Euro Winners Cup

Euro Winners Cup
Logo introduced in 2016
Founded 9 October 2012[1]
Region Europe
Number of teams 58
Related competitions Women's Euro Winners Cup
Current champions Portugal Braga (2nd title)
Most successful club(s) Russia Kristall
Portugal Braga
(2 titles each)
Website Beach Soccer Worldwide
2018 Euro Winners Cup

The Euro Winners Cup is an annual continental beach soccer club competition contested between top-division European men's teams; the clubs that are their country's national league/championship champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) from countries all across Europe take part (26 nations in 2018).

Organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the championship is viewed as the sport's version of the UEFA Champions League in association football.[2][3][4] An equivalent also exists for national club champions in South America, the Copa Libertadores de Beach Soccer.

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.[5] It is therefore the most prestigious club beach soccer championship in Europe, the winners becoming continental champions.

Established in 2013 as a 20 team, five-day event,[6] domestic beach soccer advancement in Europe has seen the tournament rapidly expand;[2] in 2017, BSWW introduced a preliminary qualifying round, open to all clubs not automatically qualified into the subsequent main round.[7] This has doubled the competition's length to 10 days, with over 50 clubs now participating. BSWW also began a women's edition in 2016.[8]

Russian club Kristall (of St. Petersburg) and current champions Braga of Portugal are the most successful clubs with two titles each.

Organisation

Note: Qualification, Format – as of 2018

Founding

The Riviera delle Palme at San Benedetto hosted the inaugural edition

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 BSWW and the Comune of San Benedetto del Tronto to host the first edition in the Italian city the following spring.[1]

At the signing, Gabino Renales (BSWW General Manager) said with increasing numbers of national leagues in Europe and the growing level of competitiveness in 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.[1]

Qualification

Current system

The champions of each of Europe's national beach soccer leagues (or championships) qualify to play in the event. The host country is allowed to enter two additional clubs – the club based in the host city of the event and their national league runners-up. The defending champions also earn automatic qualification along with their country's league title winners.[7] Other runners-up may be accepted at the discretion of BSWW.

Clubs can also qualify via the Preliminary Round introduced in 2017 – a qualifying stage that is open to application from all clubs that did not qualify automatically as domestic league champions, regardless of where they placed in their nation's league. The successful clubs progress to the Main Round.[9]

Future

BSWW have said that, in the future, qualification may be switched to a system based on the UEFA coefficient, in which national leagues ranked as the strongest receive multiple berths in the competition, similar to the situation in the UEFA Champions League. However, BSWW are currently committed to ensuring weaker teams have a fair chance.[10]

The Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian leagues are currently viewed as the strongest national club championships in Europe by BSWW;[11] the latter the very best of the four. Bar Spain, BSWW say these leagues are deserving of multiple clubs qualifying to the EWC if a switch was made to a UEFA coefficient system; Spain need to invest more in their domestic championship.[10]

Format

Currently a 10-day event, the tournament takes place in late May or/and early June.

  • Days 1–3: The Preliminary Round takes place. The participating clubs are split into groups (typically of four) competing in a round robin format.
  • Days 4–6: The Main Round – the best ranking teams from the Preliminary Round proceed to join the automatic qualifiers (league winners) in the Main Round. The clubs are split into groups (typically of four) competing in a round robin format.
  • Days 7–10: The Knockout stage – 16 clubs, the Main Round's group winners and best runners-up, advance to the Knockout stage. The teams compete in single-elimination matches; the Round of 16 (day 7), the 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 № of clubs Final Third place play-off
Winners Result Runners-up 3rd place Result 4th place
2013 Italy San Benedetto, Italy 20 Lokomotiv Moscow Russia 3–0 Ukraine Griffin Kyiv Beşiktaş Turkey 3–1 Switzerland Grasshoppers
2014 Italy Catania, Italy 25 Kristall Russia 2–0 Italy Milano Braga Portugal 4–1 Switzerland Sable Dancers Bern
2015 Italy Catania, Italy 28 Kristall Russia 6–2 Italy Catania Vybor Ukraine 3–2 (a.e.t.) Russia Lokomotiv Moscow
2016 Italy Catania, Italy 32 Viareggio Italy 6–6 (a.e.t.)[A] Ukraine Artur Music Braga Portugal 5–4 Italy Catania
2017 Portugal Nazaré, Portugal 54 Braga Portugal 8–5 Ukraine Artur Music Lokomotiv Moscow Russia 5–4 Russia Delta Saratov
2018 Portugal Nazaré, Portugal 58 Braga Portugal 3–3 (a.e.t.)[B] Russia Kristall KP Łódź Poland 4–3 Russia Lokomotiv Moscow
2019 Portugal Nazaré, Portugal[12]

A. ^ Viareggio won the penalty shootout 7–6.
B. ^ Braga won the penalty shootout 5–4.

Performance

Former logo (2013–2015)

By club

Team Winners Runners-up Third place
Russia Kristall 2 (2014, 2015) 1 (2018) –
Portugal Braga 2 (2017, 2018) – 2 (2014, 2016)
Russia Lokomotiv Moscow 1 (2013) – 1 (2017)
Italy Viareggio 1 (2016) – –
Ukraine Artur Music – 2 (2016, 2017) –
Italy Catania – 1 (2015) –
Italy Milano – 1 (2014) –
Ukraine Griffin Kyiv – 1 (2013) –
Poland KP Łódź – – 1 (2018)
Ukraine Vybor – – 1 (2015)
Turkey Beşiktaş – – 1 (2013)

By nation

Nation Winners Runners-up Third place
 Russia 3 1 1
 Portugal 2 0 2
 Italy 1 2 0
 Ukraine 0 3 1
 Poland 0 0 1
 Turkey 0 0 1

Top scorers

The following lists the top scorer of each tournament.

Year Player Club Goals
2013[13]Switzerland Dejan StankovicSwitzerland Grasshoppers13
2014[14]Portugal Leo MartinsItaly Milano13
2015[15]Belarus Ihar BrishtelUkraine FC Vybor14
2016[16]Italy Gabriele GoriItaly Viareggio18
2017[17]Italy Gabriele GoriItaly Viareggio18
2018[18]Spain Llorenç GómezIsrael Falfala Kfar Qassem16

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Euro Winners Cup comes true". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Euro Winners Cup 2015 to be biggest yet". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "Beachsoccerteam VIOD klaar voor Champions League avontuur" (in Dutch). nieuwedockumercourant.nl. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  4. ↑ "Euro Winners Cup (Champions League) Havana Shots Aargau Damen" (in German). funders.ch. 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "Euro Winners Cup confirmed in Catania". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  6. ↑ "20 teams take part in Euro Winners Cup!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Euro Winners Cup 2017 to feature preliminary round". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Euro Winners Cup 2016 to feature Women's competition". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "Euro Winners Cup 2017: Preliminary phase open for all". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Куско: чемпионат мира-2019 пройдёт в ноябре. Я догадываюсь, где, но сказать не могу" (in Russian). Beach Soccer Worldwide. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "Working Group meet in BSWW headquarters". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "Official resolution made for Euro Winners Cup & Nazaré Cup 2019". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  13. ↑ "Lokomotiv reigns in Europe!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  14. ↑ "Euro Winners Cup 2014 Scorers". Beach Soccer Russia. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  15. ↑ "Euro Winners Cup 2015 Scorers". Beach Soccer Russia. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  16. ↑ "Euro Winners Cup 2016 Scorers". Beach Soccer Russia. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  17. ↑ "Euro Winners Cup 2017 Scorers". Beach Soccer Russia. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  18. ↑ "Маурисиньо признан лучшим футболистом Кубка европейских чемпионов-2018" (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
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