2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

Чемпионат мира по пляжному футболу 2021 года (Chempionat mira po plyazhnomu futbolu 2021 goda)
Tournament details
Host country	Russia
City	Moscow
Dates	19–29 August
Teams	16 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	RFU (3rd title)
Runners-up	Japan
Third place	Switzerland
Fourth place	Senegal
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	302 (9.44 per match)
Attendance	53,149 (1,661 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Glenn Hodel (12 goals)
Best player(s)	Noël Ott
Best goalkeeper	Eliott Mounoud
Fair play award	Brazil
← 2019 2024 →

The 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Overall, this was the 21st edition of a world cup in beach soccer since the establishment of the Beach Soccer World Championships which ran from 1995 to 2004 but was not governed by FIFA. This was the sixth tournament to take place biennially; the World Cup took place annually until 2009. The tournament took place in Moscow, capital of Russia, between 19 and 29 August 2021.

The tournament was first intimated in November 2017 at the FIFA Beach Soccer Workshop when it was announced that the World Cup would continue to be held every two years between 2018 and 2024. The bidding process was opened by FIFA in May 2019 and concluded with the selection of Russia as the hosts in October 2019.

Portugal were the defending champions, but they were eliminated in the group stage. They became the first time defending champions in the tournament's history to be eliminated in the group stage.

The hosts Russia, played as the RFU, won their third World Cup, beating Japan in the final.

Host selection

The bidding schedule to determine the hosts was as follows:

• 9 May 2019 – FIFA opens the bidding process.
• 5 June 2019 – Deadline for national associations to declare interest of hosting to FIFA.
• 7 June 2019 – FIFA circulates documents detailing the application campaign and conditions of participation to the bidding associations to analyse.
• 1 July 2019 – Deadline for associations to reaffirm their bidding intentions by agreeing to the terms of the documents.
• 30 August 2019 – Deadline for nations to prepare and submit their complete bidding packages to be evaluated by FIFA.
• 24 October 2019 – Hosts announced by FIFA.

On 11 September 2019, FIFA revealed that three associations had submitted bids through to the final stage of the process:

• Chile (Easter Island; Football Federation of Chile)
• El Salvador (Salvadoran Football Federation)
• Russia (Russian Football Union)

Confirmation of the awarding of hosting rights to Russia was announced at the FIFA Council meeting in Shanghai, China on 24 October 2019.

Qualification

A total of 16 teams qualified for the final tournament. In addition to Russia who qualified automatically as hosts, 15 other teams qualified from six separate continental competitions. The slot allocation was approved by the FIFA Council on 25 June 2020.

The process of qualification to the World Cup finals began and ended in 2021.

Qualifying rounds

  Qualified for the World Cup finals

  Qualified but withdrew

  Host location

• AFC: The Asian qualifiers were originally due to take place in Thailand from 18 to 28 March 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were initially postponed to between 28 April and 8 May and were subsequently cancelled entirely in January 2021. In place of the qualifiers, AFC handpicked their three representatives to go to the World Cup on 21 April, choosing the best performing nations over the course of the previous three editions of the AFC Beach Soccer Championship. The Iranian Football Federation officially contested the decision which saw their national team not chosen but their efforts were announced as unsuccessful on 28 April.
• CAF: The African qualifiers were due to take place in Jinja, Uganda from 23 to 29 November 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising water levels on the shores of Lake Victoria affecting the host beach, Uganda withdrew from hosting. Senegal were subsequently chosen as the new hosts, with the tournament rescheduled, taking place from 23 to 29 May 2021.
• CONCACAF: The North American qualifiers took place in Alajuela, Costa Rica from 17 to 23 May 2021.
• CONMEBOL: The South American qualifiers took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 26 June to 4 July 2021.
• OFC: The Oceanian qualifiers were due to take place in Tahiti in January 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were initially postponed to take place no later than 6 June 2021 and were subsequently cancelled entirely in May 2021. In place of the qualifiers, OFC handpicked their representative to go to the World Cup, choosing the highest ranked Oceanian nation in the current release of the BSWW World Rankings and considering "recent regional performance".
• UEFA: The European qualifiers were due to take place in Jesolo, Italy from 11 to 20 September 2020 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic were postponed and subsequently rescheduled, taking place from 17 to 27 June 2021 in Nazaré, Portugal. Ukraine originally qualified but on 6 July, it was announced that the Ukrainian Association of Football had refused to sanction the participation of the team at the World Cup. It was reported that the decision was made as part of a wider sporting boycott of Russia by Ukrainian authorities due to ongoing tensions between the two states. As the next best-placed team in the qualifiers, Switzerland were chosen to replace Ukraine at the World Cup as lucky losers.

Qualified teams

The following teams qualified to the finals.

Note: The appearance statistics below refer only to the FIFA era of world cups in beach soccer (since 2005); see this article for the inclusion of World Championships era stats (1995–2004).

Confederation	Qualifying tournament	Team	App	Last	Best performance
AFC (Asia; 3 teams)	2021 AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup (cancelled; teams appointed by AFC)	Japan	11th	2019	Fourth place (2005, 2019)
		Oman	4th	2019	Group stage (2011, 2015, 2019)
		United Arab Emirates	7th	2019	Group stage (2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2019)
CAF (Africa; 2 teams)	2021 Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations	Mozambique	1st	N/A	Debut
		Senegal	8th	2019	Quarter-finals (2007, 2011, 2017, 2019)
CONCACAF (Central, North America and Caribbean; 2 teams)	2021 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship	El Salvador	5th	2013	Fourth place (2011)
		United States	6th	2019	Group stage (2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2019)
CONMEBOL (South America; 3 teams)	2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)	Brazil	11th	2019	Champions (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2017)
		Paraguay	5th	2019	Quarter-finals (2017)
		Uruguay	7th	2019	Runners-up (2006)
OFC (Oceania; 1 team)	2021 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup (cancelled; team appointed by OFC)	Tahiti	6th	2019	Runners-up (2015, 2017)
UEFA (Europe; 4 teams + hosts)	Host nation	RFU	8th	2019	Champions (2011, 2013)
	2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA)	Belarus	2nd	2019	Group stage (2019)
		Portugal	10th	2019	Champions (2015, 2019)
		Spain	8th	2015	Runners-up (2013)
		Switzerland	6th	2019	Runners-up (2009)

Venue

One purpose-built venue is being used in the city of Moscow; it is located on the grounds of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Khamovniki District.

The arena has a capacity for approximately 4,500 spectators. However, on 4 August 2021 it was announced on that the maximum attendance would be limited to 50% in order to accommodate social distancing measures due to the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. Attendees of the arena are expected to wear face coverings at all times, however neither a negative COVID-19 test nor confirmation of vaccine status is required to enter the stadium.

The original bidding documents submitted by the Russian Football Union (RFU) listed the Luzhniki Olympic Complex as the proposed venue, following the success of the location as the setting for the 2019 World Cup qualifiers for UEFA; after the Russian bid was successful, it was decided other locations would be considered. From November 2019 until January 2020, through Moscow's "Active Citizen" online platform for voting on local issues, Muscovites were invited to vote for where in the city they thought the World Cup stadium should be built. Options included the Luzhniki, Sparrow Hills, VDNKh, Victory Park and Red Square. From ~200,000 votes cast, the majority chose the Luzhniki, with 43% of the share of votes. The Luzhniki was subsequently confirmed as the venue in July 2020.

Construction of the temporary structure began on 5 July 2021, at the "Festival Square" area of the complex, outside the front of the Luzhniki Stadium; it was reported as complete on 12 August. 2,000 tons of artificial quartz sand was imported to create the playing surface. It was tested by a specialist laboratory in Canada which compared it favourably to the consistency of natural sand found on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The sand features a special coating to ensure it maintains its usual viscosity in the event of rain.

Moscow	Moscow Location of Moscow in European Russia.
Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena Luzhniki Olympic Complex
55°42′51″N 37°33′02″E
Capacity: 4,500

Organisation

The following were some of the milestones in the organisation of the tournament (not belonging of other subsections):

General

• The Russian Football Union (RFU) delegated the organising of the tournament to its "Directorate of Football Events and Projects" on 15 November 2019.
• FIFA delegates met with RFU representatives in Moscow to discuss possible venues, dates and an outline plan leading to the finals, on 17 February 2020.
• A budget of US$7 million for the tournament was approved by the FIFA Council, as part of a revised budget for 2019–22, on 25 June 2020.
• The dates of the tournament were confirmed publicly on 8 July 2020. Originally slated for the beginning of July 2021, it was moved to August due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• FIFA and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) held a Zoom meeting together, primarily to assess training facilities that will be in place during the event, on 11 March 2021.
• A working meeting was held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, between members of FIFA and the LOC, on 20 May 2021. At the meeting, it was confirmed that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had given consent for the tournament to take place as planned in spite of its December 2020 ban on Russia hosting world championships for two years.
• Applications for the volunteer program opened on 11 June 2021. Final interviews took place by 9 July. 163 volunteers were picked from 1,200 applicants; training took place from 8–15 August.
• FIFA President Gianni Infantino visited the site of the tournament at the Luzhniki to discuss the progress of preparations with the LOC and other authorities on 21 June 2021; he also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the tournament.
• Media accreditation was opened on 22 June 2021 and ended on 30 July.
• Kassir.ru was announced as National Supporter and Official Ticketing Operator of the tournament on 20 August 2021.

Marketing

The official poster of the World Cup

• The official emblem of the tournament, featuring a Firebird, a figure in classic Russian fairy tales, was revealed one year to go until the final, on 29 August 2020.
• FIFA and adidas revealed the official match ball, the bright orange "Conext 21 ProBeach", marking three months to the start of the tournament, on 19 May 2021.
• The official promotional poster, inspired by Russian culture and Muscovite landmarks, was revealed on 3 June 2021. It portrays a player jumping to compete for an aerial ball with a Firebird; the latter symbolises "the pursuit of glory and embodies fire, light and sun". The ball is depicted as a golden apple, which symbolises both strength and youth, according to Russian folklore. The domes of St. Basil's Cathedral, the Moscow skyline and Luzhniki Stadium also feature. Its colours were chosen based on "Russian motives and architecture". The poster was painted onto a 24x33 metre temporary canvas at the site of the future stadium of the World Cup which took five days to complete by 10 artists.
• Tickets went on pre-sale on 9 August 2021 and on general sale from the 12 August, ranging from 400 to 700 rubles in price.
• In accordance with the ban by the WADA, RFU announced on 10 August 2021 that the phrase "Our Boys" would replace the Russian emblem on the shirts of its team's players, a two-year old brand of RFU created as part of a campaign to promote unity across all levels of football in Russia.
• The official mascot called "Zharishka", an anthropomorphisation of a Firebird, was revealed on 11 August 2021. This marks the first edition of the World Cup to feature an official mascot.

Draw

The draw to split the 16 teams into four groups of four took place on at 14:00 CEST on 8 July 2021 at FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland. It was conducted by former Portugal captain, Madjer and former captain of the Russia national association football team, Alexey Smertin. Its procedure was as follows:

The teams were first divided into four pots of four based upon a ranking created by considering each team's performances at the World Cup over the past five editions (since 2011); the more recent the tournament, the more weight was given to those results. Bonus points were also awarded to the teams which won their confederation's championship during qualifying. Using this ranking, the best performing teams were placed in Pot 1 (plus the hosts), the next best performers were placed in Pot 2 and so on. What was the composition of the pots is shown below:

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
RFU (Hosts; assigned to A1) (4) Portugal (Title holders; assigned to D1) (1) Brazil (2) Tahiti (13)	Japan (6) Senegal (10) Switzerland (8) Spain (5)	Paraguay (9) El Salvador (20) United Arab Emirates (14) Uruguay (11)	Oman (21) Belarus (15) United States (16) Mozambique (93)

The numbers in parentheses show the BSWW World Ranking of the teams at the time of the draw, out of 120 nations (The RFU's ranking refers to the Russian national team). This is for context only; it had no influence on the draw.

The draw started with Pot 1. As the hosts, RFU were automatically assigned to position A1. As the title holders, Portugal were automatically assigned to position D1. The other teams were then drawn – the first out was placed into Group C and the second, D. The teams from Pot 2 were then drawn – the first out was placed into Group A, second into B and so on. The same was repeated for Pots 3 and 4. The exact positions in the groups the teams were allocated to was determined by the drawing of a lot from an auxiliary pot.

Teams from the same confederation could not be drawn into the same group, save for UEFA, for which one group was allowed to contain two members.

Match officials

FIFA has chosen 24 officials from 24 different countries to referee matches at the World Cup, who were revealed on 19 July 2021. At least one referee will represent each of the six confederations: four from the AFC, three from CAF, five from CONMEBOL, three from CONCACAF, one from the OFC and eight from UEFA.

Unlike previous World Cups, a "structured preparation programme" was used to develop an open list of candidates over two years from which the final 24 were then selected.

Confederation	Referee	Age	Qualified
AFC	Ebrahim Akbarpour	38	2012
	Turki Al Salehi	44	2009
	Yuichi Hatano	40	2015
	Suhaimi Mat Hassan	45	2010
CAF	Hamdi Bchir	35	2016
	Hany Farouk	34	2015
	Said Hachim	42	2010
CONCACAF	Juan Angeles	41	2012
	Gumercindo Batista	41	2012
	Gonzalo Carballo	39	2014
CONMEBOL	Gustavo Domínguez	43	2012
	Lucas Estevão	35	2017
	Aecio Fernández	38	2018
	Mickie Palomino	39	2012
	Mariano Romo	40	2013

Confederation	Referee	Age	Qualified
OFC	Aurélien Planchais-Godefroy	40	2018
UEFA
	Sofien Benchabane	36	2011
	Roman Borisov	40	2014
	Francisco de Oses Bumedien	29	2018
	Sergio Gomes Soares	42	2014
	Vitalij Gomolko	31	2015
	Ingilab Mammadov	37	2012
	Gionni Matticoli	46	2012
	Łukasz Ostrowski	35	2012

Squads

Main article: 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup squads

Each team had to name a preliminary squad of between 12 and 18 players. From the preliminary squad, the team had to name a final squad of 14 players (three of whom must have been goalkeepers) by the FIFA deadline. Players in the final squad could be replaced by a player from the preliminary squad due to "serious" injury or illness up to 24 hours prior to kickoff of the team's first match.

The final squad lists were revealed by FIFA on 13 August 2021.

Group stage

In the group stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time should be played (one period of three minutes) and followed, if necessary, by kicks from the penalty mark to determine the winner. Each team earned three points for a win in regulation time, two points for a win in extra time, one point for a win in a penalty shoot-out, and no points for a defeat. The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

Tiebreakers

The rankings of teams in each group were determined as follows:

1. points obtained in all group matches;
2. goal difference in all group matches;
3. number of goals scored in all group matches;

If two or more teams were equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings were determined as follows:

4. points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
5. goal difference in the group matches between the teams concerned;
6. number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
7. fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
   • Yellow card: −1 points;
   • Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
   • Direct red card: −4 points;
   • Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
8. drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.

The match schedule was published on the 8 July, following the draw.

All times are local, MSK (UTC+3).

Group A

Russian president Vladimir Putin addresses the crowd via pre-recorded video before hosts RFU's opening match.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	W+	WP	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	RFU (H)	3	1	1	1	0	16	9	+7	6	Knockout stage
2	Japan	3	2	0	0	1	12	14	−2	6
3	Paraguay	3	1	0	0	2	17	15	+2	3
4	United States	3	0	0	0	3	11	18	−7	0

Source: BSWW and FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Host

19 August 2021 (2021-08-19)

16:30

Paraguay	4–7	Japan
Cantero 10' N. Medina 10', 13' Morán 27'	Report	Ojeda 21' (o.g.) Akaguma 26', 32', 32' Yamauchi 29', 33' (pen.), 36'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 598

Referee: Francisco de Oses Bumedien (Spain)

19 August 2021 (2021-08-19)

20:30

RFU	5–4 (a.e.t.)	United States
Shkarin 17' Nikonorov 12', 20' Novikov 21' Makarov 39'	Report	Perea 2', 32' Canale 15' (pen.), 25'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,321

Referee: Lucas Estevão (Brazil)

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21 August 2021 (2021-08-21)

16:30

Japan	4–3	United States
Okuyama 4' Ozu 23' Oba 28' (pen.) Yamauchi 31'	Report	Silveira 3' Canale 29' Perea 34'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,507

Referee: Aurélien Planchais-Godefroy (Tahiti)

21 August 2021 (2021-08-21)

20:30

RFU	4–4 (a.e.t.)	Paraguay
Makarov 1', 37' Kosharnyi 18' Nikonorov 21'	Report	Rolon 7' M. Medina 16' Carballo 35' N. Medina 37' (pen.)
Penalties
Fedorov Romanov Nikonorov Makarov Krasheninnikov	5–4	Carballo Morán Ojeda M. Medina V. Benitez

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Hany Farouk (Egypt)

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23 August 2021 (2021-08-23)

19:00

United States	4–9	Paraguay
Silveira 3' Canale 15', 34' Perea 33' (pen.)	Report	Morán 3', 15', 20' Carballo 7', 21' M. Medina 23' N. Medina 25' Cantero 33' V. Benitez 36'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,327

Referee: Vitalij Gomolko (Lithuania)

23 August 2021 (2021-08-23)

20:30

Japan	1–7	RFU
Akaguma 32'	Report	Ozu 1' (o.g.) Paporotnyi 3', 25', 27' Zemskov 8' Chuzhkov 15' Nikonorov 36'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Micke Palomino (Peru)

Group B

José Cintas of Spain in possession of the ball during the match against Mozambique.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	W+	WP	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Tahiti	3	2	0	0	1	23	19	+4	6	Knockout stage
2	Spain	3	2	0	0	1	21	19	+2	6
3	Mozambique	3	1	0	0	2	15	18	−3	3
4	United Arab Emirates	3	0	1	0	2	9	12	−3	2

Source: BSWW and FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

19 August 2021 (2021-08-19)

15:00

United Arab Emirates	4–3 (a.e.t.)	Tahiti
W. Beshr 24' Alhammadi 25' Paama 33' (o.g.) A. Beshr 39'	Report	Tetauira 21' Taiarui 36' Li 36'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 472

Referee: Sérgio Gomes Soares (Portugal)

19 August 2021 (2021-08-19)

19:00

Mozambique	4–8	Spain
Nelson 20' Figo 21', 24' (pen.), 35'	Report	Antonio 6' Chiky 8', 9' (pen.), 25' Eduard 13', 30' Llorenç 21' Tivane 36' (o.g.)

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 953

Referee: Turki Al Salehi (Oman)

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21 August 2021 (2021-08-21)

15:00

Mozambique	4–2	United Arab Emirates
Figo 5', 21', 28', 33'	Report	Alhammadi 8' A. Beshr 36'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,031

Referee: Roman Borisov (Russia)

21 August 2021 (2021-08-21)

19:00

Tahiti	12–8	Spain
Taiarui 1' Paama 9' (pen.), 35' Zaveroni 11', 33', 35' Tehau 12', 15' Salem 16', 18' Tetauira 29', 35'	Report	Torres 5', 36' David 13' Chiky 14', 28' Riduan 19', 24' Perez 27'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,372

Referee: Yuichi Hatano (Japan)

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23 August 2021 (2021-08-23)

15:00

Tahiti	8–7	Mozambique
Tehau 3' Tetauira 4' Salem 10', 17', 19', 24' Paama 31' Li 33'	Report	Tehau 4' (o.g.) Nelson 4', 17', 30' Mussa 15' Dez 35' Malate 36'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 814

Referee: Ingilab Mammadov (Azerbaijan)

23 August 2021 (2021-08-23)

16:30

Spain	5–3	United Arab Emirates
Chiky 13' Eduard 15' Torres 17' Perez 21', 30'	Report	A. Mohammad 7', 22' Malahi 9'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,183

Referee: Aecio Fernández (Uruguay)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	W+	WP	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Switzerland	3	2	0	1	0	20	15	+5	7	Knockout stage
2	Brazil	3	2	0	0	1	14	7	+7	6
3	Belarus	3	0	0	1	2	8	17	−9	1
4	El Salvador	3	0	0	0	3	14	17	−3	0

Source: BSWW and FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

20 August 2021 (2021-08-20)

16:30

Belarus	5–5 (a.e.t.)	El Salvador
Piatrouski 19' Hapon 24', 32' Ryabko 30', 37'	Report	Batres 2', 30' Ramos 18', 19' Velásquez 38'
Penalties
Bokach Novikau Chaikouski Ryabko Drozd	5–4	Velásquez Cruz Gonzalez Urbina Ramos

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 962

Referee: Suhaimi Mat Hassan (Malaysia)

20 August 2021 (2021-08-20)

20:30

Switzerland	5–5 (a.e.t.)	Brazil
Borer 6', 26' Stankovic 15', 36' Ott 34'	Report	Edson Hulk 6' Lucão 8' Zé Lucas 24', 25', 27'
Penalties
Ott Steinemann Misev Borer Stankovic	4–3	Lucão Zé Lucas Antonio Edson Hulk Rodrigo

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Said Hachim (Madagascar)

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22 August 2021 (2021-08-22)

16:30

Belarus	3–7	Switzerland
Novikau 7' Hardzetski 11' Hapon 12'	Report	Stankovic 2', 33' Hodel 17' (pen.), 34' Mounoud 28' Borer 36' Steinemann 36' (pen.)

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,856

Referee: Gionni Matticoli (Italy)

22 August 2021 (2021-08-22)

19:00

Brazil	4–2	El Salvador
Rodrigo 2', 25' Filipe 28' Mauricinho 35'	Report	Perdomo 3' (pen.) Velásquez 18'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Sofien Benchabane (France)

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24 August 2021 (2021-08-24)

16:30

El Salvador	7–8	Switzerland
Velásquez 4', 13', 21' Robles 15', 25' Perdomo 16' (pen.) Batres 20'	Report	Looser 4' Stankovic 10', 32', 34', 36' Ruettimann 12' Borer 13' Tchatat 31'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,049

Referee: Gustavo Domínguez (Paraguay)

24 August 2021 (2021-08-24)

20:30

Brazil	5–0	Belarus
Rodrigo 3' Edson Hulk 15' Lucão 23' (pen.), 24' Mauricinho 32'	Report

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Juan Angeles (Dominican Republic)

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	W+	WP	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Senegal	3	2	0	0	1	13	7	+6	6	Knockout stage
2	Uruguay	3	2	0	0	1	12	14	−2	6
3	Portugal	3	1	0	0	2	14	15	−1	3
4	Oman	3	1	0	0	2	8	11	−3	3

Source: BSWW and FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

20 August 2021 (2021-08-20)

15:00

Senegal	6–1	Uruguay
Mendy 2', 14' (pen.), 25' Diatta 5' Mam. Diagne 15' (pen.) Sylla 33'	Report	Bella 1' (pen.)

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 734

Referee: Łukasz Ostrowski (Poland)

20 August 2021 (2021-08-20)

19:00

Portugal	5–3	Oman
L. Martins 2', 11', 21' Costa 20' Andrade 24'	Report	Al-Zadjali 11' Al-Sinani 13' Costa 14' (o.g.)

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,019

Referee: Mariano Romo (Argentina)

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22 August 2021 (2021-08-22)

15:00

Uruguay	4–2	Oman
Cabrera 7' Laduche 14' Guerrero 35' L. Quinta 35'	Report	Al-Zadjali 25' Al-Sauti 27'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,278

Referee: Hamdi Bchir (Tunisia)

22 August 2021 (2021-08-22)

20:30

Portugal	3–5	Senegal
Von 9' Pinhal 18' (pen.) Lourenço 24'	Report	Mendy 9', 24' Man. Diagne 11' (pen.), 33' Diatta 35'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Gonzalo Carballo (El Salvador)

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24 August 2021 (2021-08-24)

15:00

Oman	3–2	Senegal
Al-Sauti 8' (pen.) Y. Al-Araimi 24' S. Al-Oraimi 33'	Report	Balde 25' Diatta 36'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 702

Referee: Roman Borisov (Russia)

24 August 2021 (2021-08-24)

19:00

Uruguay	7–6	Portugal
Bella 6', 10' L. Quinta 9', 23', 25' Laens 26' Guerrero 32'	Report	L. Martins 3', 12', 16', 22', 25' Von 5'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,977

Referee: Said Hachim (Madagascar)

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time should be played (a single period of three minutes) and followed, if necessary, by kicks from the penalty mark to determine the winner.

25 and 27 August were allocated as rest days.

Bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	26 August
	RFU	4
					28 August
	Spain	2
					RFU (p)	5 (5)
	26 August
					Switzerland	5 (4)
	Switzerland	10
									29 August
	Uruguay	1
									RFU	5
	26 August
									Japan	2
	Tahiti	4
					28 August
	Japan (a.e.t.)	5
					Japan	5
	26 August
					Senegal	2			Third place match
	Senegal (a.e.t.)	5
									29 August
	Brazil	4
									Switzerland	9
									Senegal	7

Quarter-finals

26 August 2021 (2021-08-26)

15:00

Senegal	5–4 (a.e.t.)	Brazil
Mam. Diagne 9' Man. Diagne 25', 39' Mendy 34', 38'	Report	Rodrigo 3', 39' Catarino 21' Zé Lucas 23'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,628

Referee: Gionni Matticoli (Italy)

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26 August 2021 (2021-08-26)

16:30

Switzerland	10–1	Uruguay
Ott 3' Borer 8', 18' (pen.) Steinemann 10' Hodel 20', 22', 24', 34' Stankovic 32' Bella 36' (o.g.)	Report	Bella 11'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,676

Referee: Juan Angeles (Dominican Republic)

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26 August 2021 (2021-08-26)

19:00

Tahiti	4–5 (a.e.t.)	Japan
Tetauira 20' (pen.), 37' Chan-Kat 30' Uesato 36' (o.g.)	Report	Tehau 4' (o.g.) Yamauchi 5' (pen.) Oba 36' Okuyama 37' Akaguma 38'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,487

Referee: Sérgio Gomes Soares (Portugal)

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26 August 2021 (2021-08-26)

20:30

RFU	4–2	Spain
Kotenev 6' Nikonorov 14' Makarov 15' Paporotnyi 34'	Report	Eduard 20' Antonio 22'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Mariano Romo (Argentina)

Semi-finals

28 August 2021 (2021-08-28)

18:00

RFU	5–5 (a.e.t.)	Switzerland
Krasheninnikov 1' Nikonorov 5', 34' Kotenev 14' Shkarin 36'	Report	Ott 6' Hodel 18', 19', 30' (pen.) Stankovic 22'
Penalties
Fedorov Nikonorov Shishin Novikov Krasheninnikov	5–4	Borer Steinemann Spaccarotella Hodel Stankovic

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Ingilab Mammadov (Azerbaijan)

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28 August 2021 (2021-08-28)

19:30

Japan	5–2	Senegal
Akaguma 15' (pen.), 29', 33' Oba 27' Okuyama 27'	Report	Fall 26' Boye 32'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,950

Referee: Łukasz Ostrowski (Poland)

Third place match

29 August 2021 (2021-08-29)

18:00

Switzerland	9–7	Senegal
Borer 9' Hodel 11', 34', 36' Mounoud 10', 16' Spaccarotella 21' Ott 21', 36' (pen.)	Report	Sylla 3' Diatta 9', 13', 36' Mam. Diagne 10' Ndour 14' Man. Diagne 33'

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 1,753

Referee: Micke Palomino (Peru)

Final

29 August 2021 (2021-08-29)

19:30

RFU	5–2	Japan
Zemskov 4' Krasheninnikov 13', 34' Novikov 15' Paporotnyi 19'	Report	Akaguma 13', 17' (pen.)

Luzhniki Beach Soccer Arena, Moscow

Attendance: 2,500

Referee: Suhaimi Mat Hassan (Malaysia)

Awards

After the final, FIFA presented individual awards to the three best players of the tournament, three top goalscorers, and to the best goalkeeper. In addition, a collective award was given to the team with the most points in the Fair Play ranking. Following this, the winners' trophy was awarded to RFU's team.

Winners

2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup winners
RFU Third title 3rd world title

Individual awards

The individual awards were all sponsored by Adidas, except for the FIFA Fair Play Award. The Golden, Silver and Bronze Balls were awarded by FIFA's Technical Study Group, which includes former players such as Claude Barrabe, Matteo Marrucci and Pascal Zuberbühler.

Golden Ball	Silver Ball	Bronze Ball
Noël Ott	Artur Paporotnyi	Raoul Mendy
Golden Scorer	Silver Scorer	Bronze Scorer
Glenn Hodel (12 goals)	Dejan Stankovic (10 goals)	Takuya Akaguma (10 goals)
Golden Glove
Eliott Mounoud
FIFA Fair Play Award
Brazil

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 302 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 9.44 goals per match.

12 goals

• Glenn Hodel

10 goals

• Takuya Akaguma
• Dejan Stankovic

8 goals

• Léo Martins

7 goals

• Figo
• Boris Nikonorov
• Raoul Mendy
• Philipp Borer

6 goals

• Ninou Diatta
• Chiky Ardil
• Heirauarii Salem
• Tamatoa Tetauira

5 goals

• Rodrigo
• Frank Velásquez
• Shusei Yamauchi
• Artur Paporotnyi
• Mandione Diagne
• Noël Ott
• Alessandro Canale

4 goals

• Zé Lucas
• Nelson Manuel
• Pedro Morán
• Aleksey Makarov
• Eduard Suárez
• Nicolas Perea
• Nicolas Bella
• Luis Quinta

3 goals

• Aleh Hapon
• Lucão
• Ruben Batres
• Takaaki Oba
• Masanori Okuyama
• Sixto Cantero
• Nestor Medina
• Yuri Krasheninnikov
• Mamour Diagne
• Pablo Perez
• Javier Torres
• Eliott Mounoud
• Dylan Paama
• Teaonui Tehau
• Teva Zaveroni

2 goals

• Anatoliy Ryabko
• Edson Hulk
• Mauricinho
• Exxon Perdomo
• Heber Ramos
• Elmer Robles
• Abdullah Al-Sauti
• Nooh Al-Zadjali
• Carlos Carballo
• Miciades Medina
• Von
• Maxim Chuzhkov
• Andrey Kotenev
• Andrei Novikov
• Anton Shkarin
• Fedor Zemskov
• Mamadou Sylla
• Riduan Dris Bouzian
• Antonio Mayor
• Tobias Steinemann
• Raimana Li Fung Kuee
• Heimanu Taiarui
• Hasan Alhammadi
• Ahmed Beshr
• Ali Mohammad
• Gabriel Silveira
• Alejandro Guerrero

1 goal

• Yahor Hardzetski
• Yauheni Novikau
• Yury Piatrouski
• Catarino
• Filipe
• Ozu Moreira
• Dez
• Yuran Malate
• Bachir Mussa
• Yahya Al-Araimi
• Salim Al-Oraimi
• Jalal Al-Sinani
• Valentin Benitez
• Yoao Rolon
• Elinton Andrade
• Fabio Costa
• André Lourenço
• Rodrigo Pinhal
• Stanislav Kosharnyi
• Ibrahima Balde
• Pape Mar Boye
• Babacar Fall
• Papa Ndour
• David Ardil
• Llorenç Gómez
• Benjamin Looser
• Patrick Ruettimann
• Sandro Spaccarotella
• Kevin Tchatat
• Gervais Chan-Kat
• Waleed Beshr
• Ahmad Malahi
• Matias Cabrera
• Gaston Laduche
• Andres Laens

1 own goal

• Ozu Moreira (against RFU)
• Takumi Uesato (against Tahiti)
• Manuel Tivane (against Spain)
• Luis Ojeda (against Japan)
• Fabio Costa (against Oman)
• Dylan Paama (against United Arab Emirates)
• Nicolas Bella (against Switzerland)

2 own goals

• Teaonui Tehau (against Mozambique and Japan)

External links

• Official website, at FIFA.com
• FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2021, at Beach Soccer Worldwide