AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

The AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup is the main championship for beach soccer in Asia, contested between the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the sport's version of the better known AFC Asian Cup in association football.

The winners of the championship are crowned continental champions; the tournament also acts as the qualification route for Asian nations to the upcoming edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.^[1] Coinciding with the annual staging of the World Cup, the competition took place yearly until 2009; the World Cup then became biennial, and as its supplementary qualification event, the championship followed suit. Japan are the most successful nation with three titles and having also qualified for the World Cup on every occasion

History

The championship was established in 2006 by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW)^[2] under the title, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup AFC qualifier;^[3][4] after FIFA made it a requirement for all confederations to begin holding qualification tournaments to determine the best national team(s) in their region who would proceed to represent their continent in the upcoming World Cup (previously, nations were simply invited to play, without having to earn their place).^[5] BSWW organised the first six editions. During this time it also became informally known by the misnomer, the AFC Beach Soccer Championship.^[6]

In 2015, the Asia's governing body for football, the AFC adopted the competition and branded it using its informal title in an official capacity; they jointly organised that year's edition with BSWW.^[7] Since 2017, the AFC have been sole organisers.^[1] For 2021, the competition was renamed as the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup, bringing it in line with the naming of other AFC senior national tournaments.^[8]

Results

For all tournaments, the top three teams qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (except for 2009, when only the top two teams qualified as one of the AFC spots was automatically given to the World Cup hosts, United Arab Emirates).

;Tournament names:

• 2006 – 2019: AFC Beach Soccer Championship
• 2021 – present: AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

:a. Despite being hosts and defending champions, the United Arab Emirates did not participate in the championship as they had already qualified automatically for the 2009 World Cup as its host nation.

Teams reaching the top four

:* Hosts

Summary (2006–2025)

Points: W = 3 points / WE = 2 points / WP = 1 points / L = 0 points

Awards

By category

By nationality

Team of the tournament

Since 2017, the competition's Technical Study Group have produced a post-tournament report including a dream and reserve "team of the tournament".

Appearances and performance timeline

The following is a performance timeline of the teams who have appeared in the AFC Beach Soccer Championship and how many appearances they each have made.

Legend

• – Champions
• – Runners-up
• – Third place
• – Fourth place
• 5th–16th – Fifth to sixteenth place

• Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
• × – Did not enter
• •• – Entered but withdrew
• – Hosts
• Apps – No. of appearances

Timeline

Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup

The following is a performance timeline of the AFC teams who have appeared in the Beach Soccer World Cup since being sanctioned by FIFA in 2005.

Legend

• – Champions
• – Runners-up
• – Third place
• – Fourth place
• – Hosts

• QF – Quarter-finals
• R1 – Round 1 (group stage)
• q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
• Total – Total times qualified for World Cup

Notes

See also

• Beach soccer at the Asian Beach Games
• AFF Beach Soccer Championship
• WAFF Beach Soccer Championship
• AFC Futsal Asian Cup

References

1. ^ AFC Beach Soccer Championship 2017 Competition Regulations. Asian Football Confederation. 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
2. ^ "Regulations FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2006". fifa.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
3. ^ Gaich, Rémi (11 January 2016). BSWW competitions / National teams. Barcelona: Beach Soccer Worldwide. pp. 14, 15, 19.
4. ^ FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2015 - AFC Qualifier Qatar Archived 2020-10-20 at the Wayback Machine. Beach Soccer Worldwide. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
5. ^ "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 qualifiers to start in Brazil on 5 March". FIFA. 3 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
6. ^ See the following for examples: [14]; [15]; [16]^{[dead link]}; [17]; [18]; [19].
7. ^ FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015 – AFC Qualifier Qatar Regulations. Asian Football Confederation. 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
8. ^ "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". AFC. 2 October 2020.
9. ^ ""الآسيوي" يبلغ الاتحاد اللبناني بمواعيد بطولاته الجديدة" (in Arabic). Lebanese Football Association. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.

External links

• AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup, the-AFC.com