2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
The 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the premier international beach soccer competition for men's national teams, which has been organized by FIFA since 2005. Overall, this was the 18th edition of a world cup in beach soccer since the establishment of the "Beach Soccer World Championships" which ran from 1995–2004 but was not governed by FIFA. It was also the third edition to take place under the biennial system introduced in 2009. The tournament took place from 9 to 19 July  2015 at Praia da Baía in Espinho, Portugal, after the country's bid was selected by the FIFA Executive Committee on 28 May 2013, from among twelve proposals. This was the second time that Portugal hosted a FIFA competition, after the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship. Fifteen teams advanced through their respective continental qualification competitions to join the host team in the final tournament. The final draw occurred on 28 April 2015 at the Espinho Multimedia Auditorium, setting up a total of 32 matches that were played at the Espinho Stadium – a purpose-built temporary venue with a capacity of  3,500 – and attended by a total of 96,300 people. After missing the previous edition, Portugal reached the final – eliminating two-time defending champions Russia in the semi-finals – and defeated first-time finalists Tahiti 5–3 to claim their second world title and their first in the FIFA era. Alan and Madjer were the only two surviving players from the Portuguese squad that won their previous world title in 2001 to also win these championships. Host selection. Twelve FIFA member associations from five confederations officially announced their interest in hosting the 2015 Beach Soccer World Cup by the deadline of 14  September 2012. On 28 May 2013, the FIFA Executive Committee, gathered in Mauritius, announced that the tournament would be held in Portugal. It was the second time that Portugal staged a FIFA competition, after the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship. Qualification. Qualifying rounds took place in 2014 and 2015. Portugal qualified automatically as hosts. African Zone. The CAF Beach Soccer Championship took place in Roche Caiman, Seychelles on 14–19 April 2015. A total of eight teams took part in the tournament, where seven spots (other than host nation Seychelles) were determined through qualifiers held in February and March 2015. The  top two teams qualified for the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Senegal and Madagascar won their respective semi-finals on 18 April 2015 to qualify for the World Cup, with Madagascar defeating Senegal in the final on the next day to win the tournament. Asian Zone. The AFC Beach Soccer Championship took place in Doha, Qatar on 23–28 March 2015. A total of 14 teams took part in the tournament (Palestine entered but withdrew). The top three teams qualified for the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Oman and Japan won their respective semi-finals on 27 March 2015  to qualify for the World Cup. On the next day, Iran won the third place match to also book a place in the World Cup, while Oman defeated Japan in the final to win the tournament. European Zone. The UEFA qualifiers took place in Jesolo, Italy on 5–14 September 2014. A total of 23 teams took part in the tournament (Georgia entered but withdrew). The top four teams qualified for the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Switzerland became the first team (other than host nation Portugal) to qualify for the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup on 11 September  2014. On the next day, Russia, Spain and Italy also booked a place in the World Cup by advancing to the semi-finals, with Russia defeating Switzerland in the final two days later to win the tournament, and Italy defeating Spain to finish third. North, Central American and Caribbean Zone. The CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship took place in Costa del Sol, El Salvador on 28 March–4 April 2015. A total of 16 teams took part in the tournament. The top two teams qualified for the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Mexico and Costa Rica won their respective semi-finals  on 3 April 2015 to qualify for the World Cup, with Mexico defeating Costa Rica in the final on the next day to win the tournament. Oceanian Zone. The OFC Beach Soccer Championship was scheduled to take place in Tahiti on 16–22 February 2015. However, the tournament was cancelled, and Tahiti were designated by the OFC as their representative. South American Zone. The CONMEBOL Beach Soccer Championship took place in Manta, Ecuador on 19–26 April 2015. A total of 10 teams took part in the tournament. The top three teams qualified for the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Brazil  and Paraguay won their respective semi-finals on 25 April 2015 to qualify for the World Cup. On the next day, Argentina won the third place match to also book a place in the World Cup, while Brazil defeated Paraguay in the final to win the tournament. Teams. The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament: Notes: Venue. All matches were played at the "Espinho Stadium", a purpose-built 3,500-capacity venue located in Praia da Baía, Espinho. Referees. FIFA chose 24 officials from 24 different countries to referee matches at the World Cup, with at least one referee  representing each confederation: four from AFC, three from CAF, five from CONMEBOL, three from CONCACAF, one from OFC and eight from UEFA. Draw. The final draw was held on 28 April 2015 at the Espinho Multimedia Auditorium. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams, with hosts Portugal being seeded in Group A and defending champions Russia being seeded in Group D. Switzerland and Brazil, the second and third-ranked teams in the FIFA World Ranking, were the other two seeded teams. Teams from the same confederation could not be drawn against each other for the group  stage, except one of the groups that must contain two UEFA teams as there were five UEFA teams. Squads. Each team must name a squad of 12 players (two of whom must be goalkeepers) by the FIFA deadline. The squads were officially announced by FIFA on 2 July 2015. Group stage. In the group stage, teams earn 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. Following FIFA's rule changes issued in July 2014, this was  the first World Cup to award just one point for a penalty shoot-out win (as opposed to two points in all previous World Cups) as well as penalty shoots outs being best of three rather than sudden death from the start. All times are in WEST (). Tiebreaking. The ranking of each team in each group will be determined by the following criteria: If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above criterion, their rankings will be determined as follows: Group A. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> Group B. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> Group C. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> Group  D. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> Awards. In the aftermath of the final, FIFA presented individual awards to the three best players of the tournament, top goal-scorers, and to the best goalkeeper. In addition, a collective award was given to the team with the most points in the Fair Play ranking. Since three players all scored 8 goals, other stats such as assists, penalties and matches played were then considered to work out the standings between them. Notably, this World Cup saw the fewest goals ever scored for a player to claim the golden boot. 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup