2002 Beach Soccer World Championship
| VIII Beach Soccer World Championships 2002 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Brazil |
| Dates | 13 – 20 January |
| Teams | 8 (from 3 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Brazil (7th title) |
| Runners-up |  Portugal |
| Third place |  Uruguay |
| Fourth place |  Thailand |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 145 (9.06 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Neném Madjer Nico (9 goals) |
| Best player | Neném |
| Best goalkeeper | Vilarb Nomcharoen |
The 2002 Beach Soccer World Championship was the eighth edition of the Beach Soccer World Championships, the most prestigious competition in international beach soccer contested by men's national teams, organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide, which ultimately came under the control of FIFA in 2005 and subsequently rebranded as the better known FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
The tournament continued to change its location, this time being staged for the first time at two venues, in Vitória, (Espírito Santo) and Guarujá, (São Paulo). In addition, the number of participating teams was reduced back to eight, as it was during the first three editions.
Brazil beat defending champions Portugal 6–5 in the final to reclaim the title, winning their seventh crown in eight attempts.
Contents
Organization
The format reverted back to how the competition was organised from 1995 to 1997. After three years as a twelve team tournament, the number of participants was reduced back to eight as it were originally, competing in two groups of four teams, with the top two teams progressing straight to the semi-finals.
Despite the tournament being held in two locations, in reality only one match, the opening fixture between Brazil and Thailand, was staged in Vitória whilst the other fifteen were held in Guarujá.
Teams
Qualification
European teams gained qualification by finishing in the top three spots of the 2001 Euro Beach Soccer League. The winners, runners up and third placed nations in the previous World Cup were also asked back for their performances a year earlier. Reigning champions Portugal had already gained their spot through being runners-up in the EBSL however runners-up of last years World Cup France (who did not finish in the top three of the ESBL) and third placed Argentina gained their spots this way.[1] The other entries received invites.
Africa, North America and Oceania were unrepresented.
Entrants
|
Asian Zone (1): European Zone (4): |
South American Zone (2): Hosts:
Notes:
|
Group stage
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | W+ | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 13 | 9 |
| Thailand |
3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 5 |
 Spain |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
 France |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 19 | -9 | 0 |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | W+ | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 9 |
| Uruguay |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 6 |
 Italy |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 16 | -2 | 3 |
 Argentina |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 27 | -15 | 0 |
Knockout stage
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
Final
Winners
| 2002 Beach Soccer World Championship |
|---|
 Brazil Seventh title |
Awards
| Top scorer(s) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Neném |
Madjer |
Nico |
| 9 goals | ||
| Best player | ||
| Neném |
||
| Best goalkeeper | ||
| Vilarb Nomcharoen |
||
Final standings
| Position | Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil |
| 2 | Portugal |
| 3 | Uruguay |
| 4 | Thailand |
| 5 | Spain |
| 6 | Italy |
| 7 | France |
| 8 | Argentina |
References
Sources
- http://www.rsssf.com/tablesb/beachwk02.html
- http://theroonba.com/beach02.htm (Match dates and locations)
