Strong teams emerge after Beach Soccer World Cup group stages

Host nation, UAE, progressed to the knockout stage for the first time ever, following their victory over reigning European champions, Italy, on penalties. This match was the lowest-scoring victory in Beach Soccer World Cup history and was the first time a game finished scoreless through normal and extra-time. This is also the first time that FIFA’s Football Performance Insights team is collecting and analysing data for this tournament, and using our Beach Soccer Analysis Framework we can glean some great insights into the numbers behind the teams’ performances.

When it comes to attacking play, there have been some impressive team performances. A way of demonstrating this is by analysing teams’ ability to conduct “combination attacks”. These are defined in the Framework as goal-scoring opportunities preceded by a sequence of passes that progress through zones 2, 3 and 4 of the beach soccer pitch. Due to the coordinated nature of these attacks, they usually involve multiple players of the attacking team. Belarus have won all three of their opening games and are ranked number one for number of combination attacks, with 32 goal-scoring opportunities created through these progressive phases. Fellow quarter-finalists Iran, Brazil, Portugal and Tahiti are all also ranked in the top six for combination attacks with 30, 25, 24 and 22 attacks respectively. Some other key statistics from the group stage include:

• Tahiti scored six goals from bicycle kicks, more than any other team at this stage of the competition; Iran are second with five.   

• Spain performed the most bicycle kicks, attempting this acrobatic skill 38 times.

• Portugal’s Leo Martins is the top scorer with seven goals and four assists in his 72 minutes and 25 seconds played so far. 

Reigning European champions, Italy, topped group A while host nation, UAE, progressed to the knockout stages for the first time. Here, Matteo Marrucci gives his synopsis of the teams that competed in this group.

Italy
“As the European champions, Italy must be targeting to win this tournament. They have the potential to reach the final and have the quality in their squad to match the other leading contenders. There are several very strong teams, and they are among them. They have balance of youth and experience in their squad and are tactically diverse. They demonstrated they can adjust their game plans and match strategies, and this makes them difficult to predict.”  

UAE
“The atmosphere at their games is amazing as they have great support from the home crowd and have already made history by reaching the quarter-final. They had a really good mentality and against Italy, they proved they can prevent their opponent from scoring and can win games on penalties. That brings extra belief, and they will take confidence from their performances. Waleed Beshr (4) is a key player for them, he is their playmaker, and they are strong in the goalkeeping department also. Their quarter-final clash with Iran will be fascinating.”

Egypt
“For their first ever appearance at the Beach Soccer World Cup, they can be proud of what they achieved. They beat USA after extra-time and only lost by a single goal to UAE so they can take confidence from these performances. They will gain a huge amount from this experience, and it will help to bring all their players to the next level. They will learn from it, and this should help them to develop their style of play.”

USA
“After their performances in the last World Cup, where they showed they could really compete with the best teams, I think the USA will be really disappointed with how this competition worked out for them. Losing their captain Nick Pereyra before the tournament was costly for them because they missed his experience, quality and leadership. But they have potential, so they have a big year ahead after they get time to reflect on this competition.”

Iran topped group B while Tahiti finished second in what proved to be a very tough group, with Argentina and Spain failing to progress. Here, Dejan Stanković gives his overview of how these teams performed in the opening rounds of the tournament.

Iran
“Iran topped the group with three impressive wins and spectacular performances. They have an incredibly strong squad with all 12 players on the same level including their two goalkeepers, which gives them confidence. They play beach soccer in a really nice way, with physicality, technique, endurance and skill. The quality and depth in their squad is a real asset to them and could be a defining factor because their two blocks are so strong.” 

Tahiti
“We got a real insight to this Tahiti team during their game against Spain, when they came from 3-0 down to win 5-3. They showed real character and tactical diversity by changing their set-up from 1-2-2 to 1-3-1 because they completely changed the game. They had a six-week training camp prior to this tournament and that preparation really came to light in that game. They are technically very good but also tactically versatile and this is a real strength.”

Argentina
“Small margins cost Argentina but they were at the same level as their opponent in all of their games. They lacked a bit of cutting edge in front of goal, yet they created some brilliant chances, but at this level the small details make the difference. They had the desire and hunger and there is real potential in this squad, but they just need to find a little more quality at this level.”

Spain
“Spain had a difficult tournament and perhaps they missed the experience and presence of Edu Suárez (injured) and Llorenç (retired). I’ve played against Spain many times and I know how good a team they are. They were well prepared coming in to this tournament, but they will be disappointed that some of their decision-making let them down in big moments. However, they have some really exciting young players coming through so they will come back stronger from the experience of this tournament.”

Belarus and Japan progressed from a very competitive group C. Below, Matteo Marrucci summarises the teams’ performances.

Belarus
“Before the tournament, I expected Belarus to progress, but they dominated this group in a way that surprised me. They were very well prepared and had a good training camp prior to the tournament, but they won all three group-stage matches with a degree of comfort against some very good teams. They have a very solid structure, great physical conditioning and a high level of organisation in both phases – all the players know their roles. There is a nice dynamic between the players and the coach too, so they are a very interesting team.”  

Japan
“Japan’s team concept is quite similar to Belarus. They work very hard, they are extremely well organised in both phases, and they are very disciplined. No matter what happens on the pitch, they stick to their task and don’t deviate from it or lose their composure. Ozu (10) is the technical leader of the team, and all the other players are committed fully to their roles and responsibilities. They find a way to win. You need a great culture and strategy, in both phases, to be able to do that.”

Senegal
“Senegal proved at the last World Cup in 2021 that they can take on and beat the best teams in the world. They thrive in attacking transition but can be open in their defence and leave gaps, and the best teams will punish that. Physically they are very explosive, so transitional games suit them, but Japan and Belarus did not allow their games to go this way, so Senegal suffered against those teams. They struggled to break down the organised, structured, disciplined defences, but were very effective on the counter-attack.”

Colombia
“This was the first time Colombia had qualified for the Beach Soccer World Cup and they will gain so much from this experience. They are a typical South American team with good technical skills and fast players, and they are well organised, but they lacked a bit of experience and quality at this level. They were competitive in their games, but they never really controlled or dominated them. They will develop and learn from this valuable experience.”

Brazil and Portugal proved strong in the group stages and advanced from group D. Here, Dejan Stanković gives his thoughts on how the group unfolded.

Brazil
“Despite three wins in the group phase, Brazil did not get into their top gear in these early matches. Under their new coach, Marco Octávio, they are playing a new system (the 1-2-2) but they look like they are a team that will go up a level as the tournament progresses. They have some incredible technical players, but this year’s competition is very strong, as we can see with all eight teams in the quarter-finals. If they want to win this tournament, they will have to go up a level, but I have no doubt they will.” 

Portugal
“Their first block is very strong and the relationship and the understanding between these players is solid from playing together at Braga. They can score a lot of goals when their team is clicking, and they are very dangerous to play against. They lost to Brazil by the smallest margin and that made their final game against Oman a little bit nervy. But good teams find a way to win and, with the quality in their team, they have players who can produce these moments of quality to win games. It will be interesting to see how they use their blocks in the rest of the tournament.”

Oman
“They prepared really well for this tournament, and we could see that in their performances. They were a little unlucky not to progress and were unfortunate to be in the same group as Brazil and Portugal, but they showed in their games that they can compete with the best teams. They have some excellent players, and they are very well coached. They are not far off making the breakthrough that will see them competing at the business end of big competitions. They are an enjoyable team to watch.”

Mexico
“This team really grew as the group stages progressed, and under their new head coach Francisco Cati, we can see they are a team with genuine potential and a lot of exciting players. They lost their opening game against Portugal heavily, but in their final match against Brazil they demonstrated the character and ability that is growing their squad. They were within touching distance of getting a result against the Brazilians so they can take great confidence from that. It will be exciting to see how this team develops over the next couple of years.”

The quarter-final line-up sees the following pairings: