| Pixels: | 210px |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Confed: | UEFA |
| Teams: | 8 (Elite) 26 (National) |
| Levels: | 1–2 |
| Divisions: | Campeonato Elite Campeonato Nacional |
| Confed Cup: | Euro Winners Cup Euro Winners Challenge |
| Domest Cup: | Taça de Portugal Futebol Praia |
| Champions: | Braga |
| Most Successful Club: | Braga (9 titles) |
| Website: | Official website |
The FPF Campeonato de Futebol de Praia (English: FPF Beach Soccer Championship) is a league competition for beach soccer clubs in Portugal. Organised by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) who also established the championship in 2012,[1] [2] it is the country's primary beach soccer club competition. The national league replaced a previous championship run by district associations as Portugal's paramount club tournament.[1]
Held between May and September, the season is divided into two parts: the regular season followed by the post-season, with matches taking place across Portugal.[1] Many of the world's best players compete in the championship.
Currently, the competition consists of two divisions: the Elite Championship, the top tier, disputed by the eight best teams who compete for the title – the winners are crowned league champions – and the National Championship, the second tier, open to all other clubs who compete for two promotion spots to the top division.[1]
The top three teams qualify for the upcoming edition of the Euro Winners Cup (EWC); as of 2020, the league is ranked as the strongest in Europe by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW).[3]
Braga are the most successful club with eight titles and are the current champions.
The first incarnation of a national championship for Portuguese beach soccer clubs with recognition was originally known as the Liga de Clubes de Futebol de Praia[4] and later the Campeonato Elite de Futebol de Praia,[5] which ran from 2005–2011.[1] [6] [7] However, it was not arranged by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF); the league was established as a result of cooperation between a number of District Football Associations (that of Viana do Castelo, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria, Santarém, Lisbon, Setúbal and Algarve).[1] [8]
In 2010, a second national league competition was also established which ran for two seasons, known as the Circuito Nacional de Futebol de Praia; unlike the former, this championship received the "institutional support" of the FPF however was still not organised by them – it was run by an independent event organiser.[9] [10]
During this time, there were calls for the FPF to establish their own, official championship.[11] The FPF ultimately started the Campeonato Nacional de Futebol de Praia as the first official national league (that is to say, run by the country's national association) in 2012, superseding the above two de facto national championships which ceased.[1]
As of 2019; current format introduced in 2015 (with minor revisions since).[1] [12] [13] [14]
The championship consists of two championships/divisions; clubs can move between the divisions through a system of promotion and relegation:
Both championships are played in two phases; a regular season (May through August) and a post-season (August/September).
At the end of the regular season, the top four teams, those occupying positions 1–4 in the table with the most points, advance to the Finals. The bottom four teams, those occupying positions 5–8 in the table with the least points, proceed to the relegation play-offs.
Finals: The four clubs play each other in a round robin format (playing a total of three matches each). The club with the most points at the completion of all fixtures are crowned league champions.
Relegation play-offs: The four clubs play each other in a round robin format (playing a total of three matches each). The two clubs with the most points at the completion of all fixtures retain their place in the Elite Championship for next season. The two clubs with the least points at the completion of all fixtures will be relegated to the National Championship for next season.
As of 2019[15]
Scheduled for use during the 2019 season for the Elite Division:[16]
The following lists the winners and runners-up of the top tier; the former are crowned Portuguese league champions.
de facto Elite Division results.| Team | width=80 | Titles | Runners-up | Years won | Years runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 2 | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 | 2016, 2020 | ||
| 2 | 5 | 2016, 2020 | 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 2012 | – | ||
| Casa Benfica de Loures | 0 | 2 | – | 2021, 2022 | |
| ACD O Sótão | 0 | 2 | – | 2012, 2023 | |
| 0 | 1 | – | 2013 |
The second tier was introduced in 2015;[1] the following lists the winners and runners-up. Both are promoted to the top tier.
| Season | Winners | Runners-up | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Varzim | Casa Benfica de Loures | https://www.zerozero.pt/edition.php?id_edicao=95799 | |
| 2016 | Nacional | Vila Franca Rosario | https://www.zerozero.pt/edition.php?id_edicao=98709 | |
| 2017 | Leixões | Varzim | https://www.zerozero.pt/edition.php?id_edicao=111535 | |
| 2018 | Alfarim | Sesimbra | https://www.zerozero.pt/edition.php?id_edicao=124403 | |
| 2019 | ACD O Sótão | GD Chaves | https://www.zerozero.pt/edition.php?id_edicao=133668 | |
| 2020 | Varzim | Buarcos 2017 | https://www.zerozero.pt/edition.php?id_edicao=142800 | |
| 2021 | Leixões | São Domingos de Setúbal | https://www.zerozero.pt/edition.php?id_edicao=154407 | |
| 2022 | GD Chaves | Belenenses | https://www.zerozero.pt/edition.php?id_edicao=165662 | |
| 2023 | AD Nazaré 2022 | Vila Flor SC | https://www.zerozero.pt/edicao.php?id_edicao=172943 |
| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Years won | Years runner-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 2015, 2020 | 2017 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 2017, 2021 | – | ||
| 1 | 1 | 2022 | 2019 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 2016 | – | ||
| Alfarim | 1 | 0 | 2018 | – | |
| ACD O Sótão | 1 | 0 | 2019 | – | |
| AD Nazaré 2022 | 1 | 0 | 2023 | – | |
| Casa Benfica de Loures | 0 | 1 | – | 2015 | |
| Vila Franca Rosario | 0 | 1 | – | 2016 | |
| Sesimbra | 0 | 1 | – | 2018 | |
| Buarcos 2017 | 0 | 1 | – | 2020 | |
| São Domingos de Setúbal | 0 | 1 | – | 2021 | |
| Belenenses | 0 | 1 | – | 2022 | |
| Vilar Flor SC | 0 | 1 | – | 2023 |
The Euro Winners Cup (EWC), held every May/June since 2013, is a competition contested by the best teams from Europe's domestic beach soccer leagues to determine a European club champion.
A club's final league position determines their qualification route to the EWC.[17] The following table shows the history of qualification opportunities for Portuguese clubs:
| Year | Final league position | Total clubs qualified | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor=gold width=25 | 1st | bgcolor=silver width=25 | 2nd | bgcolor=#c96 width=25 | 3rd | 4th & below |
| 2013–16 | A | 1 | ||||
| 2017–18 | A | PR | 1+ | |||
| 2019– | bgcolor=#bbf3bb colspan=3 | A | bgcolor=lightblue | PR | 3+ | |
| Key:Qualification is... (Host club also qualifies automatically; From 2013–18, host country's league runners-up also qualified automatically.) | ||||||
| bgcolor=gold | C | width=100 align=left | Champions | bgcolor=pink | Round of 16 | ||
| bgcolor=silver | 2nd | Runners-up | bgcolor=lime | R32 | Round of 32 | ||
| bgcolor=#c96 | 3rd | Third place | bgcolor=cyan | GS | Group stage | ||
| 4th | Fourth Place | • | Did not participate | ||||
| bgcolor=orange | width=100 align=left | Quarter-finals | Host club / country |
| Team \ Years | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACD O Sótão | • | • | • | • | 15th | GS | GS | 7th | 7th | GS | 3rd | 7 | ||||||||||
| ACD O Sótão Norte | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | bgcolor=lime | R32 | • | • | 2 | ||||||||
| Alfarim | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | • | • | • | 1 | |||||||||
| Belenenses | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | • | 2 | ||||||||
| Braga | • | bgcolor=#c96 | 3rd | bgcolor=orange | 5th | bgcolor=#c96 | 3rd | bgcolor=gold | C | bgcolor=gold | C | bgcolor=gold | C | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | bgcolor=orange | 6th | 10 |
| Buarcos 2017 | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | bgcolor=lime | R32 | bgcolor=cyan | GS | bgcolor=lime | R32 | 4 | ||||||
| Caxinas | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | • | 1 | |||||||||
| CB Loures | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | bgcolor=lime | R32 | • | bgcolor=pink | 15th | bgcolor=gold | C | • | 4 | ||||||
| CB Caldas da Rainha | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=pink | 16th | • | • | 1 | |||||||||
| Chaves | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | • | 1 | |||||||||
| Costa Caparica | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | • | • | • | 1 | |||||||||
| GR Amigos Paz | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | bgcolor=pink | 12th | bgcolor=cyan | GS | bgcolor=cyan | GS | 5 | |||||
| Nacional | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | bgcolor=lime | R32 | 4 | ||||||
| Os Nazarenos | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=pink | 11th | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | • | 2 | ||||||||
| Porto Mendo | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | • | 1 | |||||||||
| São Domingos | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | 1 | |||||||||
| Sesimbra | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | 3 | |||||||
| Sporting CP | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=orange | 7th | bgcolor=orange | 5th | bgcolor=pink | 11th | bgcolor=pink | 9th | bgcolor=lime | R32 | bgcolor=pink | 11th | • | 6 | ||||
| Varzim | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=lime | R32 | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | 2 | ||||||||
| Vila Flor | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | bgcolor=cyan | GS | • | • | 1 | |||||||||
| Portuguese teams | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 17 | 9 | 5 |
Elite, at Portuguese Football Federation (FPF)
Divisao Elite, at Football de Praia Portugal
Campeonato Elite Praia, at zerozero.pt
Nacional, at Portuguese Football Federation (FPF)
Divisao Nacional, at Football de Praia Portugal
Campeonato Nacional FutPraia, at zerozero.pt