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.

AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

Organising body	AFC
Founded	2006; 17 years ago (2006)
Region	Asia
Number of teams	~16
Qualifier for	FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Current champions	Iran (3rd title)
Most successful team(s)	Iran  Japan (3 titles each)
Website	afc.com
2023 AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

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.^[1] 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.

The championship was established in 2006 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).^[2] FIFA currently allocate Asia three berths at the World Cup^[3] and hence top three teams qualify to the World Cup finals.^[1]

Asia's governing body for football, the AFC, organise the championship. However, it was not originally an AFC competition – it was created by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW)^[4] under the title, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup AFC qualifier;^[5][6] they organised the first six editions. During this time it also became informally known by the misnomer, the AFC Beach Soccer Championship.^[7] In 2015, 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.^[8] Since 2017, the AFC have been sole organisers.^[1] 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.^[9]

Japan are the most successful nation with three titles and having also qualified for the World Cup on every occasion.

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
• From 2021 : AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

Year	Location		Final				Third place play-off
			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^[a]		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.^[10]
2023 details	Pattaya, Thailand^[10]		Iran	6–0	Japan		Oman	4–2	United Arab Emirates

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*)	3 (2009, 2019, 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 (2006-2023)

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	63	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

Year	Top goalscorer(s)	Gls	Best player	Best goalkeeper	Fair play	Ref.
2006	Takeshi Kawaharazuka	9	Abdullah Omar	Hamed Ghorbanpour	not awarded
2007	Farid Boulokbashi		Bakhit Alabadla	Mohamed Al Mazam		[8]
2008	Shusei Yamauchi	12	Rami Al Mesaabi	Shingo Terukina		[9]
2009	Moslem Mesigar		Yaqoob Al Nesuf	Tomoya Ginoza		[10] 2021-02-13 at the Wayback Machine
2011	Takeshi Kawaharazuka   Ishaq Al-Qassmi	8	Yahya Al Araimi	Shingo Terukina		[11]
2013	Moslem Mesigar	11	Ozu Moreira	Simon Jaeger		[12]
2015	Takasuke Goto	8	Ozu Moreira	Peyman Hosseini		[13]
2017	Mohammadali Mokhtari	12	Mohammadali Mokhtari	not awarded^[a]	Iran	[14]
2019	Ozu Moreira	9	Ozu Moreira		United Arab Emirates	[15]
2023	Takuya Akaguma	11	Moslem Mesigar	Mahdi Mirjalili

1. Since 2017, the "best goalkeeper" award has not been given. However, the goalkeepers chosen for the dream "team of the tournament" may be considered as the de facto best goalkeepers for these years.

Total Awards (2006-2019)

Rank	Team	Numbers
1	Japan	12
2	Iran	10
3	United Arab Emirates	4
4	Oman	2
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	Ref.
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)	[16]
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)	[17]

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.

Legend

1st – Champions 2nd – Runners-up 3rd – Third place 4th – Fourth place 5th–16th – Fifth to sixteenth place

× – Did not enter •• – Entered but withdrew    – Hosts Apps – No. of appearances

Timeline

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

Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup

Main article: FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup records and statistics

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

1st – Champions 2nd – Runners-up 3rd – Third place 4th – Fourth place    – Hosts

QF – Quarter-finals R1 – Round 1 (group stage) q – Qualified for upcoming tournament Total – Total times qualified for World Cup

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			q	8
Japan	4th	QF	R1	R1	QF	R1	QF	QF	R1	4th	2nd	q	12
Oman						R1		R1		R1	R1	q	5
Thailand	R1												1
United Arab Emirates			R1	R1	R1		R1		R1	R1	R1	q	8

Notes

1. 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).

See also

• Beach soccer at the Asian Beach Games
• AFF Beach Soccer Championship
• WAFF Beach Soccer Championship
• AFC Futsal Asian Cup

References

1. . Asian Football Confederation. 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
2. . FIFA. 3 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
3. . FIFA. 25 August 2005. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
4. (PDF). fifa.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
5. Gaich, Rémi (11 January 2016). BSWW competitions / National teams. Barcelona: Beach Soccer Worldwide. pp. 14, 15, 19.
6. FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2015 - AFC Qualifier Qatar 2020-10-20 at the Wayback Machine. Beach Soccer Worldwide. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
7. See the following for examples: [1]; [2]; [3]^{[dead link]}; [4]; [5]; [6].
8. . Asian Football Confederation. 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
9. "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". AFC. 2 October 2020.
10. ""الآسيوي" يبلغ الاتحاد اللبناني بمواعيد بطولاته الجديدة" (in Arabic). Lebanese Football Association. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.

External links

• AFC Beach Soccer Championship, the-AFC.com