Euro Winners Cup Explained

Organiser:	BSWW
Region:	Europe (UEFA)
Number Of Teams:	50–60
Current Champions:	Braga (4th title)
Related Comps:	Women's Euro Winners Cup
Most Successful Club:	Braga Kristall (4 titles each)
Website:	Beach Soccer Worldwide
Current:	2024 Euro Winners Cup

The Euro Winners Cup (EWC) is an annual, continental beach soccer club competition contested between top-division European teams; the clubs that are their country's national league/cup champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) from countries all across Europe take part. Organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the championship is viewed as beach soccer's rudimentary version of the UEFA Champions League in its parent sport, association football.^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

Featuring many of the world's best beach soccer players and clubs, the championship offers the strongest level of club competition on the old continent.^[4] It is therefore the most prestigious club beach soccer championship in Europe; the winners become continental champions.

Established in 2013 as a 20 team, five-day event,^[5] domestic beach soccer advancement in Europe has seen the tournament rapidly expand;^[1] in 2017, BSWW introduced a preliminary qualifying round, open to all clubs not automatically qualified for the competition proper.^[6] This has doubled the competition's length to 10 days, with over 50 clubs now participating; it takes place on multiple pitches in one location. BSWW also began a women's edition in 2016.^[7]

Braga (Portugal) and Kristall (Russia) are the most successful clubs with four titles apiece; the former are also the current champions.

Organisation

Founding

The idea of the Euro Winners Cup had been "worked on for so much time", finally being founded on 9 October 2012 after an agreement was signed between organisers Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) and the Comune of San Benedetto del Tronto to host the first edition in the Italian city the following spring.^[8]

At the signing, Gabino Renales (BSWW General Manager) said with increasing numbers of national leagues across Europe and the growing level of competitiveness within them, taking clubs onto an international scene was something the sport was demanding and hence the Euro Winners Cup was created to satisfy this craving.^[8]

Qualification

From 2013 to 2016, just one club from each European nation qualified – the champions of their highest level of beach soccer competition (be it a national league or knockout cup). The host country was also allowed to enter two additional clubs – the club based in the host city of the event and their national league/cup runners-up. The defending champions also earned automatic qualification regardless of domestic performance.^[6] Other runners-up were also sometimes accepted at the discretion of BSWW.

In 2017, the Preliminary Round was introduced – a qualifying stage open to any and all clubs that do not qualify automatically, regardless of where they placed in their nation's domestic league/cup competition. The successful clubs progress to the competition proper.^[9]

In 2019, BSWW overhauled the qualification system, adopting one based upon the UEFA coefficient ranking used in the UEFA Champions League. In this system, more than one club from stronger national leagues – those featuring higher quality clubs and players – qualify for the competition.^[10] ^[11] The strength of each league is determined by analysing the performance of clubs in the EWC on a country-by-country basis over the previous five editions.^[12] Currently, three clubs (league champions, runners-up and third place) from the top six ranked countries qualify to the competition (as of 2022 these are: Portugal, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, Germany and Poland). Two clubs (league champions and runners-up) from the leagues ranked seventh, eighth and ninth qualify (as of 2022 these are: Turkey, Italy and Belgium). And the remaining countries ranked tenth and lower continue to have just one club qualify – their league champions.^[13] ^[14] The preliminary round remains in place, as do additional slots for the host club and defending champions.

In 2020 and 2021, qualification was completely abandoned due to health concerns and travel constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meaning many clubs could not compete. The competition was opened up to simply any club in Europe that was able and willing to participate; the competition format was also altered accordingly for these editions.^[15] ^[16] ^[17] Since 2022, clubs from Russia have been banned from entering in accordance with sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[18] ^[19] ^[20] ^[21]

Format

Currently, the tournament is a 10-day event taking place in late May or early June and typically operates under the following format:

Days 1–3: Preliminary round – the participating clubs are split into groups (usually of four) and compete in a round robin format.
Days 4–6: Group stage – the eight best ranking teams from the preliminary round proceed to join the automatic qualifiers in the group stage. The clubs are split into groups (usually of four) and compete in a round robin format.
Days 7–10: Knockout stage – the 32 best ranking teams from the group stage advance to the knockout stage. The teams compete in single-elimination matches; the round of 32 (day 7), the round of 16 and quarter-finals (day 8), semi-finals (9) and ending with the final (10). Consolation matches are also played to determine the final rankings involving the clubs knocked out of these rounds.

Results

Year	Location	No. of clubs		Final				Third place play-off
Year	Location	No. of clubs	Winners	Result	Runners-up	Third place	Result	Fourth place
2013	San Benedetto, Italy	20	Lokomotiv Moscow	3–0	Griffin Kyiv	Beşiktaş	3–1	Grasshoppers
2014	Catania, Italy	25	Kristall	2–0	Milano		4–1	Sable Dancers Bern
2015	Catania, Italy	28	Kristall	6–2	Catania	Vybor		Lokomotiv Moscow
2016	Catania, Italy	32	Viareggio		Artur Music		5–4	Catania
2017	Nazaré, Portugal	54	Braga	8–5	Artur Music	Lokomotiv Moscow	5–4	Delta Saratov
2018	Nazaré, Portugal	58	Braga		Kristall	KP Łódź	4–3	Lokomotiv Moscow
2019	Nazaré, Portugal	60	Braga	6–0		Levante	7–6	Delta Saratov
2020	Nazaré, Portugal	27	Kristall			Real Münster	7–6	Marbella
2021	Nazaré, Portugal^[22]	50	Kristall	6–3		San Francisco	7–4	Real Münster
2022	Nazaré, Portugal^[23]	60	Benfica Loures	3–1		Kfar Qassem	7–2	Grande-Motte Pyramide
2023	Nazaré, Portugal^[24]	52	Kfar Qassem		Pisa	O Sótão	3–2	Huelva
2024	Nazaré, Portugal^[25]	56	Braga	5–3	Pisa	O Sótão	7–4	Huelva

Performance

Successful clubs

width=180	Team	width=170	Winners	width=170	Runners-up	width=170	Third place
Braga	4 (2017, 2018, 2019, 2024)	3 (2020, 2021, 2022)	2 (2014, 2016)
Kristall		1 (2018)	–
Kfar Qassem	1 (2023)	–	1 (2022)
Lokomotiv Moscow	1 (2013)	–	1 (2017)
Benfica Loures	1 (2022)	–	–
Viareggio	1 (2016)	–	–
Pisa	–	2 (2023, 2024)	–
Artur Music	–	2 (2016, 2017)	–
	–	1 (2019)	1 (2018)
Catania	–	1 (2015)	–
Milano	–	1 (2014)	–
Griffin Kyiv	–	1 (2013)	–
O Sótão	–	–	2 (2023, 2024)
San Francisco	–	–	1 (2021)
Real Münster	–	–	1 (2020)
Levante	–	–	1 (2019)
Vybor	–	–	1 (2015)
Beşiktaş	–	–	1 (2013)

Successful nations

Winners	Runners-up	Third place
5	3	4
5	1	1
1	4	0
1	0	1
0	3	1
0	1	1
0	0	2
0	0	1
0	0	1

Awards

Year	width=260	Top goalscorer(s)	Gls	width=260	Best player	width=260	Best goalkeeper	Ref.
2013	Dejan Stankovic (Grasshoppers)	13	Egor Shaykov (Lokomotiv Moscow)	Vitalii Sydorenko (Griffin Kyiv)	https://web.archive.org/web/20160511150202/http://beachsoccer.com/news/lokomotiv-reigns-in-europe
2014	Léo Martins (Milano)	13	Bruno Xavier (Kristall)	Dona (Braga)	https://web.archive.org/web/20160313034546/http://www.beachsoccer.com/news/kristall-takes-home-their-1st-euro-winners-cup
2015	Ihar Bryshtel (Vybor)	14	Datinha (Kristall)	Simone Del Mestre (Catania)	https://web.archive.org/web/20170724015534/http://beachsoccer.com/news/bsc-kristall-claims-2nd-straight-euro-winners-cup-crown
2016	Gabriele Gori (Viareggio)	18	Rodrigo (Catania)	Vitalii Sydorenko (Artur Music)	https://web.archive.org/web/20160704161111/http://www.beachsoccer.com/news/viareggio-new-european-kings
2017	Gabriele Gori (Viareggio)	18	Mauricinho (Braga)	Vitalii Sydorenko (Artur Music)	https://web.archive.org/web/20170815060940/http://www.beachsoccer.com/news/braga-lift-euro-winners-cup-with-victory-over-artur-music
2018	Llorenç Gómez (Kfar Qassem)	16	Mauricinho (Kristall)	Dona (Braga)	https://web.archive.org/web/20180605032151/http://beachsoccerrussia.ru/info/item/8963?type=1
2019	Gabriele Gori (Artur Music)	26	Jordan Santos (Braga)	Dariusz Słowiński (KP Łódź)	https://web.archive.org/web/20200912194513/https://www.beachsoccer.com/news/braga-euro-winners-champions-for-third-year-running
2020	Llorenç Gómez (Artur Music)	22	Mauricinho (Kristall)	Rafa Padilha (Braga)	https://beachsoccer.com/spain-win-the-european-qualifier-for-4th-time/
2021	Bernardo Lopes (GRAP)	18	Mauricinho (Kristall)	Maxim Chuzhkov (Kristall)	https://beachsoccer.com/kristall-lift-4th-euro-winners-cup/
2022	Filip Filipov (Husty)	17	Luís Henrique (Benfica Loures)	Elinton Andrade (Benfica Loures)	https://beachsoccer.com/casa-benfica-win-2022-euro-winners-cup
2023	Bokinha (Atlas AO)	18	Bruno Xavier (Pisa)	Eliott Mounoud (Kfar Qassem)	https://beachsoccer.com/falfala-kq-bsc-crowned-euro-winners-cup-2023-champions
2024	Chiky Ardil (O Sótão)	15	Filipe Silva (Braga)	Leandro Casapieri (Pisa)	https://www.instagram.com/p/C8SjTNzIsq6/

Appearances & performance timeline

The following is an appearance and performance timeline of the countries who have been represented by clubs at the Euro Winners Cup. It shows which countries were represented at each edition and by how many clubs. The colour of the cells indicates the furthest any of that country's clubs progressed in the competition in that edition, corresponding to the key below. Clubs which did not progress passed the preliminary round are not counted.

34 members of UEFA have been represented by at least one club in at least one edition to date.

Key

bgcolor=gold	width=100 align=left	Champions	bgcolor=springgreen		Round of 32^[b]
bgcolor=silver	Runners-up	bgcolor=cyan		Group stage
bgcolor=#c96	Third place	n	No. of clubs entered
bgcolor=CornflowerBlue	Fourth place	×	Did not enter a club
bgcolor=orange	width=100 align=left	Quarter-finals	••	Banned from entering
bgcolor=hotpink	width=100 align=left	Round of 16^[a]		Host country

a. Not used in 2013.

b. Not used in 2013–18, 20, 22, 24.

Timeline

	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	Total
	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=darkorange	1	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	2
	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=springgreen	1	×	×	×	×	bgcolor=darkorange	1	8
	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=springgreen	3	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=cyan	2	bgcolor=cyan	1	15
	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=springgreen	1	×	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	10
	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	2
	×	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=springgreen	1	×	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	8
	×	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=darkorange	1	×	×	5
	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	2	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	10
	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=springgreen	1	×	8
	×	×	×	×	×	×	bgcolor=springgreen	1	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	3
	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=hotpink	3	bgcolor=CornflowerBlue	2	bgcolor=darkorange	4	bgcolor=cyan	3	20
	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=springgreen	2	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	9
	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=#c96	3	bgcolor=CornflowerBlue	2	bgcolor=cyan	4	bgcolor=hotpink	3	bgcolor=darkorange	3	21
	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	2	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=darkorange	2	bgcolor=cyan	1	15
	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=hotpink	1	×	×	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	7
	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	×	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	×	×	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=#c96	2	bgcolor=gold	1	bgcolor=darkorange	2	12
	bgcolor=darkorange style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	3	bgcolor=silver style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	3	bgcolor=silver style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	3	bgcolor=gold style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	3	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=darkorange	3	bgcolor=hotpink	1	×	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=silver	3	bgcolor=silver	4	28
	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	×	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	×	4
	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	×	×	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	8
	×	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	×	3
	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	1
	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=cyan	2	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	14
	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	×	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	7
	×	×	×	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	×	×	×	×	×	1
	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=darkorange	2	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=#c96	2	bgcolor=silver	2	×	×	bgcolor=hotpink	1	×	×	13
	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=#c96	1	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=#c96	1	bgcolor=gold style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	4	bgcolor=gold style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	5	bgcolor=gold style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	10	bgcolor=silver style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	7	bgcolor=silver style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	17	bgcolor=gold style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	9	bgcolor=#c96 style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	8	bgcolor=gold style="border: 2.5px solid firebrick"	4	68
	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	8
	bgcolor=gold	1	bgcolor=gold	2	bgcolor=gold	2	bgcolor=darkorange	3	bgcolor=#c96	5	bgcolor=silver	2	bgcolor=CornflowerBlue	5	bgcolor=gold	2	bgcolor=gold	4	••	••	••	26
	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	3
	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=darkorange	2	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=#c96	3	bgcolor=CornflowerBlue	2	bgcolor=#c96	5	bgcolor=darkorange	3	bgcolor=CornflowerBlue	3	bgcolor=CornflowerBlue	3	28
	×	×	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=springgreen	2	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	6
	bgcolor=CornflowerBlue	1	bgcolor=CornflowerBlue	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=darkorange	2	bgcolor=cyan	1	×	bgcolor=springgreen	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	×	×	×	bgcolor=cyan	1	9
	bgcolor=#c96	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=hotpink	1	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=hotpink	2	×	×	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	bgcolor=cyan	1	11
	bgcolor=silver	1	bgcolor=darkorange	1	bgcolor=#c96	1	bgcolor=silver	1	bgcolor=silver	2	bgcolor=hotpink	2	bgcolor=darkorange	3	bgcolor=darkorange	3	bgcolor=hotpink	3	×	bgcolor=darkorange	2	×	19
Total teams	20	25	28	32	36	34	44	27	50	40	40	36	412
Total countries	18	22	23	25	25	24	24	13	16	22	21	23	–

External links

Beach Soccer Worldwide, official website

Notes and References

Web site: Euro Winners Cup 2015 to be biggest yet . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 21 May 2017 . 2 January 2018 .
Web site: Beachsoccerteam VIOD klaar voor Champions League avontuur . nieuwedockumercourant.nl . 25 May 2017 . 2 January 2018 . nl .
Web site: Euro Winners Cup (Champions League) Havana Shots Aargau Damen . funders.ch . 2017 . 2 January 2018 . de .
Web site: Euro Winners Cup confirmed in Catania . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 21 May 2014 . 2 January 2018 .
Web site: 20 teams take part in Euro Winners Cup! . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 16 April 2013 . 2 January 2018 .
Web site: Euro Winners Cup 2017 to feature preliminary round . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 3 February 2017 . 2 January 2018 .
Web site: Euro Winners Cup 2016 to feature Women's competition . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 2 December 2015 . 2 January 2018 .
Web site: The Euro Winners Cup comes true . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 9 October 2012 . 2 January 2018 .
Web site: Euro Winners Cup 2017: Preliminary phase open for all . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 7 March 2017 . 2 January 2018 .
Web site: Куско: чемпионат мира-2019 пройдёт в ноябре. Я догадываюсь, где, но сказать не могу . Beach Soccer Russia . 4 June 2018 . 5 June 2018 . ru .
Web site: Dates confirmed for Euro Winners Cup 2019! . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 5 December 2018 . 9 March 2022 .
Web site: Новый год начался в ноябре. Что известно о календаре сезона-2019 – пляжный футбол на BSRussia. . Beach Soccer Russia . 14 November 2018 . 9 March 2022 . ru.
Web site: 25 January 2022 . Slots - Euro Winners Cup 2022 . 7 May 2022 . Beach Soccer Worldwide via Beach Soccer Belgium . 7 May 2022 . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507210534/https://www.facebook.com/belgianbeachsoccer/photos/5123145917696189 . live .
Web site: 5 May 2022 . Draw Procedure - EWC 2022 (Men) . 7 May 2022 . Beach Soccer Worldwide via BLC Vamos . 7 May 2022 . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507210544/https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=511031494050295&set=pcb.511031547383623 . live .
https://beachsoccer.com/news/the-2020-beach-soccer-season-to-begin-in-august The 2020 beach soccer season to begin in August
https://beachsoccer.com/news/teams-announced-for-2020-euro-winners-cup Teams announced for 2020 Euro Winners Cup
video . 2021 Calendar Launch . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 13 April 2021. 10 June 2021.
Decision of the UEFA Executive Committee related to Russia . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . PDF . 2 . 28 February 2022 . 2 March 2022.
Web site: 28 February 2022 . Measures taken by BSWW after the attacks on Ukraine . 5 May 2022 . Beach Soccer Worldwide.
Web site: 6 May 2022 . Утверждён список мужских и женских команд Euro Winners 2022 . The list of men's and women's teams of Euro Winners 2022 has been approved . 7 May 2022 . Beach Soccer Russia . ru.
Web site: Состоялась жеребьёвка Euro Winners Cup 2023 – пляжный футбол на BSRussia. . BS Russia . 19 May 2023 . 5 June 2023 . ru.
https://beachsoccer.com/euro-winners-cup-2021-teams-confirmed/ Euro Winners Cup 2021 teams confirmed
Web site: Euro Winners Cup to return to Nazaré in 2022 . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 24 January 2022 . 25 January 2022 .
Web site: The Euro Winners will return to Nazaré in 2023 . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 6 March 2023 . 5 June 2023 .
Web site: The Euro Winners will return to Nazaré in 2024 . Beach Soccer Worldwide . 21 December 2023 . 14 April 2024 .