	Ghana	3	12	2	0	0	10	48	76	–28	6	0.5
10	Cape Verde	2	7	1	0	1	5	22	46	–24	4	0.57
11	Mozambique	3	9	1	0	1	7	25	59	–34	4	0.44
12	Algeria	1	3	1	0	0	2	14	19	–5	3	1
13	Mauritius	1	2	0	0	0	2	3	23	–20	0	0
14	Seychelles	1	5	0	0	0	5	6	34	–28	0	0
15	Libya	4	11	0	0	0	11	46	79	–43	0	0

Key: Appearances App / Won in Normal Time W = 3 Points / Won in Extra Time W+ = 2 Points / Won in Penalty shoot-out WP = 1 Point / Lost L = 0 Points

Appearances & performance timeline

The following is a performance timeline of the teams who have appeared in the Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations and how many appearances they each have made.

Legend

1st – Champions 2nd – Runners-up 3rd – Third place 4th – Fourth place 5th–9th – Fifth to ninth place^1 R1 – Round 1 (group stage)    – Hosts

Apps – No. of appearances × – Did not enter ×× – Entered qualifying but withdrew^2 • – Did not qualify^2 •• – Qualified but withdrew^2 q – Qualified for upcoming tournament

Team \ Years	2006 (6)	2007 (8)	2008 (8)	2009 (9)	2011 (9)	2013 (8)	2015 (8)	2016 (8)	2018 (8)	2020 (8)		Apps
Algeria	×	×	×	×	6th	×	×	×	×			1
Cameroon	1st	R1	2nd	×	×	×	××	×	×			3
Cape Verde	×	6th	R1	×	×	×	×	•	×			2
Ivory Coast	4th	3rd	3rd	2nd	7th	2nd	4th	6th	6th			9
Egypt	3rd	5th	4th	4th	3rd	R1	6th	3rd	3rd			9
Ghana	×	×	×	×	×	R1	7th	7th	×			3
Libya	×	×	×	R1	8th	R1	××	8th	8th			5
Madagascar	×	×	×	×	4th	R1	1st	5th	5th			5
Mauritius	×	×	×	R1	×	×	•	×	×			1
Morocco	6th	×	×	5th	5th	3rd	5th	4th	4th			7
Mozambique	×	R1	R1	6th	×	×	•	•	•			3
Nigeria	2nd	1st	R1	1st	2nd	4th	3rd	2nd	2nd			9
Senegal	×	2nd	1st	3rd	1st	1st	2nd	1st	1st			8
Seychelles	×	×	×	×	×	×	8th	×	×			1
South Africa	5th	4th	R1	R1	9th	×	•	×	××			5
Tanzania	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	7th			1
Uganda	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	××	•	q		1

Superscript key

1. In 2006, 2011, 2015 & 2016 there were placement matches to decide all final rankings, unlike other years.

2. A preliminary qualifying round was introduced from 2015 onwards.

Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup

Main article: National team appearances in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

The following is a performance timeline of the CAF teams who appeared in the Beach Soccer World Cup since being sanctioned by FIFA in 2005.

Legend

1st – Champions 2nd – Runners-up 3rd – Third place 4th – Fourth place    – Hosts

QF – Quarterfinals R1 – Round 1 (group stage) q – Qualified for upcoming tournament Total – Total times qualified for World Cup

Team \ Years	2005^[†]	2006	2007	2008	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	2019	Total
Cameroon		R1		R1							2
Côte d'Ivoire					R1		R1				2
Madagascar								R1			1
Nigeria		R1	QF		R1	QF			R1	q	6
Senegal			QF	R1		QF	R1	R1	QF	q	7
South Africa	R1										1
Total no. of unique qualifiers											6

Notes

1. ^
   In 2005, no CAF qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup were held and South Africa were selected to represent CAF.

References

1. "Four countries lead formation of West Africa Beach Soccer Union". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 17 December 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
2. "Regulations of the African Beach Soccer Championship" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
3. "Senegal crowned AFCON champions". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
4. "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.
5. "World Cup gets bigger". FIFA. 25 August 2005. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
6. "Glossary / Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations". lechicfootafrique.com. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
7. "Regulations FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2006" (PDF). fifa.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 7, 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
8. Gaich, Rémi (11 January 2016). BSWW competitions / National teams. Barcelona: Beach Soccer Worldwide. pp. 14, 15, 19.
9. "Senegal claim African crown". FIFA. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
10. "CAF BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS BEGIN IN MOROCCO". CAF. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
11. "CAF COMPETITIONS / 13. African Beach Soccer Championship". CAF. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
12. "CAF renames six competitions". Daily Post (Nigeria). 11 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
13. "Nigeria to host 2016 Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations". Goal. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2018.

External links

• Confederation of African Football, official website
• Beach Soccer Worldwide, official website.