2018 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup
|  | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | United Arab Emirates | 
| City | Dubai | 
| Dates | 6–10 November | 
| Teams | 8 (from 6 confederations) | 
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Iran (2nd title) | 
| Runners-up |  Russia | 
| Third place |  Brazil | 
| Fourth place |  Egypt | 
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 20 | 
| Goals scored | 186 (9.3 per match) | 
| Top scorer(s) |  Fedor Zemskov (9 goals) | 
| Best player(s) |  Rodrigo | 
| Best goalkeeper |  Hamid Behzadpour | 
| ← 2017  2019 →  | |
The 2018 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, also known as the Huawei Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Dubai 2018 for sponsorship reasons,[1] was the eighth edition of the Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, an annual international beach soccer tournament contested by men's national teams.
Held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates since its inception, this year's event occurred between 6 and 10 November.[2] The tournament was organised by the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) and Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW).[3]
After the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the Intercontinental Cup is the biggest tournament in the current international beach soccer calendar.[3] Similar to the FIFA Confederations Cup,[4] eight nations will take part, with one team representing each of the six continental football confederations as well as the current World Cup champions, Brazil, and the hosts, the United Arab Emirates.
The tournament started with a round robin group stage. The winners and runners-up from each group advanced to the knockout stage, a series of single-elimination matches, beginning with the semi-finals and ending with the final. Consolation matches were also played to determine other final rankings.
The season-ending Beach Soccer Stars awards were also presented in Dubai as a conclusion to the tournament.[5]
Brazil were the defending champions but lost to Russia in the semi-finals, ultimately finishing third; the defeat ended a 66-game winning streak for Canarinhos,[6] their last loss dating back to the 2015 World Cup (also against Russia). Iran beat Russia in the final to claim their second Intercontinental Cup crown.[7]
Participating teams
The following eight teams took part[8] including the hosts, current World Cup winners and one of the best performing nations from each of the six regional championships hosted by the confederations of FIFA. However, CONMEBOL did not enter a regional performer this year, so UEFA entered two teams.
Overall, Europe and Asia were represented by two nations; Africa, South America, North America and Oceania, one nation each.

| Team | Confederation | Recent achievements | Participation | 
|---|---|---|---|
|  United Arab Emirates | AFC | Hosts1 | 8th | 
|  Brazil | CONMEBOL | 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup winners | 7th | 
|  Iran | AFC | 2017 AFC Beach Soccer Championship winners | 6th | 
|  Egypt | CAF | 2016 Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations third place | 4th | 
|  Russia | UEFA | 2018 Euro Beach Soccer League fourth place | 8th | 
|  Spain | UEFA | 2018 Euro Beach Soccer League runners-up | Debut | 
|  Tahiti | OFC | 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup runners-up | 5th | 
|  United States | CONCACAF | 2017 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship fifth place | 4th | 
- 1. Qualified as hosts, but also achieved a 2017 AFC Beach Soccer Championship runners-up finish
Venue
The tournament took place in a new part of Dubai for the second consecutive year; this edition is held at an arena on Kite Beach, Jumeirah 3,[5] with a capacity of 3,500.[9]
Speaking at the draw event, BSWW Vice-president Joan Cusco was welcoming of the change of location back to a beach venue saying, "this is where we belong".[10] (The previous edition was held in an inland area of Dubai for the first time). On the change of venue, DSC General Secretary Saeed Hareb stated the Council was in the process of finding a permanent home for the Intercontinental Cup.[11]
Sponsors
The following were the official sponsors of the tournament:[12]
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Draw
The draw to split the eight teams into two groups of four took place on 10 October at the Dubai Sports Council headquarters at 11:00 GST (UTC+4).[8]
For the purposes of the draw, the nations were divided into fours sets, Pots 1–4, shown in the table below. From each pot, the first team drawn out was placed into Group A; the other team was drawn into Group B. The teams were allocated to specific positions in their respective groups via the drawing of balls from a further two pots; for the teams entering Group A, Pot A, which contained the positions A1–A4 and for the teams entering Group B, Pot B, containing the positions B1–B4.[13]
The hosts, the United Arab Emirates, were automatically allocated to position A1.[13]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 
 | 
 | 
- ^ Assigned to A1
- Note: The numbers in parentheses show the world ranking of the teams at the time of the draw.[14]
Group stage
Matches are listed as local time in Dubai, GST (UTC+4)
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Brazil | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 8 | +16 | 9 | Knockout stage | 
| 2 |  Egypt | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 17 | −2 | 6 | |
| 3 |  United Arab Emirates (H) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 16 | −9 | 3 | 5th–8th place play-offs | 
| 4 |  Spain | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 17 | −5 | 0 | 
| Brazil  | 5–2 |  Spain | 
|---|---|---|
| Bruno Xavier  14', 33' Datinha  20', 28' Rodrigo  23' | Report(ru) |  19' Suarez  22' Llorenç | 
| United Arab Emirates  | 1–3 |  Egypt | 
|---|---|---|
| A. Mohammadi  13' | Report(ru) |  1' A. Elshahat  30' H. Ataf  32' Mohamed | 
| Egypt  | 5–10 |  Brazil | 
|---|---|---|
| A. Elshahat  10' Samir  16' Mohamed  19' H. Atef  20' Hassane  33' | Report(ru) |  3' Bruno Xavier  5', 11', 20' (pen.) Igor  10' Mauricinho  10' Bokinha  12', 33' Rodrigo  32' Filipe  34' Rafinha | 
| Spain  | 4–5 |  United Arab Emirates | 
|---|---|---|
| Llorenç  1', 31', 31' Antonio  26' | Report(ru) |  7', 21' Almuntaser  13', 13' A. Beshr  24' A. Mohammadi | 
| Egypt  | 7–6 |  Spain | 
|---|---|---|
| M. Sasa  4', 14', 34' (pen.), 36' Mohamed  6' Hassane  21' A. Elshahat  36' | Report(ru) |  6', 15' Javi Torres  14' Suarez  17' Chiky  21' Adril  21' Llorenç | 
| United Arab Emirates  | 1–9 |  Brazil | 
|---|---|---|
| A. Ali  36' | Report(ru) |  8', 15' Filipe  29' Igor  31' Mao  31' Mauricinho  33' Antonio  34' Rafinha  34' (o.g.) A. Beshr  34' Bruno Xavier | 
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Iran | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 9 | Knockout stage | 
| 2 |  Russia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 12 | +10 | 6 | |
| 3 |  Tahiti | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 17 | −2 | 2 | 5th–8th place play-offs | 
| 4 |  United States | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 28 | −18 | 0 | 
| Tahiti  | 6–7 |  Russia | 
|---|---|---|
| Taiarui  8' Tavanae  24', 25' Revel  26' Lebaste  30' Li Fung Kuee  34' | Report(ru) |  1' Chuzhkov  8', 19' Zemskov  8', 14' Paporotyni  10' Nikonorov  34' Shkarin | 
| Iran  | 8–1 |  United States | 
|---|---|---|
| Moradi  3', 20' Akbari  10' Ahmedzadeh  10' Kiani  13' Mesigar  16' Masoumizadeh  23' (pen.) Mirshekari  24' | Report(ru) |  28' Silveira | 
| Russia  | 13–3 |  United States | 
|---|---|---|
| Zemskov  1', 19', 24', 29', 32', 36' Novikov  5' Paporotyni  6' Krasheninnikov  17', 35' Shishin  20' Romanov  21', 34' | Report(ru) |  2' Mondragon  11', 33' Albiston | 
| Tahiti  | 2–4 |  Iran | 
|---|---|---|
| Lebaste  19' Tavanae  36' | Report(ru) |  9' Akbari  11', 19' Masoumizadeh  12' Behzadpour | 
| Tahiti  | 7–6 (a.e.t.) |  United States | 
|---|---|---|
| Taiarui  2', 38' Labaste  3' Li Fung Kuee  16' (pen.), 19', 32' Tavanae  35' | Report(ru) |  2' Silveira  7', 8', 13' Canale  31' Perera  35' Toth | 
| Iran  | 3–2 |  Russia | 
|---|---|---|
| Akbari  11' Piramoun  12' Behzadpour  32' | Report(ru) |  28' Romanov  29' Zemskov | 
5th–8th place play-offs
The teams finishing in third and fourth place were knocked out of title-winning contention, receding to play in consolation matches to determine 5th through 8th place in the final standings.
| 5th–8th place semi-finals | Fifth place play-off | |||||
| 9 November | ||||||
|  Tahiti | 1 | |||||
| 10 November | ||||||
|  Spain | 9 | |||||
|  Spain | 3 | |||||
| 9 November | ||||||
|  United States | 4 | |||||
|  United Arab Emirates | 3 | |||||
|  United States | 5 | |||||
| Seventh place play-off | ||||||
| 10 November | ||||||
|  Tahiti | 6 | |||||
|  United Arab Emirates | 7 | |||||
5th to 8th place semi-finals
| Tahiti  | 1–9 |  Spain | 
|---|---|---|
| Lebaste  6' | Report(ru) |  10' Cintas  10', 12' Javi Torres  13' Suarez  16', 28' Guisado  19' Domi  25' Frutos  32' Adril | 
| United Arab Emirates  | 3–5 |  United States | 
|---|---|---|
| A. Beshr  2' Ali Karim  11' A. Mohammadi  33' | Report(ru) |  7' Albiston  12', 22', 32' (pen.) Perera  31' Silveira | 
Seventh place play-off
| Tahiti  | 6–7 |  United Arab Emirates | 
|---|---|---|
| Taiarui  9' Li Fung Kuee  16' Tavanae  17', 26' Labaste  21' Salem  27' | Report(ru) |  12' Ali Karim  19', 32' Walid  29', 33' (pen.) A. Beshr  35', 36' W. Beshr | 
Fifth place play-off
| Spain  | 3–4 |  United States | 
|---|---|---|
| Suarez  1', 18' (pen.), 26' | Report(ru) |  4' Canale  15' Mondragon  30' Perera  31' Silveira | 
Knockout stage
The group winners and runners-up progressed to the knockout stage to continue to compete for the title.
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 9 November | ||||||
|  Iran | 3 | |||||
| 10 November | ||||||
|  Egypt | 1 | |||||
|  Iran | 4 | |||||
| 9 November | ||||||
|  Russia | 2 | |||||
|  Russia (p) | 5 (3) | |||||
|  Brazil | 5 (1) | |||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| 10 November | ||||||
|  Egypt | 3 | |||||
|  Brazil | 5 | |||||
Semi finals
| Iran  | 3–1 |  Egypt | 
|---|---|---|
| Masoumizadeh  20' Mirshekari  31' Kiani  32' | Report(ru) |  32' (pen.) M. Samir | 
| Russia  | 5–5 (a.e.t.) |  Brazil | 
|---|---|---|
| Makarov  7' Nikonorov  13', 39' Paporotnyi  19', 25' | Report(ru) |  25', 31' Bruno Xavier  35' Datinha  36', 37' Rodrigo | 
| Penalties | ||
| Krash  Shishin  Makarov  | 3–1 |  Igor  Filipe | 
Third place play-off
| Egypt  | 3–5 |  Brazil | 
|---|---|---|
| Mohamed  5', 10' M. Sasa  33' | Report(ru) |  3' Filipe  7', 20', 33' Rodrigo  27' Mauricinho | 
Final
| Iran  | 4–2 |  Russia | 
|---|---|---|
| Kiani  4' Masoumizadeh  7', 24' Behzadpour  11' | Report(ru) |  13', 31' Paporotnyi | 
Awards
Winners trophy
| 2018 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup champions | 
|---|
|  Iran Second title | 
Individual awards
| Top scorer | 
|---|
|  Fedor Zemskov | 
| 9 goals | 
| Best player | 
|  Rodrigo | 
| Best goalkeeper | 
|  Hamid Behzadpour | 
Statistics
Goalscorers
- 9 goals
- 8 goals
- 7 goals
- 6 goals
 Moustafa Aly Mohamed Moustafa Aly Mohamed
 Bruno Xavier Bruno Xavier
 Mohammad Masoumizadeh Mohammad Masoumizadeh
 Eduard Suarez Eduard Suarez
- 5 goals
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
 Mohammed Ahmadzadeh Mohammed Ahmadzadeh
 Franck Revel Franck Revel
 Domingo Cabrera Domingo Cabrera
 Andrei Novikov Andrei Novikov
 Ariihau Teriitau Ariihau Teriitau
 Abbas Ali Abbas Ali
 Salvador "Chiky" Ardil Salvador "Chiky" Ardil
.svg.png) Mao Mao
 Bokinha Bokinha
 Teva Zaveroni Teva Zaveroni
 Aleksey Makarov Aleksey Makarov
 Moslem Mesigar Moslem Mesigar
 Saeid Piramoun Saeid Piramoun
 Christopher Toth Christopher Toth
 Antonio Farias Antonio Farias
 Salem Heirauarii Salem Heirauarii
 Jose Cintas Jose Cintas
 Maxim Chuzhkov Maxim Chuzhkov
 Dmitry Shishin Dmitry Shishin
 Anton Shkarin Anton Shkarin
- Own goals
Final standings
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | W+ | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B |  Iran | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 8 | +14 | 15 | Champions | 
| 2 | B |  Russia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 29 | 21 | +8 | 7 | Runners-up | 
| 3 | A |  Brazil | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 16 | +18 | 12 | Third place | 
| 4 | A |  Egypt | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 25 | −6 | 6 | |
| 5 | B |  United States | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 34 | −15 | 6 | Eliminated in Group stage | 
| 6 | A |  Spain | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 3 | |
| 7 | A |  United Arab Emirates | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 27 | −10 | 6 | |
| 8 | B |  Tahiti | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 22 | 33 | −11 | 2 | 
References
- ^ "UAE, Brazil, Spain and Egypt in same group of Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup". Khaleej Times. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "BSWW представила проект календаря соревнований на 2018 год" (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 3 November 2017. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
- ^ a b "Intercontinental Cup Dubai agreement extended". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ "У стен Башни Халифа. Россия хочет покорить сердце Дубая" (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 30 October 2017. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Beach Soccer Stars Gala in Dubai confirmed". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
- ^ "Brazil's 66-game winning streak ends as Russia join Iran in final". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ "Iran repeat 2013 success to lift Huawei Intercontinental Cup". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 10 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ a b "Teams confirmed for Intercontinental Cup in Dubai". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ "The beach soccer stadium in Kite Beach is ready". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- ^ "Draw confirms groups for the Huawei Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup 2018". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Beach soccer: UAE in same group as defending champions Brazil". Gulf News. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Looking forward to the #HuaweiIntercontinentalCup #beachsoccer #Dubai 2018!! Check out the official poster!!". Beach Soccer Worldwide Twitter. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- ^ a b "OFFICIAL DRAW - Huawei Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup Dubai 2018". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Overall World Ranking". beachsoccer.com. 10 October 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-10-10. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
External links
- Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup Dubai 2018 Archived 2018-10-11 at the Wayback Machine, at Beach Soccer Worldwide
- Intercontinental Cup 2018, at Beach Soccer Russia (in Russian)