Beach Soccer at the European Games

Beach Soccer has been part of each edition of the European Games (EG) – a quadrennial, multi-sport event – since the inaugural edition in 2015 as a men's sport,^[1] and since the third edition in 2023 as a women's sport.^[2] The competition is under the direction of the European Olympic Committees (EOCs);^[3] beach soccer's governing bodies (FIFA and UEFA) are represented by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) at the Games.^[4]

Beach Soccer at the European Games

Organising bodies	EOC BSWW
Region	Europe (UEFA)
Men's event
EG event since	2015; 9 years ago (2015)
Number of teams	8
Current champions	Switzerland (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Russia  Portugal   Switzerland (1 title each)
Women's event
EG event since	2023; 1 year ago (2023)
Number of teams	6
Current champions	Spain (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Spain (1 title)

Men's tournament

Eight teams take part. The hosts qualify automatically; of the most recent edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the top six teams of the Superfinal and winners of the Promotion Final also qualify. To participate, nations must be members of both the EOCs and UEFA.^[4]

Portugal and Switzerland are most successful nations having won a total of two medals, including one gold each.

Results

Year	Location		Gold medal match				Bronze medal match
			Gold medalists	Score	Silver medalists		Bronze medalists	Score	Fourth place
2015 details	Baku, Azerbaijan		Russia	3–2	Italy		Portugal	6–5	Switzerland
2019 details	Minsk, Belarus		Portugal	8–3	Spain		Switzerland	5–4	Ukraine
2023 details	Kraków, Poland		Switzerland	5–2	Italy		Spain	5–5 (a.e.t.) (2–0 p)	Portugal

Performance

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Portugal (POR)	1	0	1	2
	Switzerland (SUI)	1	0	1	2
3	Russia (RUS)	1	0	0	1
4	Italy (ITA)	0	2	0	2
5	Spain (ESP)	0	1	1	2
Totals (5 entries)		3	3	3	9

All-time top goalscorers

As of 2023

The following table shows the all-time goalscorers (minimum 10 goals).

Rank	Player	Team	Goals	Notes
1	Dejan Stankovic	Switzerland	25	2023 top scorer (11 goals)
2	Gabriele Gori	Italy	18	2019 top scorer (11 goals)
3	Léo Martins	Portugal	14
4	Chiky Ardil	Spain	13
	Noël Ott	Switzerland
	Emmanuele Zurlo	Italy
7	Belchior	Portugal	11	2015 top scorer (8 goals)
8	Llorenç Gómez	Spain	10
	Bê Martins	Portugal
	Antonio Mayor	Spain
	Jordan Santos	Portugal

Sources: 2015^[usurped], 2019, 2023.

Overall standings

As of 2023

Pos	Team	App	Pld	W	W+	WP	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG
1	Portugal	3	15	9	2	0	4	78	51	+27	31	2.07
2	Italy	3	15	8	1	0	6	72	57	+15	26	1.73
3	Spain	3	15	7	1	2	5	69	58	+11	25	1.67
4	Switzerland	3	15	7	1	1	6	77	59	+18	24	1.60
5	Ukraine	3	15	6	0	1	8	58	63	–5	19	1.27
6	Russia	2	10	5	0	1	4	38	34	+4	16	1.60
7	Belarus	1	5	2	0	1	2	24	20	+4	7	1.40
8	Azerbaijan	2	10	1	1	0	8	28	49	–21	5	0.50
9	Poland	1	5	1	0	0	4	18	25	–7	3	0.60
10	Hungary	1	5	1	0	0	4	14	21	–7	3	0.60
11	Moldova	1	5	1	0	0	4	23	31	–8	3	0.60
12	Romania	1	5	0	0	0	5	8	39	–31	0	0.00

Key: Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out WP = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points / Points per game PPG

Appearances & performance timeline

Key

G  – Gold medalists  S  – Silver medalists  B  – Bronze medalists  4th...8th  — Fourth to eighth place

×  — Did not qualify  ××  — Barred from entering     – Hosts Apps — Total appearances

Year Team	2015 (8)	2019 (8)	2023 (8)		Apps ⁄3
Azerbaijan	8th	×	5th		2
Belarus	×	7th	×		1
Hungary	7th	×	×		1
Italy	S	5th	S		3
Moldova	×	×	6th		1
Poland	×	×	8th		1
Portugal	B	G	4th		3
Romania	×	8th	×		1
Russia	G	6th	××		2
Spain	5th	S	B		3
Switzerland	4th	B	G		3
Ukraine	6th	4th	7th		3
12 nations

Women's tournament

Six teams take part. The hosts qualify automatically; of the most recent edition of the Women's Euro Beach Soccer League (WEBSL), the top five teams of the Superfinal qualify. To participate, nations must be members of both the EOCs and UEFA.^[5] For the 2023 edition, England finished in one of the qualification spots via the WEBSL.^[6] However, because England does not have an independent EOC, they could not compete at the Games and so were replaced by the Czech Republic.

Results

Year	Location		Gold medal match				Bronze medal match
			Gold medalists	Score	Silver medalists		Bronze medalists	Score	Fourth place
2023 details	Kraków, Poland		Spain	2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p)	Ukraine		Portugal	2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–0 p)	Poland

Performance

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Spain (ESP)	1	0	0	1
2	Ukraine (UKR)	0	1	0	1
3	Portugal (POR)	0	0	1	1
Totals (3 entries)		1	1	1	3

Overall standings

As of 2023

Pos	Team	App	Pld	W	W+	WP	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG
1	Spain	1	4	2	0	2	0	11	8	+3	8	2.00
2	Portugal	1	4	2	0	1	1	10	7	+3	7	1.75
3	Ukraine	1	4	2	0	0	2	11	10	+1	6	1.50
4	Poland	1	4	1	0	0	3	10	8	+2	3	0.75
5	Italy	1	3	0	1	0	2	4	4	0	2	0.67
6	Czech Republic	1	3	0	0	0	3	4	13	–9	0	0.00

Key: Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out WP = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points / Points per game PPG

Appearances & performance timeline

Key

G  – Gold medalists  S  – Silver medalists  B  – Bronze medalists  4th...6th  — Fourth to sixth place

×  — Did not qualify  ××  — Barred from entering     – Hosts Apps — Total appearances

Year Team	2023 (8)		Apps ⁄1
Czech Republic	6th		1
Italy	5th		1
Poland	4th		1
Portugal	B		1
Spain	G		1
Ukraine	S		1
6 nations

See also

• Beach soccer at the African Beach Games
• Beach soccer at the Asian Beach Games
• Beach soccer at the South American Beach Games

References

1. Crawford, Alex (27 May 2014). "Beach soccer at Baku 2015 will showcase a growing and innovative form of the "beautiful game"". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
2. Palmer, Dan (16 May 2023). "Holders to meet hosts as 2023 European Games beach soccer draw made". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 July 2023. A women's beach soccer tournament has not been held at the European Games before.
3. "European Games Minsk 2019". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
4. "Qualification System – Beach Soccer" (PDF). Minsk 2019. March 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
5. "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – 3RD EUROPEAN GAMES - KRAKOW & MALOPOLSKA 2023" (PDF). European Olympic Committees. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
6. "Italy and Spain to meet in the EBSL final". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 10 September 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2023. England to join Spain, Italy, Ukraine and Portugal at the 2023 European Games in Krakow

External links

• Beach Soccer Worldwide, official website