1997 Beach Soccer World Championships

The 1997 Beach Soccer World Championships was the third edition of the Beach Soccer World Championships, the most prestigious competition in international beach soccer contested by men's national teams until 2005, when the competition was then replaced by the second iteration of a world cup in beach soccer, the better known FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[1] It was organised by Brazilian sports agency Koch Tavares (one of the founding partners of Beach Soccer Worldwide).

1997 Beach Soccer World Championships
III Beach Soccer World Championships
Tournament details
Host countryBrazil
DatesJanuary 14–19
Teams8 (from 4 confederations)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Brazil (3rd title)
Runners-up Uruguay
Third place United States
Fourth place Argentina
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored141 (8.81 per match)
Top scorer(s)Brazil Júnior
Uruguay Venancio Ramos
(11 goals)
Best player(s)Brazil Júnior
Best goalkeeperBrazil Paulo Sérgio
1996
1998

For the third consecutive time, the tournament took place at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Hosts Brazil won the tournament for the third time in a row by beating Uruguay 5–2 in what was a repeat of the final in the previous edition. It was also the first and only time in the history of the world cup that no European nations finished in the top four.

Future champions France and Portugal both competed for the first time at this edition, as did the first Asian nation, Japan.

Organisation

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The organisation remained the same as the format established during the championship's inception in 1995; the eight participating nations competed in two groups of four teams in a round robin format. The top two teams progressed straight to the semi-finals from which point on the championship was played as a knock-out tournament until a winner was crowned with an additional match to determine third place.

The capacity of the arena used for this edition of the World Championships was scaled down from the 12,000 seats available in the two previous events, to 7,000 for this year's tournament.[2]

Teams

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Africa and Oceania were unrepresented.

Group stage

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Group A

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Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Brazil 3 3 0 0 27 8 +19 9 Advance to knockout stage
2   United States 3 2 0 1 12 11 +1 6
3   Portugal 3 1 0 2 14 18 –4 3
4   Japan 3 0 0 3 5 21 –16 0


Brazil  12–3  Japan
   
United States  7–5  Portugal
   

Brazil  10–2  Portugal
   
United States  2–1  Japan
   

Brazil  5–3  United States
   
Portugal  7–1  Japan
   

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Uruguay 3 2 0 1 16 15 +1 6 Advance to knockout stage
2   Argentina 3 2 0 1 10 8 +2 6
3   Italy 3 1 0 2 12 11 +1 3
4   France 3 1 0 2 7 10 –3 3


Uruguay  5–4  Argentina
   
Italy  4–1  France
   

France  5–4  Uruguay
   
Argentina  3–2  Italy
   

Argentina  3–1  France
   
Uruguay  7–6  Italy
   

Knockout stage

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Semi-finals

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Uruguay  4–4 (a.e.t.)  United States
   
Penalties
2–1

Brazil  14–3  Argentina
   

Third place play-off

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United States  5–1  Argentina
   

Final

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Brazil  5–2  Uruguay
Júnior   6', 13'
Magal   ?', 15'
Edinho   19'
Report   3', 36' Ramos
Attendance: 7,000

Winners

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 1997 Beach Soccer World Championships
champions 
 
Brazil
Third title

Awards

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Top scorers
  Júnior   Venancio Ramos
11 goals
Best player
  Júnior
Best goalkeeper
  Paulo Sérgio

Final standings

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Pos Grp Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1 B   Brazil 5 5 0 0 46 13 +33 15 Champions
2 A   Uruguay 5 2 1 2 22 24 −2 8 Runners-up
3 B   United States 5 3 0 2 21 16 +5 9 Third place
4 A   Argentina 5 2 0 3 14 27 −13 6 Fourth place
5 A   Italy 3 1 0 2 12 11 +1 3 Eliminated in the
group stage
6 B   Portugal 3 1 0 2 14 18 −4 3
7 A   France 3 1 0 2 7 11 −4 3
8 B   Japan 3 0 0 3 5 21 −16 0
Source: [1]

Sources

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  1. ^ "FIFA launches first ever FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup". FIFA.com. 1 February 2005. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Beach Soccer". kochtavares.com.br. 1 February 1998. Archived from the original on 1 February 1998. Retrieved 15 June 2017.