Beach soccer at the 2023 World Beach Games – Qualification (UEFA)

The UEFA qualifiers for the 2023 World Beach Games, known officially as the ANOC World Beach Games European Qualifier Catania 2022, was a beach soccer tournament contested by European national teams who are members of UEFA that took place to determine the nations from Europe that qualified to the beach soccer events at the second edition of the ANOC World Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia.[1]

Beach soccer at the 2023 World Beach Games – Qualification (UEFA)
2023 World Beach Games Qualifier – Europe
Official event logo.
Tournament details
Host countryItaly
Dates29 August – 4 September 2022
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
№ of events2 (1 men's; 1 women's)
Teams20 (from 14 countries)
Men's event
Teams13
Final positions
1 Champions  Spain
2 Runners-up  Portugal
3 Third place  Ukraine
Matches played31
Goals scored292 (9.42 per match)
Women's event
Teams7
Final positions
1 Champions  England
2 Runners-up  Ukraine
3 Third place  Spain
Matches played14
Goals scored86 (6.14 per match)
Previous / Next edition
2019
2025

The tournament consisted of two events: the men's qualifiers and the women's qualifiers, both round robin and knockout competitions from which the top five teams qualified from the former and the top four teams qualified from the latter.[2]

Organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the competition took place in Catania, Italy from 29 August – 4 September 2022.[3] The men's defending champions were Russia, but they were banned from entering the competition due to invasion of Ukraine;[4][5] Spain won the men's title on this occasion.[6] The women's defending champions were England,[7] who successfully defended the title.[6]

Venue

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The matches took place at the Sicily Arena Beach Stadium on Playa di Catania (Catania Beach).[3]

Men's tournament

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Teams

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13 teams entered the men's event.[2] The entrants are listed below, ordered by their European Ranking in parentheses:[8]

  1.   Portugal (2)
  2.    Switzerland (3)
  3.   Spain (4)
  4.   Italy (5)
  5.   Ukraine (7)
  6.   Germany (8)
  7.   France (9)
  8.   Turkey (10)
  9.   Azerbaijan (11)
  10.   Moldova (15)
  11.   Norway (18)
  12.   Czech Republic (19)
  13.   Sweden (23)

Draw

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The draw to split the 13 teams into four groups – three of three teams and one of four – took place at 11:00 CEST (UTC+2) on 8 August 2022 at the headquarters of BSWW in Barcelona, Spain. Its procedure was as follows:[2][9]

For the purpose of the draw, the 13 teams were split into four pots according to their world ranking – the hosts and three highest ranked teams were seeded and assigned to the heads of the groups; the next highest ranked teams were then placed in Pot 1, down to the lowest ranked team placed in Pot 3.

One team from Pot 1 and one team from Pot 2 were drawn into the four groups. The sole team in Pot 3 was drawn at random into one of the groups.

The composition of the pots is shown below:

Seeds Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3

Group stage

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The group stage took place from 29–31 August.

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ITA FRA NOR
1   Italy (H) 2 2 0 0 0 22 5 +17 6 Quarterfinals 5–1 17–4
2   France 2 1 0 0 1 6 6 0 3 5–1
3   Norway 2 0 0 0 2 5 22 −17 0 9th–12th place semifinals
Source: BSWW
(H) Host

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts Qualification POR GER MDA
1   Portugal 2 2 0 0 0 18 6 +12 6 Quarterfinals 12–3 6–3
2   Germany 2 1 0 0 1 8 14 −6 3 5–2
3   Moldova 2 0 0 0 2 5 11 −6 0 9th–12th place semifinals
Source: BSWW

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SUI UKR AZE
1    Switzerland 2 2 0 0 0 14 7 +7 6 Quarterfinals 7–3 7–4
2   Ukraine 2 1 0 0 1 8 11 −3 3 5–4
3   Azerbaijan 2 0 0 0 2 8 12 −4 0 9th–12th place semifinals
Source: BSWW

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ESP TUR CZE SWE
1   Spain 3 3 0 0 0 20 10 +10 9 Quarterfinals 6–4 7–3
2   Turkey 3 2 0 0 1 16 9 +7 6 4–2 8–1
3   Czech Republic 3 1 0 0 2 11 12 −1 3 9th–12th place semifinals 6–1
4   Sweden 3 0 0 0 3 5 21 −16 0 3–7
Source: BSWW

Knockout stage

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9th–12th place

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9th–12th place semifinalsNinth place match
 
      
 
1 September; 13:30; Report
 
 
  Moldova5
 
3 September; 08:30; Report
 
  Czech Republic3
 
  Moldova2
 
1 September; 16:15; Report
 
  Azerbaijan5
 
  Azerbaijan6
 
 
  Norway3
 
Eleventh place match
 
 
2 September; 08:30; Report
 
 
  Czech Republic8
 
 
  Norway2

1st–8th place

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The quarter-finals winners, plus the winners of the fifth place match, qualify to the 2023 World Beach Games.

Fifth place match5th–8th place semifinalsQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
2 September; 17:30; Report
  Italy4
3 September; 17:30; Report  Ukraine (a.e.t.)53 September; 12:15; Report
  Italy5  Ukraine4
  Germany42 September; 13:45; Report  Spain7
  Spain8
4 September; 16:15; Report  Germany34 September; 17:30; Report
  Italy5  Spain6
  France12 September; 15:00; Report  Portugal2
  Portugal11
3 September; 11:00; Report  Turkey43 September; 13:35; Report
Seventh place match  Turkey2  Portugal8Third place match
4 September; 11:00; Report  France42 September; 12:15; Report   Switzerland44 September; 12:15; Report
  Germany2   Switzerland9  Ukraine4
  Turkey1  France6   Switzerland3

Awards

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Winners trophy

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 2023 World Beach Games – Europe Qualifier
champions 
 
Spain
First title

Individual awards

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Top scorer
  Chiky Ardil
11 goals
Best player
  Chiky Ardil
Best goalkeeper
  Dona
Source: BSWW

Top goalscorers

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Players who scored at least four goals are listed.

There were 292 goals scored in 31 matches, for an average of 9.42 goals per match.

11 goals

10 goals

9 goals

8 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

  •   Orkhan Mammadov
  •   Nicolae Ignat
  •   Belchior
  •   Jérémy Basquaise
  •   Oleksandr Korniichuk
  •   Dmytro Voitenko
  •   Sandro Spaccarotella
  •   Joscha Metzler
  •   Christoph Thürk
  •   Tomáš Huráb
  •   Francisco Casano
  •   Kuman

Source: BSWW

Final standings

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Rank Team Qualification
    Spain 2023 World Beach Games
    Portugal
    Ukraine
4    Switzerland
5   Italy
6   France
7   Germany
8   Turkey
9   Azerbaijan
10   Moldova
11   Czech Republic
12   Norway
13   Sweden
Source: BSWW

Women's tournament

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Teams

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Seven teams entered the women's event which are as follows,[2] ordered by their European Ranking in parentheses:[8]

  1.   Spain (1)
  2.   England (3)
  3.    Switzerland (4)
  4.   Ukraine (5)
  5.   Czech Republic (6)
  6.   Italy (n/a)
  7.   Sweden (n/a)

Draw

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The draw to split the seven teams into two groups – one of four teams and one of three – took place at 11:00 CEST (UTC+2) on 8 August 2022 at the headquarters of BSWW in Barcelona, Spain alongside the men's draw. Its procedure was as follows:[2][9]

For the purpose of the draw, the seven teams were split into four pots according to their world ranking – the hosts and highest ranked team were seeded and assigned to the heads of the groups; the next highest ranked teams were then placed in Pot 1, down to the lowest ranked team placed in Pot 3.

One team from Pot 1 and one team from Pot 2 were drawn into the two groups. The sole team in Pot 3 was drawn at random into one of the groups.

The composition of the pots is shown below:

Seeds Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3
  •   Italy (hosts) (assigned to A1)
  •   Spain (assigned to B1)

Group stage

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The group stage took place from 31 August – 2 September.

The group winners and runners-up qualify to the 2023 World Beach Games.

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ENG ITA CZE
1   England 2 2 0 0 0 9 2 +7 6 Semifinals 5–0
2   Italy (H) 2 1 0 0 1 8 6 +2 3 2–4 6–2
3   Czech Republic 2 0 0 0 2 2 11 −9 0 Fifth place match
Source: BSWW
(H) Host

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts Qualification UKR ESP SWE SUI
1   Ukraine 3 2 0 0 1 10 8 +2 6[a] Semifinals 5–2
2   Spain 3 2 0 0 1 13 6 +7 6[a] 1–2 8–2
3   Sweden 3 1 0 0 2 8 11 −3 3[b] Fifth place match 2–4
4    Switzerland 3 1 0 0 2 9 15 −6 3[b] 5–3 2–4
Source: BSWW
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Ukraine and Spain are ranked based on their head-to-head result.
  2. ^ a b Sweden and Switzerland are ranked based on their head-to-head result.

Knockout stage

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5th place

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Fifth place match
 
  
 
3 September; 09:45; Report
 
 
  Czech Republic3
 
 
  Sweden2
 

1st–4th place

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SemifinalsFinal
 
      
 
3 September; 15:00; Report
 
 
  England3
 
4 September; 15:00; Report
 
  Spain1
 
  England3
 
3 September; 16:15; Report
 
  Ukraine0
 
  Ukraine (a.e.t.)4
 
 
  Italy3
 
Third place match
 
 
4 September; 13:30; Report
 
 
  Spain5
 
 
  Italy3

Awards

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Winners trophy

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2023 World Beach Games – Europe Qualifier
Champions
 
England
Second title

Individual awards

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Top scorer(s)
  Cristina Gonzalez
6 goals
Best player
  Molly Clark
Best goalkeeper
  Anastasiia Terekh
Source: BSWW

Top goalscorers

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Players who scored multiple goals are listed.

There were 86 goals scored in 14 matches, for an average of 6.14 goals per match.

6 goals

  •   Cristina Gonzalez

5 goals

  •   Veronica Privitera

4 goals

3 goals

  •   Tuva Klar
  •   Kajsa Sund

2 goals

  •   Christine Schärer
  •   Hannah Short
  •   Wendy Martin
  •   Gemma Hillier
  •   Alisha Buckingham
  •   Anne Meiwald
  •   Giulia Olivieri
  •   Roberta Illiano
  •   Ebba Nilsson
  •   Anastasiia Klipachenko
  •   Yuliia Kostiuk
  •   Myroslava Vypasniak
  •   Iryna Dubytska
  •   Andrea Miron
  •   Adriana Manau

Source: BSWW

Final standings

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Rank Team Qualification
    England[a] 2023 World Beach Games
    Ukraine
    Spain
4   Italy
5   Czech Republic
6   Sweden
7    Switzerland

Source: BSWW

a. ^ England has no independent National Olympic Committee (NOC) and will instead be represented at the Games as   Great Britain.

References

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  1. ^ "Qualification system for the ANOC World Beach Games 2023 defined". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 13 June 2022. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "ANOC World Beach Games European Qualifier draw procedures". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 7 August 2022. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Gli ANOC World Beach Games a Catania dal 29 agosto al 4 settembre". CataniaToday (in Italian). 3 July 2022. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Decision of the UEFA Executive Committee related to Russia" (PDF). UEFA.com (Press release). Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2022. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Measures taken by BSWW after the attacks on Ukraine". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 28 February 2022. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  6. ^ a b Houston, Michael (4 September 2022). "England and Spain top beach soccer qualifying for 2023 ANOC World Beach Games". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  7. ^ "Russia victorious over hosts in Salou final!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 12 May 2019. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Rankings". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 5 August 2022. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ a b "World Beach Games European Qualifier Catania groups decided". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 8 August 2022. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
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