# 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. 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) under the title, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup AFC qualifier;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). BSWW organised the first six editions. During this time it also became informally known by the misnomer, the AFC Beach Soccer Championship.
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. Since 2017, the AFC have been sole organisers. 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.

## 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
| Year | Location | Final | Final | Final | | Third place play-off | Third place play-off | Third place play-off |
| Year | Location | Winners | Score | Runners-up | | Third place | Score | Fourth place |
| 2006 details | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Bahrain | 5–3 | Japan | | Iran | 6–4 | China |
| 2007 details | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | United Arab Emirates | 4–3 | Japan | | Iran | 6–0 | Bahrain |
| 2008 details | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | United Arab Emirates | 4–3 | Japan | | Iran | 4–1 | China |
| 2009 details | Dubai United Arab Emirates | Japan | 4–2 | Bahrain | | Oman | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–1 p) | Iran |
| 2011 details | Muscat, Oman | Japan | 2–1 | Oman | | Iran | 6–2 | United Arab Emirates |
| 2013 details | Doha, Qatar | Iran | 6–6 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) | Japan | | United Arab Emirates | 3–2 | Australia |
| 2015 details | Doha, Qatar | Oman | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p) | Japan | | Iran | 8–3 | Lebanon |
| 2017 details | Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia | Iran | 7–2 | United Arab Emirates | | Japan | 6–3 | Lebanon |
| 2019 details | Pattaya, Thailand | Japan | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p) | United Arab Emirates | | Oman | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (2–1 p) | Palestine |
| 2021 details | Phuket, Thailand | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Teams to play at the World Cup handpicked by the AFC. | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Teams to play at the World Cup handpicked by the AFC. | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Teams to play at the World Cup handpicked by the AFC. | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Teams to play at the World Cup handpicked by the AFC. | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Teams to play at the World Cup handpicked by the AFC. | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Teams to play at the World Cup handpicked by the AFC. | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Teams to play at the World Cup handpicked by the AFC. |
| 2023 details | Pattaya, Thailand | Iran | 6–0 | Japan | | Oman | 4–2 | United Arab Emirates |
| 2025 details | Pattaya, Thailand | | | | | | | |
    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

| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Total |
| Japan | 3 (2009, 2011, 2019) | 6 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2023) | 1 (2017) | – | 10 |
| Iran | 3 (2013, 2017, 2023) | – | 5 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015) | 1 (2009) | 9 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2 (2007*, 2008*) | 2 (2017, 2019) | 1 (2013) | 2 (2011, 2023) | 7 |
| Oman | 1 (2015) | 1 (2011*) | 2 (2009, 2019) | 1 (2023) | 5 |
| Bahrain | 1 (2006) | 1 (2009) | – | 1 (2007) | 3 |
| China | – | – | – | 2 (2006, 2008) | 2 |
| Lebanon | – | – | – | 2 (2015, 2017) | 2 |
| Australia | – | – | – | 1 (2013) | 1 |
| Palestine | – | – | – | 1 (2019) | 1 |
    * Hosts

## Summary (2006–23)

| Rank | Team | Part | M | W | WE | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| 1 | Japan | 10 | 49 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 261 | 124 | +137 | 109 |
| 2 | Iran | 10 | 47 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 279 | 123 | +156 | 102 |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | 9 | 42 | 30 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 178 | 116 | +82 | 91 |
| 4 | Oman | 7 | 34 | 23 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 148 | 80 | +68 | 73 |
| 5 | Bahrain | 9 | 39 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 129 | 122 | +7 | 64 |
| 6 | China | 10 | 39 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 112 | 171 | –59 | 38 |
| 7 | Lebanon | 5 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 88 | 71 | +17 | 26 |
| 8 | Palestine | 3 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 48 | 52 | –8 | 23 |
| 9 | Thailand | 5 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 40 | 57 | –17 | 15 |
| 10 | Uzbekistan | 6 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 72 | 94 | –22 | 15 |
| 11 | Afghanistan | 4 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 48 | 58 | –10 | 14 |
| 12 | Australia | 2 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 24 | +1 | 10 |
| 13 | Kuwait | 4 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 44 | 61 | –17 | 10 |
| 14 | Iraq | 5 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 41 | 83 | –42 | 9 |
| 15 | Saudi Arabia | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 23 | 36 | –13 | 7 |
| 16 | Malaysia | 3 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 33 | 72 | –39 | 6 |
| 17 | Laos | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 21 | –10 | 3 |
| 18 | Qatar | 4 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 30 | 85 | –55 | 3 |
| 19 | Vietnam | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 14 | –3 | 0 |
| 20 | India | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | –5 | 0 |
| 21 | Syria | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 19 | –13 | 0 |
| 22 | Kyrgyzstan | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 40 | –28 | 0 |
| 23 | Indonesia | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 42 | –32 | 0 |
| 24 | Philippines | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 90 | –77 | 0 |
Points: W = 3 points / WE = 2 points / WP = 1 points / L = 0 points

## Awards
### By category

| Year | Top goalscorer(s) | Gls | Best player | Best goalkeeper | Fair play |
| 2006 | Takeshi Kawaharazuka | 9 | Abdullah Omar | Hamed Ghorbanpour | not awarded |
| 2007 | Farid Boulokbashi | | Bakhit Alabadla | Mohamed Al Mazam | not awarded |
| 2008 | Shusei Yamauchi | 12 | Rami Al Mesaabi | Shingo Terukina | not awarded |
| 2009 | Moslem Mesigar | | Yaqoob Al Nesuf | Tomoya Ginoza | not awarded |
| 2011 | Takeshi Kawaharazuka Ishaq Al-Qassmi | 8 | Yahya Al Araimi | Shingo Terukina | not awarded |
| 2013 | Moslem Mesigar | 11 | Ozu Moreira | Simon Jaeger | not awarded |
| 2015 | Takasuke Goto | 8 | Ozu Moreira | Peyman Hosseini | not awarded |
| 2017 | Mohammadali Mokhtari | 12 | Mohammadali Mokhtari | not awarded | Iran |
| 2019 | Ozu Moreira | 9 | Ozu Moreira | not awarded | United Arab Emirates |
| 2023 | Takuya Akaguma | 11 | Moslem Mesigar | Mahdi Mirjalili | Oman |
* ↑ In 2017 and 2019, the "best goalkeeper" was not awarded. However, the goalkeepers chosen for the "dream team" of the tournament may be considered as the de facto best goalkeepers for these years.

### By nationality

| Rank | Team | Awards |
| 1 | Japan | 12 |
| 2 | Iran | 10 |
| 3 | United Arab Emirates | 4 |
| 4 | Oman | 3 |
| 5 | Bahrain | 2 |
| 6 | Australia | 1 |

## 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".
| Year | Dream team | Reserve team |
| 2017 | Shingo Terukina (GK) Ozu Moreira (DF) Ahmed Beshr (DF) Mohammad Ahmadzadeh (FW) Mohammadali Mokhtari (FW) | Peyman Hosseini (GK) Hassan Abdollahi (DF) Ali Karim (MF) Takaaki Oba (MF) Mohamad Merhi (FW) |
| 2019 | Mohamed Abdulla (GK) Ozu Moreira (DF) Waleed Beshr (DF) Yahya Abyoua (FW) Shusei Yamauchi (FW) | Shingo Terukina (GK) Maisara Alawwab (DF) Mushel Hilal (DF) Walid Mohammad (DF) Takuya Akaguma (FW) |
| 2023 | Mahdi Mirjalili (GK) Ozu Moreira (DF) Moslem Mesigar (FW) Takuya Akaguma (FW) Khalid Al Oraimi (FW) | Shinya Shibamoto (GK) Ali Mohammadi (DF) Mohammadali Mokhtari (FW) Sami Al Balushi (FW) Ali Mirshekari (FW) |

## 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.

### Timeline

| YearTeam | 2006 (6) | 2007 (6) | 2008 (6) | 2009 (7) | 2011 (11) | 2013 (16) | 2015 (14) | 2017 (12) | 2019 (15) | 2023 (16) | 2025 (16) | Apps |
| Afghanistan | × | × | × | × | •• | 11th | × | 6th | 12th | 13th | Q | 5 |
| Australia | × | × | × | 5th | × | 4th | × | × | × | × | × | 2 |
| Bahrain | 1st | 4th | × | 2nd | 6th | 9th | 7th | 5th | 6th | 6th | Q | 10 |
| China | 4th | 5th | 4th | 7th | 5th | 7th | 6th | 12th | 9th | 7th | Q | 11 |
| India | × | 6th | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | Q | 2 |
| Indonesia | × | × | × | × | 11th | × | × | × | × | 16th | Q | 3 |
| Iran | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 7th | 1st | Q | 11 |
| Iraq | × | × | × | × | 9th | 10th | 12th | 9th | 13th | × | Q | 6 |
| Japan | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | Q | 11 |
| Kuwait | × | × | × | × | 10th | × | 9th | × | 11th | 8th | Q | 5 |
| Kyrgyzstan | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | 15th | 14th | × | 2 |
| Laos | × | × | × | × | × | × | 10th | × | × | × | × | 1 |
| Lebanon | × | × | × | × | × | 8th | 4th | 4th | 5th | 10th | Q | 6 |
| Malaysia | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | 8th | 8th | 15th | Q | 4 |
| Oman | × | × | × | 3rd | 2nd | 5th | 1st | 7th | 3rd | 3rd | Q | 8 |
| Palestine | × | × | × | × | •• | 6th | •• | × | 4th | 11th | × | 3 |
| Philippines | 6th | × | 6th | × | × | 16th | × | × | × | × | × | 3 |
| Qatar | × | × | × | × | •• | 15th | 14th | 11th | 14th | × | × | 4 |
| Saudi Arabia | × | × | × | × | × | 12th | × | × | × | 9th | Q | 3 |
| Syria | × | × | × | × | 8th | × | × | × | × | × | × | 1 |
| Thailand | × | × | × | × | × | 13th | 13th | 10th | 10th | 5th | Q | 6 |
| United Arab Emirates | 5th | 1st | 1st | × | 4th | 3rd | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | 4th | Q | 10 |
| Uzbekistan | × | × | 5th | 6th | 7th | 14th | 8th | •• | × | 12th | × | 6 |
| Vietnam | × | × | × | × | × | × | 11th | × | × | × | Q | 2 |

## 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

| Team \ Years | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2011 | 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2021 | 2023 | Total |
| Bahrain | | QF | | | R1 | | | | | | | | 2 |
| Iran | | R1 | R1 | R1 | | R1 | QF | QF | 3rd | | | 3rd | 8 |
| Japan | 4th | QF | R1 | R1 | QF | R1 | QF | QF | R1 | 4th | 2nd | QF | 12 |
| Oman | | | | | | R1 | | R1 | | R1 | R1 | R1 | 5 |
| Thailand | R1 | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 |
| United Arab Emirates | | | R1 | R1 | R1 | | R1 | | R1 | R1 | R1 | QF | 8 |

### Notes

* ^ In 2005 and 2021, no AFC qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup were held and teams were selected to represent AFC (2005: Japan and Thailand; 2021: Japan, Oman and United Arab Emirates).