# 2021 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship

The 2021 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship was the ninth edition of the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship, the premier beach soccer tournament contested by North, Central American and Caribbean men's national teams and organised the governing body of football in North America, CONCACAF. The tournament took place at the Sports Complex Fedefutbol-Plycem in San Rafael District, Alajuela, Costa Rica between 17 and 23 May 2021, with 12 nations contesting the title.
Mexico were the defending champions, but lost in the third-place match. El Salvador dominated the tournament, scoring fifty goals in six matches, and won their second title after beating the United States in the final, while Guatemala defeated Mexico to finish third.
The championship also acted as the CONCACAF qualification tournament for the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. El Salvador and the United States, as the top two teams, qualified for the World Cup as the representatives from CONCACAF.

## Teams

A total of 12 teams entered the tournament.
| Team | Appearance | Previous best performance |
| Bahamas | 7th | Quarter-finals (2015, 2017, 2019) |
| Belize | 4th | Round 1 (2015, 2017, 2019) |
| Costa Rica (hosts) | 9th | Runners-up (2009, 2015) |
| Dominican Republic | 1st | Debut |
| El Salvador | 8th | Champions (2009) |
| Guadeloupe | 4th | Fourth place (2017) |
| Guatemala | 5th | Quarter-finals (2015, 2019) |
| Mexico (title holders) | 9th | Champions (2008, 2011, 2015, 2019) |
| Panama | 4th | Champions (2017) |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 5th | Quarter-finals (2015, 2017, 2019) |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 4th | Round 1 (2015, 2017, 2019) |
| United States | 9th | Champions (2006, 2013) |

## Draw

The draw to split the 12 teams into three groups of four was held at 11:00 EST on 8 March 2021 at CONCACAF headquarters in Miami, United States.
The procedure was as follows:
The teams were first divided into four pots of three based on their CONCACAF Beach Soccer Ranking as of December 2019. The highest ranked teams were placed in Pot 1, down through to the lowest ranked teams placed in Pot 4. The three teams in Pot 1 were seeded and each automatically assigned to the head of one of the groups. The teams from Pots 2–4 were then drawn, drawing all teams from one pot before moving onto the next. From each pot, the first team drawn was placed into Group A, the second team drawn placed into Group B and the final team drawn placed into Group C.
| Pot 1 (seeds) | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Mexico (1) (assigned to A1) El Salvador (2) (assigned to B1) United States (3) (assigned to C1) | Panama (4) Costa Rica (5) (hosts) Bahamas (6) | Guadeloupe (7) Trinidad and Tobago (8) Guatemala (9) | Belize (13) Turks and Caicos Islands (16) Dominican Republic (n/a) |
    The numbers in parentheses show the CONCACAF ranking of the teams as of December 2019, out of 19 nations.

## Officials

The following 15 officials that will referee the tournament were revealed on 5 May.
* Juan Angeles
* Gumercindo Batista
* Erlis Bermudez
* Gonzalo Carballo
* David Cruz
* Robert Gomez
* Miguel Lopez
* Mario Nava
* Arian Perez
* Warner Porras
* Alexander Rafoso
* Julio Ramos
* Jair Robles
* Luis Torres
* Jorge Tunon

## Squads

Each team had to submit a squad of 12 players (including a minimum of two goalkeepers), from an initial provisional squad of 20 players (Regulations Articles 10.1; 10.2).
The final rosters were revealed on 11 May.
Players and staff were required to take regular COVID-19 tests during the competition, in respect to health and safety controls regarding the COVID-19 pandemic:
* On 17 May, one player and one member of staff from the Dominican Republic tested positive and were required to self-isolate. The match schedule was unaffected.
* On 18 May, one player from the United States tested positive and was required to self-isolate. The match schedule was unaffected.

## Group stage

Each team earns 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 from each group and the two best third placed teams advance to the quarter-finals.

### Tiebreakers

The ranking of teams in each group is determined as follows (Regulations Article 12.5):
* Points obtained in all group matches;
* Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
* Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
* Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* 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;
* Drawing of lots.
All times are local, CST (UTC−6).

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Mexico | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Panama | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 3 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Belize | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 0 | |
| 4 | Guadeloupe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
* ↑ Guadeloupe's withdrawal was announced on 16 April. Concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic were cited.

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | El Salvador | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 4 | +25 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Guatemala | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Bahamas | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 12 | +3 | 3 | Knockout stage |
| 4 | Dominican Republic | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 35 | −31 | 0 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Costa Rica (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | United States | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 8 | +12 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Trinidad and Tobago | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 3 | Knockout stage |
| 4 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 23 | −16 | 0 | |

### Ranking of third-placed teams

Since Group A consisted of three teams, for the two third placed teams from Groups B and C, their results against the teams finishing in fourth place in their groups were discounted for this ranking.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | B | Bahamas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 0 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | C | Trinidad and Tobago | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 0 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | A | Belize | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 0 | |
* 1 2 Fair play points: Bahamas, –3; Trinidad and Tobago, –6.

## Knockout stage

20 May was allocated as a rest day.
| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| 21 May – San Rafael | 21 May – San Rafael | | | |
| Mexico (a.e.t.) | 5 | | | |
| Mexico (a.e.t.) | 5 | 22 May – San Rafael | 22 May – San Rafael | | |
| Bahamas | 4 | 22 May – San Rafael | 22 May – San Rafael | |
| Bahamas | 4 | Mexico | 2 | |
| 21 May – San Rafael | 21 May – San Rafael | | Mexico | 2 | |
| 21 May – San Rafael | 21 May – San Rafael | United States | 5 | |
| Panama | 3 | United States | 5 | |
| Panama | 3 | | | | 23 May – San Rafael | 23 May – San Rafael |
| United States | 4 | | | | 23 May – San Rafael | 23 May – San Rafael |
| United States | 4 | | | | United States | 4 |
| 21 May – San Rafael | 21 May – San Rafael | | | | | United States | 4 |
| 21 May – San Rafael | 21 May – San Rafael | | | | El Salvador | 6 |
| El Salvador | 9 | | | | El Salvador | 6 |
| El Salvador | 9 | 22 May – San Rafael | 22 May – San Rafael | | | |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 2 | 22 May – San Rafael | 22 May – San Rafael | | | |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 2 | El Salvador | 6 | | | |
| 21 May – San Rafael | 21 May – San Rafael | | El Salvador | 6 | | | |
| 21 May – San Rafael | 21 May – San Rafael | Guatemala | 2 | | Third place match | Third place match |
| Costa Rica | 4 | Guatemala | 2 | | Third place match | Third place match |
| Costa Rica | 4 | | | | 23 May – San Rafael | 23 May – San Rafael |
| Guatemala | 6 | | | | 23 May – San Rafael | 23 May – San Rafael |
| Guatemala | 6 | | | | Mexico | 2 |
| | | | | | Guatemala | 5 |

### Semi-finals

Winners qualify for the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

### Final
## Awards
### Winners trophy

* 2021 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship champions
* El Salvador Second title

### Individual awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
* Golden Ball (Best player)
* Ruben Batres
* Golden Boot (Top scorer)
* Frank Velásquez
* 11 goals
* Golden Glove (Best goalkeeper)
* Eliodoro Portillo
* Best Young Player
* Antonio Chávez
* Fair Play Award
* Mexico

## Top goalscorers

Players with at least 5 goals are listed

### 11 goals

* Frank Velásquez

### 10 goals

* Rubén Batres

### 9 goals

* Exon Perdomo

### 7 goals

* Christian Sánchez
* Gabriel Silveira
* Lesly St. Fleur

### 6 goals

* Greivin Pacheco
* Tomas Canale
* Wilson González

### 5 goals

* Cristofher Castillo
* Jason Urbina
Source: CONCACAF.com

## Final standings

* Qualified for the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
| Rank | Team |
| | El Salvador |
| | United States |
| | Guatemala |
| 4 | Mexico |
| 5–8 | Bahamas |
| 5–8 | Costa Rica |
| 5–8 | Panama |
| 5–8 | Trinidad and Tobago |
| 9–11 | Belize |
| 9–11 | Dominican Republic |
| 9–11 | Turks and Caicos Islands |

## Qualified teams for FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

The following two teams from CONCACAF qualify for the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup only FIFA era (since 2005) |
| United States | 22 May 2021 | 5 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2019) |
| El Salvador | 22 May 2021 | 4 (2008, 2009, 2011, 2013) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.