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. It will continue until at least 2020.[1]

Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup

Logo introduced in 2016
Organising body	BSWW and DSC
Founded	2011
Region	International (FIFA)
Number of teams	8
Current champions	Iran (3rd title)
Most successful team(s)	Iran  Russia  Brazil (3 titles each)
Website	BSWW
2019 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup

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, Brazil and Iran are the most successful teams, having won three tournaments each; the latter are 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

The Walk Festival City International Marine Club Business Bay Kite Beach Locations of the former venues across Dubai

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

• 2011: The Walk, Jumeirah Beach Residence
• 2012: Festival City
• 2013–16: Dubai International Marine Club
• 2017: Business Bay
• 2018–19: Kite Beach

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

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

Performance statistics

Successful teams

#	Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place		Total top 4
1	Russia	3 (2011, 2012, 2015)	3 (2013, 2014, 2018)	1 (2016)	2 (2017, 2019)		9
2	Brazil	3 (2014, 2016, 2017)	2 (2011, 2012)	1 (2018)	–		6
3	Iran	3 (2013, 2018, 2019)	1 (2016)	2 (2015, 2017)	1 (2014)		7
4	Portugal	–	1 (2017)	1 (2014)	–		2
5	Tahiti	–	1 (2015)	–	1 (2016)		2
6	Spain	–	1 (2019)	–	–		1
7	United Arab Emirates	–	–	3 (2012, 2013, 2019)	1 (2011)		4
8	Switzerland	–	–	1 (2011)	1 (2013)		2
9	Egypt	–	–	–	2 (2015, 2018)		2
10	Nigeria	–	–	–	1 (2012)		1

Success by confederation

Total times teams played by confederation

	AFC	CAF	CONCACAF	CONMEBOL	OFC	UEFA	Total
Teams	20	9	9	9	5	20	72
Top 4	11	3	0	6	2	14	36
Top 2	4	0	0	5	1	8	18
1st	3	0	0	3	0	3	9
2nd	1	0	0	2	1	5	9
3rd	5	0	0	1	0	3	9
4th	2	3	0	0	1	3	9

Overall standings

As of 2019 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup

Pos	Team	App	Pld	W	W+	WP	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Avg. Pts
1	Russia	9	45	26	3	3	13	221	142	+79	87	1.93
2	Brazil	7	35	26	2	1	6	209	105	+104	83	2.37
3	Iran	7	35	20	0	7	8	133	99	+34	67	1.91
4	United Arab Emirates	9	45	16	3	2	24	140	176	–36	56	1.24
5	Egypt	5	25	9	1	0	15	96	119	–23	29	1.16
6	Portugal	3	15	8	0	1	6	52	51	+1	25	1.67
7	Tahiti	5	21	7	1	0	13	86	108	–22	23	1.1
8	Switzerland	3	13	5	1	1	6	77	66	+11	18	1.38
9	Japan	3	13	5	0	0	8	54	55	–1	15	1.15
10	Mexico	5	23	4	0	0	19	66	94	–28	12	0.52
11	Spain	2	10	3	0	1	6	43	42	+1	10	1
12	Italy	2	10	3	0	0	7	44	54	–10	9	0.9
13	Nigeria	2	8	3	0	0	5	36	46	–10	9	1.13
14	Morocco	2	10	2	1	0	7	35	44	–9	7	0.7
15	Paraguay	1	5	2	0	0	3	12	15	–3	6	1.2
16	United States	4	18	2	0	0	16	49	113	–64	6	0.33
17	Poland	1	5	1	0	2	2	17	18	–1	5	1
18	Oman	1	3	0	0	0	3	6	16	–10	0	0
19	Argentina	1	5	0	0	0	5	14	27	–13	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

Performance timeline & Appearances

Key

1st — Champions 2nd — Runners-up 3rd — Third place 4th — Fourth place 5th–8th — Fifth to eighth place

×  — Did not participate     — Hosts     — Reigning world champions Apps — Appearances

Teams \ Years	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	Apps
Argentina	×	×	×	×	8th	×	×	×	×	1
Brazil	2nd	2nd	5th	1st	×	1st	1st	3rd	×	7
Egypt	×	×	×	×	4th	6th	6th	4th	6th	5
Iran	×	×	1st	4th	3rd	2nd	3rd	1st	1st	7
Italy	×	×	6th	×	×	×	×	×	7th	2
Japan	×	7th	×	7th	×	×	×	×	5th	3
Mexico	6th	×	7th	×	7th	×	8th	×	8th	5
Morocco	×	×	8th	5th	×	×	×	×	×	2
Nigeria	5th	4th	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	2
Oman	7th	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	1
Paraguay	×	×	×	×	×	×	7th	×	×	1
Poland	×	×	×	×	×	5th	×	×	×	1
Portugal	×	×	×	3rd	6th	×	2nd	×	×	3
Russia	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	1st	3rd	4th	2nd	4th	9
Spain	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	6th	2nd	2
Switzerland	3rd	5th	4th	×	×	×	×	×	×	3
Tahiti	8th	6th	×	×	2nd	4th	×	8th	×	5
United Arab Emirates	4th	3rd	3rd	6th	5th	7th	5th	7th	3rd	9
United States	×	8th	×	8th	×	8th	×	5th	×	4

All-time top goalscorers

As of 2018

The following table shows the all-time top 15 goalscorers.

Rank	Player	Team	Pld	Goals	GPG
1	Bruno Xavier	Brazil	28	42	1.56
2	Dejan Stanković	Switzerland	13	37	2.85
3	Mohammad Ahmadzadeh	Iran	26	29	1.12
4	Dmitry Shishin	Russia	32	28	0.88
5	Yuri Krasheninnikov	Russia	40	25	0.63
6	Alexey Makarov	Russia	35	24	0.69
7	Rodrigo	Brazil	17	23	1.35
	Ali Karim	United Arab Emirates	40		0.58
9	Egor Shaykov	Russia	18	22	1.22
10	Fernando DDI	Brazil	21	20	0.95
11	Naea Bennett	Tahiti	20	19	0.95
12	Anatoly Permitin	Russia	19	17	0.89
	Mauricinho	Brazil	19		0.89
	Artur Paporotnyi	Russia	24		0.71
15	Datiñha	Brazil	24	14	0.58

Sources:

2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-10-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. http://beachsoccer.com/news/intercontinental-cup-dubai-agreement-extended
3. https://issuu.com/beachsoccerworldwide/docs/barefoot__1_
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. http://beachsoccer.com/events/samsung-beach-soccer-intercontinental-cup-dubai
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. http://beachsoccer.com/news/huawei-official-sponsor-of-the-intercontinental-cup
9. http://www.beachsoccer.com/news/samsung-beach-soccer-intercontinental-cup-draw-held
10. http://theroonba.com/beach00.htm
11. https://www.thenational.ae/sport/dubai-makes-waves-on-the-beach-soccer-scene-1.377247
12. http://www.emirates247.com/sports/football/dubai-to-host-beach-soccer-cup-2011-11-03-1.426843
13. http://www.sesme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Intercontinental-Cup-Dubai-Final.pdf
14. http://www.beachsoccer.com/news/portugal-s-madjer-looks-toward-intercontinental-cup
15. https://www.pressreader.com/uae/gulf-news/20171014/282480004020530

External links

• Huawei Intercontinental Cup Dubai, at Beach Soccer Worldwide
• Intercontinental Cup, at Beach Soccer Russia (in Russian)