2023 Euro Beach Soccer League Explained

Tourney Name:Euro Beach Soccer League
Year:2023
Dates:19–24 September
Size:320px
Num Teams:23
Confederations:1
Country:Italy
Venues:2
Cities:1
Champion Other: (3rd title)
Matches:62
Goals:520
Prevseason:2022
Nextseason:2024

The 2023 Euro Beach Soccer League was the 26th 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).

This season, the competing teams continued to take part in two divisions: the top tier (Division A) and the bottom tier (Division B). As planned last season, Division A was expanded from 12 to 16 teams this year (including one suspended member). Division B accommodated eight nations: those who did not gain promotion from last season and teams returning after an absence from competing in recent years.

Originally, regular season fixtures were scheduled for July in the midst of a busy European calendar (including the European Games in June and World Beach Games in August).[1] [2] However, the UEFA qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup were ultimately realised during these dates in July instead; the EBSL regular season was not rescheduled. Hence, this season, all teams entered straight into their division's respective post-season events; for Division A teams, the Superfinal, to compete to become the winners of the EBSL, and for Division B teams, the Promotion Final, to try to earn a spot in Division A in 2024. Both events took place in Alghero, Italy.[3]

Azerbaijan and Greece finished as the bottom two teams in Division A and were therefore relegated to Division B for 2024, the former ending a seven-year run in the top tier, and the latter demoted immediately back to the second tier after being promoted last season. In Division B, Lithuania and the Czech Republic gained promotion; the former earnt the right to play in Division A for the first time, and the latter the first time since 2007.

Switzerland were the defending champions but lost in the quarter-finals, finishing in fifth place, only the third time the defending champions have failed to finish among the top four. The title was won by Italy, who won their third title (others 2005 and 2018) by defeating Spain in the final, condemning the latter to their third runners-up finish since their last title in 2006. Portugal finished outside the podium places for only the second time in the history of the competition, whilst Romania finished sixth, their best performance since 2012.

Division A

Teams

Of the 16 nations who earnt Division A status at the end of last season, 13 entered into this season's top tier; of the outstanding three nations, one was suspended whilst two withdrew and were replaced, resulting in a total of 15 participating teams as follows:

(The numbers in parentheses show the European ranking of each team prior to the start of the season, out of 34 nations).[4]

Notes:

a: In accordance with sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian national team is currently suspended from participating in the competition.[5] [6]

b: Ukraine withdrew; the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine refused to sanction the Ukrainian national team's participation in the tournament in protest at the Belarus national team being allowed to compete, whom it believes should be barred from entering due the country's role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7] [8] [9] They were replaced by Denmark,[10] the next highest placed team from last season's Division B final standings who did not finish high enough to gain promotion (seventh place; Latvia finished sixth but have not entered the competition this season), thereby awarding them with promotion to Division A post factum in the capacity of a lucky loser.[11]

c: Kazakhstan withdrew; they were replaced by Romania,[10] the next highest placed team from last season's Division B final standings who did not finish high enough to gain promotion (fifth place), thereby awarding them with promotion to Division A post factum in the capacity of a lucky loser.

P: Promoted from Division B at the end of the 2022 season.

Superfinal

Matches are listed as local time in Alghero, CEST (UTC+2) and are those scheduled; actual kick-off times may differ somewhat.

Draw

The draw to divide the teams into their respective groups took place on 30 August 2023.[9] [12]

Group stage

height=5
Key: Advance to –Quarterfinals /9th–11th place play-offs /Relegation play-offs /(H) Hosts
Group A
Team
1 (H)33000176+119
232001187+116
331002820–123
430003717–100
--------
Group B
Team
1320012017+36
2320011113–26
3310021513+23
4300121417–31
--------
Group C
Team
1321002211+118
230021915–62
330102131302
430003813–50
--------
Group D
Team
122000114+76
22100159–43
32000269–30
--------

Relegation play-offs (12th–15th place)

The teams finishing the group stage in fourth place, plus the worst performing third-placed team, retreat to the relegation play-offs, contested in a round-robin format.

The bottom two teams were relegated to Division B for the 2024 season.[13]

height=5
Key: Outcome –Relegated to 2024 Division B
Team
132001148+66
23101198+14
3310021316–33
430012711–41
--------

9th–11th place

The three best third-placed teams from the group stage contest 9th through 11th place in a round-robin format.[13]

Team
12200084+46
221001911–23
32000268–20
--------

1st–8th place

The winners and runners-up of the group stage progress to the knockout stage, a series of single elimination games to determine 1st through 8th place, starting with the quarter-finals and ending with the final. Per the outcomes of each round, the losers retreat to classification matches to determine their final ranking.[13]

Quarter-finals

------------

=5th–8th place

=----

=1st–4th place

=----

=7th place play-off

=

=5th place play-off

=

=3rd place play-off

=

=Final

=

Awards

Individual awards
width=300 colspan=2Top scorer(s)
Noël Ott
15 goals
Best player
Marco Giordani
Best goalkeeper
Leandro Casapieri

Final standings

TeamResult
1 EBSL Champions (3rd title)
2Runners-up
3Third place
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14Relegated to 2024 Division B
15

Top scorers

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

width=45Rankwidth=200Playerwidth=65Goals
1 15
2 13
3 Glenn Hodel 11
4 Miguel Pintado 10
5 Marco Giordani 9
Axel Damm
7 7
Dimitrios Mikelatos
9 José Oliver 6
Volkan Yeşilırmak
Orkhan Mammadov
Gharbi Aness
Jérémy Bru
Source

Division B

Teams

The following eight teams entered into Division B this season.[14] Czech Republic, Sweden and Slovakia return after a one-season absence. No teams make their debut for the first time since 2015.

(The numbers in parentheses show the European ranking of each team prior to the start of the season, out of 34 nations).[4]

Promotion Final

Matches are listed as local time in Alghero, CEST (UTC+2) and are those scheduled; actual kick-off times may differ somewhat.

The top two teams earn promotion to Division A for the 2024 season.[14]

Draw

No draw took place to allocate the teams into their respective groups. Instead, the teams were split based on the results of last season's Promotion Final standings.[14]

Group stage

height=5
Key: Advance to –Semifinals /5th–8th place play-offs
Group A
Team
132010137+67
232001178+96
3310021312+13
430003521–160
--------
Group B
Team
1330001810+89
232001179+86
3310021113–23
430003620–140
--------

Play-offs

=Semi-finals

=----

=7th place match

=

=5th place match

=

=Semi-finals

=----

=3rd place match

=

=Final

=

Awards

width=150Winners trophywidth=200 colspan=2Top scorer(s)width=180Best playerwidth=180Best goalkeeper
Henrik Salveson
Aaron Clarke
9 goals Paulius Giedraitis Jan Bártl
Source

Final standings

TeamResult
1Promoted to 2024 EBSL Division A
2
3Remain in Division B
4
5
6
7
8

Top scorers

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

width=45Rankwidth=200Playerwidth=65Goals
1 Henrik Salveson 9
Aaron Clarke
3 Lukáš Trampota 8
4 Paulius Giedraitis 6
Mantas Makutunovičius
Giorgi Diakvnishvili
Reanu Grossett
8 David Jalagania 5
Niklas Johagen
Audrius Plytnikas
Source

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2023 England Beach Soccer Calendar . England Beach Soccer Association . 9 May 2023 . 3 September 2023 .
  2. Web site: Reprezentační Akce V Roce 2023: Kvalifikace Ms, Ebsl a Další . Representative events in 2023: qualification for the World Cup, EBSL and others . Beach Soccer Czech . 10 January 2023 . 3 September 2023 .
  3. Web site: Euro Beach Soccer League to be played in Alghero . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 9 August 2023 . 3 September 2023 .
  4. Web site: Rankings - Men's National Teams . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 29 August 2023 . 3 September 2023 .
  5. Decision of the UEFA Executive Committee related to Russia . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . PDF . 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: Збірна України з пляжного футболу знялася з Євроліги-2023 через участь Білорусі . The Ukrainian Beach Soccer Team Withdrew From the Euroleague 2023 Due to the Participation of Belarus . Слесь, Данило . . 31 August 2023 . 3 September 2023 . Ukrainian.
  8. Web site: Збірна України не зіграє у Євролізі-2023: деталі різкого рішення Асоціації пляжного футболу . The national team of Ukraine will not play in the Euroleague-2023: details of the drastic decision of the Beach Soccer Association . Deulin, Ilya . Sport-Express.ua . 31 August 2023 . 3 September 2023 . Ukrainian.
  9. Web site: Бойкот через участь білорусі. Збірна України відмовилася грати у Євролізі . Boycott due to the participation of Belarus. The national team of Ukraine refused to play in the Euroleague . Sport.ua . 31 August 2023 . 3 September 2023 . Ukrainian .
  10. Web site: Official Draw - Euro Beach Soccer League 2023 - Superfinal - Alghero . beachsoccertv.com . 30 August 2023 . 3 September 2023 .
  11. Web site: En Drøm Er Gået I Opfyldelse . Beach Soccer Landsholdet (via Facebook) . 29 August 2023 . 3 September 2023 . da .
  12. Web site: Euro Beach Soccer League 2023 groups announced . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 30 August 2023 . 3 September 2023 .
  13. Web site: Уже на следующей неделе состоится учебно-тренировочный сбор... . Beach Soccer Belarus (via VK.com) . 7 September 2023 . 9 September 2023 . Russian .
  14. Web site: Ebsl V Algheru Zná Složení Skupin! S Kým Se Utkají České Reprezentace? . EBSL in Alghero knows the composition of the groups! Who will the Czech national team play? . Beach Soccer Czech . 30 August 2023 . 3 September 2023 . Czech .