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 country | Italy | ||||||||
| Dates | 29 August – 4 September 2022 | ||||||||
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) | ||||||||
| № of events | 2 (1 men's; 1 women's) | ||||||||
| Teams | 20 (from 14 countries) | ||||||||
| Men's event | |||||||||
| Teams | 13 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Matches played | 31 | ||||||||
| Goals scored | 292 (9.42 per match) | ||||||||
| Women's event | |||||||||
| Teams | 7 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Matches played | 14 | ||||||||
| Goals scored | 86 (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]
The matches took place at the Sicily Arena Beach Stadium on Playa di Catania (Catania Beach).[3]
Teams
13 teams entered the men's event.[2] The entrants are listed below, ordered by their European Ranking in parentheses:[8]
Portugal (2)
Switzerland (3)
Spain (4)
Italy (5)
Ukraine (7)
Germany (8)
France (9)
Turkey (10)
Azerbaijan (11)
Moldova (15)
Norway (18)
Czech Republic (19)
Sweden (23)
Draw
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
The group stage took place from 29–31 August.
Group A
| 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 | — | — | — |
Group B
| 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 | — | — | — |
Group C
| 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 | — | — | — |
Group D
| 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 | — | — | — |
Knockout stage
9th–12th place
| 9th–12th place semifinals | Ninth place match | |||||
| 1 September; 13:30; Report | ||||||
| Moldova | 5 | |||||
| 3 September; 08:30; Report | ||||||
| Czech Republic | 3 | |||||
| Moldova | 2 | |||||
| 1 September; 16:15; Report | ||||||
| Azerbaijan | 5 | |||||
| Azerbaijan | 6 | |||||
| Norway | 3 | |||||
| Eleventh place match | ||||||
| 2 September; 08:30; Report | ||||||
| Czech Republic | 8 | |||||
| Norway | 2 | |||||
1st–8th place
The quarter-finals winners, plus the winners of the fifth place match, qualify to the 2023 World Beach Games.
| Fifth place match | 5th–8th place semifinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||||
| 2 September; 17:30; Report | ||||||||||||||||||
| Italy | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 September; 17:30; Report | Ukraine (a.e.t.) | 5 | 3 September; 12:15; Report | |||||||||||||||
| Italy | 5 | Ukraine | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Germany | 4 | 2 September; 13:45; Report | Spain | 7 | ||||||||||||||
| Spain | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 September; 16:15; Report | Germany | 3 | 4 September; 17:30; Report | |||||||||||||||
| Italy | 5 | Spain | 6 | |||||||||||||||
| France | 1 | 2 September; 15:00; Report | Portugal | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Portugal | 11 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 September; 11:00; Report | Turkey | 4 | 3 September; 13:35; Report | |||||||||||||||
| Seventh place match | Turkey | 2 | Portugal | 8 | Third place match | |||||||||||||
| 4 September; 11:00; Report | France | 4 | 2 September; 12:15; Report | Switzerland | 4 | 4 September; 12:15; Report | ||||||||||||
| Germany | 2 | Switzerland | 9 | Ukraine | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Turkey | 1 | France | 6 | Switzerland | 3 | |||||||||||||
Awards
Winners trophy
| 2023 World Beach Games – Europe Qualifier champions |
|---|
 Spain First title |
Individual awards
| Top scorer |
|---|
| Chiky Ardil |
| 11 goals |
| Best player |
| Chiky Ardil |
| Best goalkeeper |
| Dona |
Top goalscorers
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
- Emmanuele Zurlo
- Gabriele Gori
8 goals
- Amid Nazarov
- Bê Martins
6 goals
- André Lourenço
- Noël Ott
5 goals
- Miguel Pintado
- Jean-Stéphane Belhomme
- Dejan Stankovic
- Glenn Hodel
- Jose Arias
- Alejandro Achutegui
- Bariş Terzioglu
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
| 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 |
Teams
Seven teams entered the women's event which are as follows,[2] ordered by their European Ranking in parentheses:[8]
- Spain (1)
England (3)- Switzerland (4)
- Ukraine (5)
- Czech Republic (6)
- Italy (n/a)
- Sweden (n/a)
Draw
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:
Group stage
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
| 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 | — | — | — |
Group B
| 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[lower-alpha 1] | Semifinals | — | — | 5–2 | — | |
| 2 | Spain |
3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 6[lower-alpha 1] | 1–2 | — | — | 8–2 | ||
| 3 | Sweden |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 3[lower-alpha 2] | Fifth place match | — | 2–4 | — | — | |
| 4 | Switzerland |
3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 3[lower-alpha 2] | 5–3 | — | 2–4 | — |
Notes:
Knockout stage
5th place
| Fifth place match | ||
| 3 September; 09:45; Report | ||
| Czech Republic | 3 | |
| Sweden | 2 | |
1st–4th place
| Semifinals | Final | |||||
| 3 September; 15:00; Report | ||||||
| England | 3 | |||||
| 4 September; 15:00; Report | ||||||
| Spain | 1 | |||||
| England | 3 | |||||
| 3 September; 16:15; Report | ||||||
| Ukraine | 0 | |||||
| Ukraine (a.e.t.) | 4 | |||||
| Italy | 3 | |||||
| Third place match | ||||||
| 4 September; 13:30; Report | ||||||
| Spain | 5 | |||||
| Italy | 3 | |||||
Awards
Winners trophy
| 2023 World Beach Games – Europe Qualifier Champions |
|---|
 England Second title |
Individual awards
| Top scorer(s) |
|---|
| Cristina Gonzalez |
| 6 goals |
| Best player |
| Molly Clark |
| Best goalkeeper |
| Anastasiia Terekh |
Top goalscorers
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
- Sara Garcia
- Molly Clark
- Maria Vecchione
- Yuliia Dekhtiar
- Sara Tui
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
| 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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- 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.
- "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.
- "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) - "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.
- ANOC World Beach Games Qualifier Catania 2022, at Beach Soccer Worldwide
- Women's ANOC World Beach Games Qualifier Catania 2022, at Beach Soccer Worldwide