2022 Euro Beach Soccer League Explained

Tourney Name:Euro Beach Soccer League
Year:2022
Dates:1 July – 11 September
Size:320px
Num Teams:22
Confederations:1
Country:Portugal
Country2:Moldova
Country3:Italy
Venues:3
Cities:3
Count:2
Matches:59
Goals:465
Prevseason:2021
Nextseason:2023

The 2022 Euro Beach Soccer League was the 25th edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the annual, premier competition in European beach soccer contested between men's national teams. It was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), in a league and play-off format.

This season, the competing teams continued to take part in two divisions: the top tier (Division A) and the bottom tier (Division B). Division A shrunk from 12 to 10 teams; nine teams returned from last season, plus Estonia who were promoted, meanwhile two teams did not compete due to bans. Division B accommodated 12 nations: those who did not gain promotion from last season, two debuting countries (Malta and Latvia), and teams returning after an absence from competing in recent years.

This season's format was altered considerably compared to the usual programme. All teams in Division A played together across five matchdays. The eight best teams advanced to the post-season event, the Superfinal, but only the top four competed for the EBSL title itself. The teams of Division B entered straight into the Promotion Final to try to earn a spot in Division A next year; no team was relegated this year, whilst the top four were guaranteed promotion to Division A, rather than the usual one, because the top tier is being expanded to 16 teams for 2023.[1] [2]

The league also acted as the qualification route to the 2023 European Games; the top six teams of the Superfinal plus the Promotion Final winners qualified to join hosts Poland.[1] [2]

The Promotion Final was won by Moldova who were promoted to Division A for the first time alongside Kazakhstan, whilst Greece and Turkey also earned promotion. Portugal were the three-time defending champions and were looking for a record fourth straight title, but were beaten in the final by Switzerland who claimed their second title, following their maiden crown ten years prior in 2012.[3]

Division A

Calendar

PhaseDatesCountryCity
Regular
season
1–3 July PortugalNazaré
8–9 September ItalyCagliari
Superfinal10–11 September

Teams

Of the 12 nations who earnt Division A status at the end of last season, 10 entered into this season's top tier as follows[1] (The numbers in parentheses show the European ranking of each team prior to the start of the season, out of 34 nations):[4]

a: In accordance with sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian national team was banned from entering.[5] [6]

b: Did not enter; reported by media as excluded due to Belarus' role in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7] [8]

P: Promoted from Division B at the end of the 2021 season.

Regular season

height=5
Key: Advance to –Superfinal semi-finals /Superfinal 5th to 8th place /Superfinal 9th place match /(H) Hosts

Group 1

Team
144000229+1312
2 (H)430012513+129
342002912–36
4410031420–63
5400041127–160
----------------

Group 2

Team
1 (H)44000269+1712
2430012413+119
3411021617–15
4410031424–103
540004926–170
----------------

Awards

The following awards were presented after the conclusion of the first round of matches in Nazaré.[9]

width=150Nazaré stage trophywidth=180 colspan=2Top scorer(s)width=180Best playerwidth=180Best goalkeeper
Léo Martins9 goals Léo Martins Eliott Mounoud
----

Superfinal

Consolation

=5th–8th place semi-finals

=

=Seventh place match

=

=Fifth place match

=

Final four

Superfinal match

Awards

Individual awards

width=300 colspan=2Top scorer(s)
Léo Martins
13 goals
Best player
Noël Ott
Best goalkeeper
Elinton Andrade

Final standings

TeamResult
1 EBSL Champions (2nd title)
2Runners-up
3Third place
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Top scorers

The following table lists the top 10 scorers in Division A, including goals scored across both the regular season and post season matches.

width=45Rankwidth=200Playerwidth=65Goals
1 13
2 11
3 Glenn Hodel 10
Patryk Pietrasiak
5 9
7 Anthony Barbotti 6
Sander Lepik
10 André Lourenço 5
Eliott Mounoud
Miguel Pintado
Dmytro Voitenko
Sources: Matchdays 1–3, Matchdays 4–5 and Superfinal

Division B

Teams

The following teams entered Division B this season[10] (The numbers in parentheses show the European ranking of each team prior to the start of the season, out of 34 nations):[4]

England returned after a one-season absence. Having originally expressed intentions to compete as far back as 2004,[11] Malta finally made their first appearance in the competition. Czech Republic, Sweden, Bulgaria and Slovakia were also among the preliminary list of participants,[1] but ultimately did not enter; the first did not feature for the first time since their 2007 debut.

R: Relegated from Division A at the end of the 2021 season.

c.: Team making their debut.

Promotion Final

The best four teams earn promotion to Division A for the 2023 season.

height=5
Key: Advance to –Promotion Final semi-finals /Hosts (H)

Group stage

Group A
Team
1 (H)33000112+99
231011810–24
331002910–13
430003713–60
--------
Group B
Team
13210073+48
231002136+73
3301118803
430003819–110
--------
Group C
Team
132010166+107
232001114+76
331002613–73
430003515–100
--------

Play-offs

=9th–12th place semi-finals

=

=Eleventh place match

=

=Ninth place match

=

=5th–8th place semi-finals

=

=Seventh place match

=

=Fifth place match

=

=Semi-finals

=

=Third place match

=

=Final

=

Awards

The following were presented after the conclusion of the final day's matches.[12]

width=160Winners trophyTop scorer(s)width=190Best playerwidth=190Best goalkeeper
Andreas Katsoulis 8 goals Grigore Cojocari Ruslan Istrati

Final standings

The top four teams were promoted to Division A,[13] rather than the usual one team, because the top tier is being expanded to 16 teams next season.

Winners Moldova and fourth placed Kazakhstan were promoted for the first time. Turkey were immediately promoted back to the top tier having been relegated in 2021. Greece return to Division A for the first time in six years since their relegation in 2017.

By winning the event, Moldova also earned qualification to the men's beach soccer competition at the 2023 European Games in Poland.[12]

Key:
Qualified to 2023 European Games
Ineligible to qualify for 2023 European Games
TeamOutcome
1Promoted to 2023 EBSL Division A
2
3
4
5Remain in Division B
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Kazakhstan were ineligible to qualify to the European Games as they are not a member of the European Olympic Committees. In the event they were to win the Promotion Final, the next highest ranked eligible team would qualify in their place.[14]

Top scorers

The following table lists the top 10 scorers in Division B.

width=45Rankwidth=200Playerwidth=65Goals
1 Andreas Katsoulis 8
2 Cem Keskin 7
Mantas Makutunovičius
4 Bariş Terzioglu 6
Grigore Cojocari
Bayanbek Muralinov
Aaron Clarke
8 Vitaliy Tyulpa 5
9 Dmitriy Perevyortov 4
Timur Yershin
Herci Liviu-aurelian
Gocha Makharadze
Dylan Caruana
Source

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Euro Beach Soccer League: 2022 structure announced . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 16 June 2022 . 20 June 2022 . 19 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220619220130/https://beachsoccer.com/euro-beach-soccer-league-2022-structure-announced-2 . live .
  2. Web site: Uma Liga Europeia diferente: vai haver final four para definir campeão . Filipe Simoes, Bruno . ZeroZero.pt . 17 June 2022 . 20 June 2022 . pt . 20 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220620192139/https://www.zerozero.pt/news.php?id=370177 . live .
  3. Web site: Switzerland win first European title in 10 years . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 11 September 2022 . 11 September 2022 .
  4. Web site: Rankings - Men's National Teams . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 31 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220507041118/https://beachsoccer.com/rankings#3398 . 18 June 2022 . 7 May 2022 . live .
  5. Decision of the UEFA Executive Committee related to Russia . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 2 . 28 February 2022 . 2 March 2022 . 2 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220302024748/https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/0273-148f20d27980-23a90d5c0d62-1000/20220228_circular_2022_10_en.pdf . live .
  6. Web site: 28 February 2022 . Measures taken by BSWW after the attacks on Ukraine . 5 May 2022 . . 9 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220309130443/https://beachsoccer.com/official-announcement . live .
  7. Web site: Russia and Belarus were suspended from the Euroleague in beach soccer . Mail BD . 18 June 2022 . 19 June 2022 . 20 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220620192140/https://mailbd.net/news/russia-and-belarus-were-suspended-from-the-euroleague-in-beach-soccer-28713/ . live .
  8. Web site: Чергові санкції проти агресорів: Росію та Білорусь усунули від Євроліги з пляжного футболу . Хмельницька, Bipa . . 18 June 2022 . 19 June 2022 . uk . 18 June 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220618102443/https://tsn.ua/prosport/chergovi-sankciyi-proti-agresoriv-rosiyu-ta-bilorus-usunuli-vid-yevroligi-z-plyazhnogo-futbolu-2089894.html . live .
  9. Web site: Men's EBSL Nazaré 2022: Day 3 . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 3 July 2022 . 5 July 2022 .
  10. Web site: Participating Teams . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 13 July 2022 .
  11. Web site: Structure Decided for 2004 European Pro Beach Soccer League . sportcal.com . 3 November 2003 . 10 October 2017 .
  12. Web site: Moldova win 2022 EBSL Division B! . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 31 July 2022 . 2 August 2022 .
  13. Web site: EBSL Moldova 2022: 4 teams promoted to Division A . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 29 July 2022 . 2 August 2022 . five .
  14. News: Шесть лучших сборных Суперфинала Евролиги-2018 сыграют на Европейских играх в Минске . Beach Soccer Russia . 5 September 2018 . 5 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180906013940/http://bsrussia.com/info/item/9962?type=1 . 6 September 2018 . dead .