2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Encyclopedia
The 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
, governed by FIFA
. Previous editions before 2005 were not governed by FIFA and were held under the title Beach Soccer World Championships. Overall this was the fourteenth edition of the World Cup since it's establishment in 1995. It took place in Marseille
, France
, the first tournament to take place outside Brazil, from 17 July - 27 July 2008. The winners of the tournament were Brazil
, who won their third consecutive FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup title and their twelfth title overall.
, 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.
, 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.
, 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.
, 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.
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.
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.
was used known as the Stade du Prado
or the Stadium of the Beach in English. The stadium had a capacity of 7 000 spectators and hosted all 32 matches.
Asian zone:
African zone:
European zone:
North, Central American and Caribbean zone:
Oceanian zone:
South American zone:
Hosts:
.
All matches are listed as local time in Marsielle, (UTC+1
)
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
----
11 goals Amarelle
10 goals Belchior
8 goals James Naka
Pape Koukpaki
7 goals Alan Bruno Jeremy Basquaise
6 goals Benjamin
Ricar
5 goals Paolo Palmacci Didier Samoun Egor Shaykov Simone Feudi Roberto Pasquali Federico Hilaire Andre
4 goals Buru
Martin Daniel Facundo Minici Nico
3 goals Gomis Mbengue Dmitry Shishin Fabian Torres Massimiliano Esposito Ali Naderi Bakhit Alabadla Rami Al Mesaabi Parrillo
2 goals Ilya Leonov Betinho Junior Negao
Agustin Ruiz Christopher Flores Javi Alvarez Gibson Hosea Joan Etame Mehdi Davoudi
2 goals (cont.) Moslem Mesigar Omo Ricardo Villalobos Tomoya Uehara Victor Diagne Ibrahim Albalooshi Tomas Hernandez Alexey Makarov Cesar Leguizamon Stephane Francois Beirao Sousa Bilro Diego Maradona Jr
Francesco Corosiniti Giuseppe Condorelli Sidney Giuseppe Soria
Own goals Alireza Rahimi (for France
) Gideon Omokirio (for Portugal 
) Ekwalla Eyoum (for the United Arab Emirates 
) Aime Yombi (for Russia 
) Katsuhiro Yoshii (for Brazil 
) Coco (for Portugal )
35 others scored 1 goal each
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is a bi-annual international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament has taken place every year since its establishment in 1995, when it was originally supervised...
, governed by FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
. Previous editions before 2005 were not governed by FIFA and were held under the title Beach Soccer World Championships. Overall this was the fourteenth edition of the World Cup since it's establishment in 1995. It took place in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the first tournament to take place outside Brazil, from 17 July - 27 July 2008. The winners of the tournament were Brazil
Brazil national beach soccer team
The Brazil national beach soccer team represents Brazil in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the CBF, the governing body for football in Brazil...
, who won their third consecutive FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup title and their twelfth title overall.
Africa
The qualifiers to determine the two African nations who would play in the World Cup took place in DurbanDurban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
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
2007 CAF Beach Soccer Championship
-Winners:-Final standings:...
, which eventually saw Senegal
Senegal national beach soccer team
The Senegal national beach soccer team represents Senegal in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the F.S.F., the governing body for football in Senegal.-Current squad:Coach: Amadou Diop-Achievements:...
claim their first title, qualifying for the second successive World Cup and which saw Cameroon
Cameroon national beach soccer team
The Cameroon national beach soccer team represents Cameroon in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by Fédération Camerounaise de Football, the governing body for football in Cameroon.-Current squad:Correct as of July 2008...
finish in second place, also qualifying for the second time.
Asia
The Asian qualifiers took place in DubaiDubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
, for the third time, between May 6 and May 10. The hosts, the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
qualified for the second time after beating Japan
Japan national beach soccer team
The Japan national beach soccer team represents Japan in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the JFA, the governing body for football of the country.-Current squad:Current as of August 2011.Head coach: Ruy Ramos...
in the final of the championship, 4-3, for the second consecutive year. Iran
Iran national beach soccer team
The Iran national beach soccer team represents Iran in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the I.R.I.F.F., the governing body for football in Iran.-Current squad:*Head Coach: Behzad Dadashzadeh...
beat China
China national beach soccer team
The China national beach soccer team represents China in international Beach soccer competitions and is controlled by Chinese Football Association.-FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup:* 1995 to 2005 - Did not enter* 2006 - Did not qualify...
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 BenidormBenidorm
Benidorm is a coastal town and municipality located in the comarca of Marina Baixa, in the province of Alicante, Valencian community, Spain, by the Western Mediterranean....
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, 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
Spain national beach soccer team
The Spain national beach soccer team represents Spain in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the RFEF, the governing body for football in Spain.-Current squad:As of 6, August 2011 Coach: Joaquin Alonso...
won the championship, with neighbours Portugal
Portugal national beach soccer team
The Portugal national beach soccer team represents Portugal in international beach soccer competitions, and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. They are the only team to put Brazil out of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, having done it...
finishing second. Russia
Russia national beach soccer team
The Russia national beach soccer team represents Russia in international beach soccer competitions.-Current squad:Current as of August 2011. Coach: Mikhail Likhachev-Achievements:* 2007 Season...
beat Italy
Italy national beach soccer team
The Italy national beach soccer team represents Italy in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, the governing body for football in Italy.-Current squad:Correct as of August 2011...
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 VallartaPuerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican balneario resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas.The 2010 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 255,725 making it the sixth-largest city in the state of Jalisco...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Mexico and El Salvador
El Salvador national beach soccer team
The El Salvador national beach soccer team represents El Salvador in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol, the governing body for football in El Salvador.-History:...
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 ArgentineanArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
capital, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. Brazil
Brazil national beach soccer team
The Brazil national beach soccer team represents Brazil in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the CBF, the governing body for football in Brazil...
and hosts Argentina
Argentina national beach soccer team
The Argentina national beach soccer team represents Argentina in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the AFA, the governing body for football of the country.-Current squad:Correct as of September 2011:...
were the two finalists, meaning they both qualified for the World Cup. Brazil defeated Argentina in the final to win the title. Uruguay
Uruguay national beach soccer team
Uruguay national beach soccer team represents Uruguay in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the AUF, the governing body for football in Uruguay.-Current squad:Correct as of July 2008...
and Venezuela
Venezuela national beach soccer team
The Venezuela national beach soccer team represents Venezuela in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the FVF, the governing body for football in Venezuela.-Current squad:Current as of August 2011....
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 ConfederationOceania Football Confederation
The Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six continental confederations of international association football, consisting of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and island nations such as Tonga, Fiji and other Pacific Island countries...
nominated the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands national beach soccer team
The Solomon Islands national beach soccer team represents Solomon Islands in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by S.I.F.F, the governing body for football in 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.
Venue
A stadium on the beaches of MarseilleMarseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
was used known as the Stade du Prado
Plage du Prado
Plages du Prado is the generic name for the beaches in Marseille, France.Plages du Prado was the venue for the 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, named Stade du Prado in the tournament. Over the course of the tournament, it hosted 16 teams competing for the crown of World Champions. All group...
or the Stadium of the Beach in English. The stadium had a capacity of 7 000 spectators and hosted all 32 matches.
Teams
These are the teams that qualified to the World Cup:Asian zone:
African zone:
European zone:
North, Central American and Caribbean zone:
Oceanian zone:
South American zone:
Hosts:
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 tournamentSingle-elimination tournament
A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
.
All matches are listed as local time in Marsielle, (UTC+1
UTC+1
UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601 the associated time would be written as .This time is used in:*Central European Time*West Africa Time*Western European Summer Time**British Summer Time**Irish Standard Time...
)
Group A
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 5 | |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 5 | |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 5 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 16 | |||
| 0 |
- 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.
----
----
----
----
----
----
Group B
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 10 | 16 | 8 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 6 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 23 | |||
| 3 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 18 | |||
| 0 |
----
----
----
----
----
----
Group C
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 9 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 6 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 14 | |||
| 3 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 17 | |||
| 0 |
----
----
----
----
----
----
Group D
| Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 4 | 14 | 9 | |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 6 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 12 | |||
| 3 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 18 | |||
| 0 |
----
----
----
----
----
Knockout stage
Quarter finals
----
----
----
----
Semi finals
----
----
Third place play off
----
Final
Winners
Awards
| Golden Ball | Silver Ball | Bronze Ball | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 AmarelleRamiro Figueiras Amarelle Ramiro Figueiras Amarelle is a Spanish beach soccer player. He is the captain of the Spain national beach soccer team... |
Benjamin Benjamin (beach soccer) Benjamin Pereira da Silva better known as Benjamin is a Brazilian beach soccer player. He plays in forward position.-Beach soccer: Brazil**FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup winner: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009... |
Belchior |
|||
| Golden Shoe | Silver Shoe | Bronze Shoe | |||
| Madjer Madjer João Victor Saraiva , better known as Madjer, is a Portuguese beach soccer player. He plays in forward position, and has won numerous awards at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups for his goalscoring abilities.... |
Amarelle Ramiro Figueiras Amarelle Ramiro Figueiras Amarelle is a Spanish beach soccer player. He is the captain of the Spain national beach soccer team... |
Belchior |
|||
| 13 goals | 11 goals | 10 goals | |||
| Golden Glove | |||||
| Roberto Valerio |
|||||
| FIFA Fair Play Award | |||||
Top scorers
13 goals MadjerMadjer
João Victor Saraiva , better known as Madjer, is a Portuguese beach soccer player. He plays in forward position, and has won numerous awards at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups for his goalscoring abilities....
11 goals Amarelle
Ramiro Figueiras Amarelle
Ramiro Figueiras Amarelle is a Spanish beach soccer player. He is the captain of the Spain national beach soccer team...
10 goals Belchior
8 goals James Naka
James Naka
James Naka is a Solomon Islands footballer. He has played in 4 editions of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and also represented his country at the 2011 Pacific Games.-References:...
Pape Koukpaki
7 goals Alan Bruno Jeremy Basquaise
6 goals Benjamin
Benjamin (beach soccer)
Benjamin Pereira da Silva better known as Benjamin is a Brazilian beach soccer player. He plays in forward position.-Beach soccer: Brazil**FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup winner: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009...
Ricar
5 goals Paolo Palmacci Didier Samoun Egor Shaykov Simone Feudi Roberto Pasquali Federico Hilaire Andre
4 goals Buru
Buru (beach soccer)
Venícius Ribeiro Mariane Fambre better known as Bruno is a Brazilian beach soccer player. He plays in defender position.-Beach soccer: Brazil**FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup winner: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009...
Martin Daniel Facundo Minici Nico
3 goals Gomis Mbengue Dmitry Shishin Fabian Torres Massimiliano Esposito Ali Naderi Bakhit Alabadla Rami Al Mesaabi Parrillo
2 goals Ilya Leonov Betinho Junior Negao
Júnior Negão
Gleidionor Figueiredo Pinto Júnior or simply Júnior Negão , is a Brazilian striker who currently plays for Swiss club FC Lausanne-Sport....
Agustin Ruiz Christopher Flores Javi Alvarez Gibson Hosea Joan Etame Mehdi Davoudi
2 goals (cont.) Moslem Mesigar Omo Ricardo Villalobos Tomoya Uehara Victor Diagne Ibrahim Albalooshi Tomas Hernandez Alexey Makarov Cesar Leguizamon Stephane Francois Beirao Sousa Bilro Diego Maradona Jr
Diego Sinagra
Diego Armando Maradona Sinagra is an Italian footballer and beach soccer player, currently plays for U.S. Arzanese-Biography:...
Francesco Corosiniti Giuseppe Condorelli Sidney Giuseppe Soria
Own goals Alireza Rahimi (for France
) Gideon Omokirio (for Portugal ) Ekwalla Eyoum (for the United Arab Emirates ) Aime Yombi (for Russia ) Katsuhiro Yoshii (for Brazil ) Coco (for Portugal )35 others scored 1 goal each
Final standings
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
| 9 | |
| 10 | |
| 11 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 | |
| 14 | |
| 15 | |
| 16 |