2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Coupe du monde de football de plage 2008
	File:2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.svg
Tournament details
Host country	France
City	Marseille
Dates	17–27 July
Teams	16 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	File:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil (3rd title)
Runners-up	File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy
Third place	File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal
Fourth place	File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	259 (8.09 per match)
Attendance	176,500 (5,516 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Portugal Madjer (13 goals)
Best player(s)	Spain Amarelle
Best goalkeeper	Spain Roberto Valeiro
Fair play award	File:Flag of Russia.svg Russia
	← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, governed by FIFA. Overall, this was the 14th edition of a world cup in beach soccer since the establishment of the Beach Soccer World Championships which ran from 1995–2004 but was not governed by FIFA. It took place in Marseille, France, in the Plages du Prado from 17 to 27 July 2008. It was the first tournament to take place outside Brazil. The winners of the tournament were Brazil, who won their third consecutive FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup title and their twelfth title overall.

Qualifying rounds

Africa

The qualifiers to determine the two African nations who would play in the World Cup took place in Durban, South Africa for the third year running between March 25 and March 30. Eight nations took part in the competition, all of whom participated in the 2007 Championship, which eventually saw Senegal claim their first title, qualifying for the second successive World Cup and which saw Cameroon finish in second place, also qualifying for the second time.

Asia

The Asian qualifiers took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the third time, between May 6 and May 10. The hosts, the United Arab Emirates qualified for the second time after beating Japan in the final of the championship, 4-3, for the second consecutive year. Iran beat China in the third place play off to claim the third berth at the World Cup for the third year in a row.

Europe

For the first time since the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers began in 2006, due to the large interest of European nations in beach soccer, UEFA held a tournament dedicated to World Cup qualification in Benidorm, Spain, between, May 11 and May 18, instead of allowing European nations to qualify to the World Cup through the Euro Beach Soccer League. Hosts Spain won the championship, with neighbours Portugal finishing second. Russia beat Italy in the third place play off, but regardless of the result, both teams qualified to the World Cup, along with the finalists.

North, Central American and Caribbean Zone

The North, Central America and the Caribbean Zone qualifiers took place between April 17 and April 19 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Mexico and El Salvador were the two finalists, meaning they both qualified for the World Cup; Mexico for the second time and El Salvador for the first. Mexico defeated El Salvador in the final to win their first title.

South America

The South American qualifiers took place between April 23 and April 27, in the Argentinean capital, Buenos Aires. Brazil and hosts Argentina were the two finalists, meaning they both qualified for the World Cup. Brazil defeated Argentina in the final to win the title. Uruguay and Venezuela were knocked out in the semi-finals and played each other in the third place play off. Uruguay beat Venezuela to claim the third berth at the World Cup.

Oceania

For the first and to date only time, no Oceanian qualifiers were held. The Oceania Football Confederation nominated the Solomon Islands as their representative in the World Cup, based on their results over the past two years, which showed that they were by far the strongest team in the confederation.

Hosts

France qualified automatically as the hosts.

Teams

These are the teams that qualified to the World Cup:

Asian zone:

African zone:

European zone:

North, Central American and Caribbean zone:

File:Flag of El Salvador.svg El Salvador (First Appearance)
File:Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico

Oceanian zone:

File:Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg Solomon Islands

South American zone:

Players

^[1]

Venue

A stadium on the Plage du Prado in southern Marseille was used known as the Stade du Prado or the Stadium of the Beach in English. The stadium hosted all 32 matches.

Marseille	Marseille is located in France Marseille Marseille Marseille (France)
Stade du Prado
43°15′N 5°22′E / 43.250°N 5.367°E / 43.250; 5.367 (Stade du Prado)
Capacity: 7,000
File:Parc Balneaire du Prado à Marseille.jpg

Group stage

The 16 teams present at the finals in Brazil were split into 4 groups of 4 teams. Each team played the other 3 teams in its group in a round-robin format, with the top two teams advancing to the quarter finals. The quarter finals, semi finals and the final itself was played in the form of a knockout tournament. All matches are listed as local time (UTC+1)

Group A

Team	Pld	W	W+	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
File:Flag of France.svg France	3	1	1	1	15	14	+1	5
File:Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay	3	1	1	1	17	12	+5	5
File:Flag of Senegal.svg Senegal	3	1	1	1	16	14	+2	5
File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran	3	0	0	3	8	16	−8	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Note: France, Uruguay and Senegal were involved in a tie-break situation and therefore their matches against Iran were ignored and the nations were ranked by their goal difference in the matches against each other. Despite France having the worst overall goal difference, they had the best goal difference between the three teams involved in the tie-break and therefore finished in first place. Uruguay, with an equal number of goals scored and conceded, against France and Senegal finished second, and Senegal with a negative goal difference of -1, finished third.

17 July 2008

16:15

Uruguay File:Flag of Uruguay.svg	6–1	File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran
Ricar File:Soccerball shade.svg 2', 7', 21' Martinez File:Soccerball shade.svg 5' Parrillo File:Soccerball shade.svg 27' Fabian File:Soccerball shade.svg 30'	Report	File:Soccerball shade.svg 19' Davoudi

France File:Flag of France.svg	5–5 (a.e.t.) (1–2 Pens)	File:Flag of Senegal.svg Senegal
Samoun File:Soccerball shade.svg 15', 35' Basquaise File:Soccerball shade.svg 20' François File:Soccerball shade.svg 27' Pérez File:Soccerball shade.svg 32'	Report	File:Soccerball shade.svg 1', 31' Koukpaki File:Soccerball shade.svg 11' Mbengue File:Soccerball shade.svg 12' Dieng File:Soccerball shade.svg 16' Sylla
Penalties
Basquaise soccer ball with check mark François soccer ball with red X	1–2	soccer ball with check mark Mbengue soccer ball with check mark Ndour

Iran File:Flag of Iran.svg	6–6 (a.e.t.) (1–2 Pens)	File:Flag of France.svg France
Naderi File:Soccerball shade.svg 6', 36' Abdollahi File:Soccerball shade.svg 18' Mesigar File:Soccerball shade.svg 22', 24' Davoudi File:Soccerball shade.svg 31'	Report	File:Soccerball shade.svg 9' (o.g.) Rahimi File:Soccerball shade.svg 10', 11', 13', 37' Basquaise File:Soccerball shade.svg 13' Ottavy
Penalties
Dara soccer ball with check mark Davoudi soccer ball with red X	1–2	soccer ball with check mark François soccer ball with check mark Pérez

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
File:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina	3	3	0	13	5	+8	9
File:Flag of Russia.svg Russia	3	2	1	12	5	+7	6
File:Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg United Arab Emirates	3	1	2	12	14	−2	3
File:Flag of Cameroon.svg Cameroon	3	0	3	4	17	−13	0

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
File:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil	3	3	0	18	4	+14	9
File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	3	2	1	10	5	+5	6
File:Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico	3	1	2	6	12	−6	3
File:Flag of Japan.svg Japan	3	0	3	5	18	−13	0

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

24 July 2008

File:Flag of France.svg France	2
		26 July 2008
File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy	5
		File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy (pens)	4 (1)
24 July 2008
		File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	4 (0)
File:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina	0
				27 July 2008
File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	2
				File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy	3
24 July 2008
				File:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil	5
File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal	6
		26 July 2008
File:Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay	3
		File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal	4
24 July 2008
		File:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil	5	Third place
File:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil	6
				27 July 2008
File:Flag of Russia.svg Russia	4
				File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain	4

				File:Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal	5

Italy File:Flag of Italy.svg	4–4 (a.e.t.) (1–0 Pens)	File:Flag of Spain.svg Spain
Esposito File:Soccerball shade.svg 4' Feudi File:Soccerball shade.svg 5' Pasquali File:Soccerball shade.svg 24', 34'	Report	File:Soccerball shade.svg 2', 34' Amarelle File:Soccerball shade.svg 12' Alvarez File:Soccerball shade.svg 23' J.Torres
Penalties
Esposito soccer ball with check mark	1–0	soccer ball with red X Amarelle

Golden Ball	Silver Ball	Bronze Ball
Spain Amarelle	Brazil Benjamin	Portugal Belchior
Golden Shoe	Silver Shoe	Bronze Shoe
Portugal Madjer	Spain Amarelle	Portugal Belchior
13 goals	11 goals	10 goals
Golden Glove
Spain Roberto Valerio
FIFA Fair Play Award
File:Flag of Russia.svg Russia

v t e 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup finalists
Champions	Brazil
Runners-up	Italy
Third place	Portugal
Fourth place	Spain
Eliminated in quarter-finals	Argentina France Russia Uruguay
Eliminated in group stages	Cameroon El Salvador Iran Japan Mexico Senegal Solomon Islands United Arab Emirates

2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

Qualifying rounds

Africa

Asia

Europe

North, Central American and Caribbean Zone

South America

Oceania

Hosts

Teams

Players

Venue

Group stage

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Knockout stage

Quarter finals

Semi finals

Third place play off

Final

Winners

Awards

Top scorers

Final standings

References

External links

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