# 2023 Euro Beach Soccer League

The 2023 Euro Beach Soccer League was the 26th edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the annual, premier competition in European beach soccer featuring men's national teams. It was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW).
This season, the competing teams continued to take part in two divisions: the top tier (Division A) and the bottom tier (Division B). As planned last season, Division A was expanded from 12 to 16 teams this year (including one suspended member). Division B accommodated eight nations: those who did not gain promotion from last season and teams returning after an absence from competing in recent years.
Originally, regular season fixtures were scheduled for July in the midst of a busy European calendar (including the European Games in June and World Beach Games in August). However, the UEFA qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup were ultimately realised during these dates in July instead; the EBSL regular season was not rescheduled. Hence, this season, all teams entered straight into their division's respective post-season events; for Division A teams, the Superfinal, to compete to become the winners of the EBSL, and for Division B teams, the Promotion Final, to try to earn a spot in Division A in 2024. Both events took place in Alghero, Italy.
Azerbaijan and Greece finished as the bottom two teams in Division A and were therefore relegated to Division B for 2024, the former ending a seven-year run in the top tier, and the latter demoted immediately back to the second tier after being promoted last season. In Division B, Lithuania and the Czech Republic gained promotion; the former earned the right to play in Division A for the first time, and the latter the first time since 2007.
Switzerland were the defending champions but lost in the quarter-finals, finishing in fifth place, only the third time the defending champions failed to finish among the top four. The title was won by Italy, who won their third title (others 2005 and 2018) by defeating Spain in the final, condemning the latter to their third runners-up finish since their last title in 2006. Portugal finished outside the podium places for only the second time in the history of the competition, whilst Romania finished sixth, their best performance since 2012.

## Division A
### Teams

Of the 16 nations who earned Division A status at the end of last season, 13 entered into this season's top tier; of the outstanding three nations, one was suspended whilst two withdrew and were replaced, resulting in a total of 15 participating teams as follows:
(The numbers in parentheses show the European ranking of each team prior to the start of the season, out of 34 nations).
Notes:
    ^ a: In accordance with sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian national team is currently suspended from participating in the competition.
    ^ b: Ukraine withdrew; the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine refused to sanction the Ukrainian national team's participation in the tournament in protest at the Belarus national team being allowed to compete, whom it believes should be barred from entering due the country's role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They were replaced by Denmark, the next highest placed team from last season's Division B final standings who did not finish high enough to gain promotion (seventh place; Latvia finished sixth but have not entered the competition this season), thereby awarding them with promotion to Division A post factum in the capacity of a lucky loser.
    ^ c: Kazakhstan withdrew; they were replaced by Romania, the next highest placed team from last season's Division B final standings who did not finish high enough to gain promotion (fifth place), thereby awarding them with promotion to Division A post factum in the capacity of a lucky loser.
    ^ P: Promoted from Division B at the end of the 2022 season.

### Superfinal

Matches are listed as local time in Alghero, CEST (UTC+2) and are those scheduled; actual kick-off times may differ somewhat.

#### Draw

The draw to divide the teams into their respective groups took place on 30 August 2023.

#### Group stage

| Key: Advance to – | Quarterfinals / | 9th–11th place play-offs / | Relegation play-offs / | (H) Hosts |

##### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Italy (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 9 |
| 2 | Belarus | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 7 | +11 | 6 |
| 3 | Moldova | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 20 | –12 | 3 |
| 4 | Greece | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 17 | –10 | 0 |

##### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 6 |
| 2 | Romania | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 13 | –2 | 6 |
| 3 | Turkey | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 3 |
| 4 | Azerbaijan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 17 | –3 | 1 |

##### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Portugal | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 8 |
| 2 | Denmark | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 15 | –6 | 2 |
| 3 | Estonia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | France | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 13 | –5 | 0 |

##### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Spain | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 6 |
| 2 | Germany | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 | –4 | 3 |
| 3 | Poland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | –3 | 0 |

#### Relegation play-offs (12th–15th place)

The teams finishing the group stage in fourth place, plus the worst performing third-placed team, retreat to the relegation play-offs, contested in a round-robin format.
The bottom two teams were relegated to Division B for the 2024 season.
| Key: Outcome – | Relegated to 2024 Division B |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 6 |
| 2 | Moldova | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 4 |
| 3 | Azerbaijan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 16 | –3 | 3 |
| 4 | Greece | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11 | –4 | 1 |

#### 9th–11th place

The three best third-placed teams from the group stage contest 9th through 11th place in a round-robin format.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Poland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 |
| 2 | Estonia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 11 | –2 | 3 |
| 3 | Turkey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | –2 | 0 |

#### 1st–8th place

The winners and runners-up of the group stage progress to the knockout stage, a series of single elimination games to determine 1st through 8th place, starting with the quarter-finals and ending with the final. Per the outcomes of each round, the losers retreat to classification matches to determine their final ranking.
| Fifth place match | Fifth place match | 5th–8th place semifinals | 5th–8th place semifinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| | | | | 22 September | 22 September | | | |
| | | | | Switzerland | 3 | | | |
| | | 23 September | 23 September | Belarus | 4 | 23 September | 23 September | | |
| | | Switzerland | 7 | | | Belarus | 2 | |
| | | Denmark | 5 | 22 September | 22 September | Spain | 4 | |
| | | | | Spain | 9 | | | | |
| 24 September | 24 September | | | Denmark | 5 | | | 24 September | 24 September |
| Switzerland | 8 | | | | | | | Spain | 4 |
| Romania | 6 | | | 22 September | 22 September | | | Italy | 5 |
| | | | | Italy | 8 | | | | |
| | | 23 September | 23 September | Romania | 2 | 23 September | 23 September | | |
| Seventh place match | Seventh place match | Romania | 4 | | | Italy | 2 | Third place match | Third place match |
| 24 September | 24 September | Germany | 2 | 22 September | 22 September | Portugal | 1 | 24 September | 24 September |
| Denmark | 5 | | | Portugal | 8 | | | Belarus | 6 |
| Germany | 6 | | | Germany | 2 | | | Portugal | 5 |

##### Play-offs
###### 7th place play-off
###### Final
#### Awards
##### Winners trophy

* 2023 Euro Beach Soccer League champions
* Italy Third title

##### Individual awards

Top scorer(s) :
* Noël Ott |
* 15 goals |
* Best player |
* Marco Giordani |
* Best goalkeeper |
* Leandro Casapieri |

#### Final standings

| Pos | Team | Result |
| 1 | Italy | EBSL Champions (3rd title) |
| 2 | Spain | Runners-up |
| 3 | Belarus | Third place |
| 4 | Portugal | |
| 5 | Switzerland | |
| 6 | Romania | |
| 7 | Germany | |
| 8 | Denmark | |
| 9 | Poland | |
| 10 | Estonia | |
| 11 | Turkey | |
| 12 | France | |
| 13 | Moldova | |
| 14 | Azerbaijan | Relegated to 2024 Division B |
| 15 | Greece | Relegated to 2024 Division B |

#### Top scorers

The following table lists the top 10 scorers in Division A.
| Rank | Player | Goals |
| 1 | Noël Ott | 15 |
| 2 | Marian Măciucă | 13 |
| 3 | Glenn Hodel | 11 |
| 4 | Miguel Pintado | 10 |
| 5 | Marco Giordani | 9 |
| 5 | Axel Damm | 9 |
| 7 | Bê Martins | 7 |
| 7 | Dimitrios Mikelatos | 7 |
| 9 | José Oliver | 6 |
| 9 | Volkan Yeşilırmak | 6 |
| 9 | Orkhan Mammadov | 6 |
| 9 | Gharbi Aness | 6 |
| 9 | Jérémy Bru | 6 |
Source

## Division B
### Teams

The following eight teams entered into Division B this season. Czech Republic, Sweden and Slovakia return after a one-season absence. No teams make their debut for the first time since 2015.
(The numbers in parentheses show the European ranking of each team prior to the start of the season, out of 34 nations).

### Promotion Final

Matches are listed as local time in Alghero, CEST (UTC+2) and are those scheduled; actual kick-off times may differ somewhat.
The top two teams earn promotion to Division A for the 2024 season.

#### Draw

No draw took place to allocate the teams into their respective groups. Instead, the teams were split based on the results of last season's Promotion Final standings.

#### Group stage

| Key: Advance to – | Semifinals / | 5th–8th place play-offs |

##### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Lithuania | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 7 |
| 2 | Czech Republic | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 6 |
| 3 | England | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 3 |
| 4 | Slovakia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 21 | –16 | 0 |

##### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Norway | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 10 | +8 | 9 |
| 2 | Georgia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 6 |
| 3 | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 13 | –2 | 3 |
| 4 | Malta | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 20 | –14 | 0 |

#### Play-offs
##### 5th–8th place

| 5th–8th place semifinals | 5th–8th place semifinals | Fifth place match | Fifth place match |
| 23 September | 23 September |
| England | 11 |
| England | 11 | 24 September | 24 September |
| Malta | 0 | 24 September | 24 September |
| Malta | 0 | England | 4 |
| 23 September | 23 September | | England | 4 |
| 23 September | 23 September | Slovakia | 1 |
| Sweden | 3 | Slovakia | 1 |
| Slovakia | 4 | | |
| Slovakia | 4 | Seventh place match | Seventh place match |
| | | 24 September | 24 September |
| | | Malta | 3 |
| | | Sweden | 5 |

###### 5th place match
##### 1st–4th place

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| 23 September | 23 September |
| Norway | 4 |
| Norway | 4 | 24 September | 24 September |
| Czech Republic | 6 | 24 September | 24 September |
| Czech Republic | 6 | Czech Republic | 2 |
| 23 September | 23 September | | Czech Republic | 2 |
| 23 September | 23 September | Lithuania | 3 |
| Lithuania | 5 | Lithuania | 3 |
| Georgia | 2 | | |
| Georgia | 2 | Third place match | Third place match |
| | | 24 September | 24 September |
| | | Norway | 2 |
| | | Georgia | 3 |

###### Final
#### Awards

| Winners trophy | Top scorer(s) | Top scorer(s) | Best player | Best goalkeeper |
| Lithuania | Henrik Salveson Aaron Clarke | 9 goals | Paulius Giedraitis | Jan Bártl |
Source

#### Final standings

| Pos | Team | Result |
| 1 | Lithuania | Promoted to 2024 EBSL Division A |
| 2 | Czech Republic | Promoted to 2024 EBSL Division A |
| 3 | Georgia | Remain in Division B |
| 4 | Norway | Remain in Division B |
| 5 | England | Remain in Division B |
| 6 | Slovakia | Remain in Division B |
| 7 | Sweden | Remain in Division B |
| 8 | Malta | Remain in Division B |

#### Top scorers

The following table lists the top 10 scorers in Division B.
| Rank | Player | Goals |
| 1 | Henrik Salveson | 9 |
| 1 | Aaron Clarke | 9 |
| 3 | Lukáš Trampota | 8 |
| 4 | Paulius Giedraitis | 6 |
| 4 | Mantas Makutunovičius | 6 |
| 4 | Giorgi Diakvnishvili | 6 |
| 4 | Reanu Grossett | 6 |
| 8 | David Jalagania | 5 |
| 8 | Niklas Johagen | 5 |
| 8 | Audrius Plytnikas | 5 |
Source