Beach soccer
International match | |
| Highest governing body | Beach Soccer Worldwide (1992–2004; co-organizer since 2005), FIFA (2005–present) |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | beach footie, beasal |
| First played | 1992 at Will Rogers Beach, Los Angeles, United States |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | Yes |
| Team members | 5 per side |
| Mixed-sex | No, separate competitions |
| Type | Team sport, ball game |
| Equipment | Beach soccer ball, shirts with sleeves, shorts; footwear is not allowed |
| Venue | Beach soccer court |
| Presence | |
| Country or region | Worldwide |
| Olympic | No |
| Paralympic | No |
Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand between two teams of five players each.
Association football has long been played informally on beaches. Beach soccer was introduced in 1992 as an effort to codify rules for the game by the founders of Beach Soccer Worldwide, a company set up to develop the sport and responsible for the majority of its tournaments. FIFA has held the Beach Soccer World Cup biennially since 2005.
The first international matches were played in 1993 for men and 2009 for women. As of July 2023, there are 193 men's and 64 women's clubs and 101 men's and 23 women's national teams sorted in the Beach Soccer Worldwide Rankings.