1997 Beach Soccer World Championship
The 1997 Beach Soccer World Championship was the third edition of the Beach Soccer World Championships, the most prestigious competition in international beach soccer contested by men's national teams. It was organised by Brazilian sports agency Koch Tavares (one of the founding partners of Beach Soccer Worldwide), with the championships ultimately coming under the control of FIFA in 2005 and subsequently rebranded as the better known FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
| III Beach Soccer World Championships | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Brazil |
| Dates | January 14 – January 19 |
| Teams | 8 (from 4 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  |
| Runners-up |  |
| Third place |  |
| Fourth place |  |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 141 (8.81 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | (11 goals) |
| Best player(s) | |
| Best goalkeeper | |
For the third consecutive time, the tournament took place at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Hosts Brazil won the tournament for the third time in a row by beating Uruguay 5–2 in what was a repeat of the final in the previous edition. It was also the first and only time in the history of the tournament that no European nations finished in the top four.
Future champions France and Portugal both competed for the first time at this edition, as did the first Asian nation, Japan.
Organisation
The organisation remained the same as the format established during the championship's inception in 1995; the eight participating nations competed in two groups of four teams in a round robin format. The top two teams progressed straight to the semi-finals from which point on the championship was played as a knock-out tournament until a winner was crowned with an additional match to determine third place.
The capacity of the arena used for this edition of the World Championships was scaled down from the 12,000 seats available in the two previous events, to 7,000 for this year's tournament.[1]
Teams
Africa and Oceania were unrepresented.
Group stage
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 8 | +19 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 |  |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 18 | –4 | 3 | |
| 4 |  |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 21 | –16 | 0 |
| United States | 7–5 | |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 5–3 | |
|---|---|---|
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 15 | +1 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 |  |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 |  |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 10 | –3 | 3 |
Awards
| Top scorers | |
|---|---|
|
|
| 11 goals | |
| Best player | |
| |
| Best goalkeeper | |
| |
Final standings
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | W+ | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | |
5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 13 | +33 | 15 | Champions |
| 2 | A | |
5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 24 | −2 | 8 | Runners-up |
| 3 | B | |
5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 9 | Third place |
| 4 | A | |
5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 27 | −13 | 6 | Fourth place |
| 5 | A | |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 3 | Eliminated in the group stage |
| 6 | B | |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 18 | −4 | 3 | |
| 7 | A | |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 3 | |
| 8 | B | |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 21 | −16 | 0 |
Sources
- "Beach Soccer". kochtavares.com.br. 1 February 1998. Archived from the original on 1 February 1998. Retrieved 15 June 2017.