2022 Euro Beach Soccer League

2022 Euro Beach Soccer League
Tournament details
Host countriesPortugal
Moldova
Italy
Dates1 July – 11 September
Teams22 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions  Switzerland (2nd title)
Runners-up Portugal
Third place Italy
Fourth place Spain
Tournament statistics
Matches played59
Goals scored465 (7.88 per match)
← 2021
2023 →
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Locations of the fixtures of the 2022 Euro Beach Soccer League ( Division A events; Division B events)

The 2022 Euro Beach Soccer League was the 25th 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), in a league and play-off format.

This season, the competing teams continued to take part in two divisions: the top tier (Division A) and the bottom tier (Division B). Division A shrunk from 12 to 10 teams; nine teams returned from last season, plus Estonia who were promoted, meanwhile two teams did not compete due to bans. Division B accommodated 12 nations: those who did not gain promotion from last season, two debuting countries (Malta and Latvia), and teams returning after an absence from competing in recent years.

This season's format was altered considerably compared to the usual programme. All teams in Division A played together across five matchdays. The eight best teams advanced to the post-season event, the Superfinal, but only the top four competed for the EBSL title itself. The teams of Division B entered straight into the Promotion Final to try to earn a spot in Division A next year; no team was relegated this year, whilst the top four were guaranteed promotion to Division A, rather than the usual one, because the top tier is being expanded to 16 teams for 2023.[1][2]

The league also acted as the qualification route to the 2023 European Games; the top six teams of the Superfinal plus the Promotion Final winners qualified to join hosts Poland.[1][2]

The Promotion Final was won by Moldova who were promoted to Division A for the first time alongside Kazakhstan, whilst Greece and Turkey also earned promotion.[3] Portugal were the three-time defending champions and were looking for a record fourth straight title, but were beaten in the final by Switzerland who claimed their second title, following their maiden crown ten years prior in 2012.[4]

Division A[edit]

Calendar[edit]

Phase Dates Country City
Regular
season 		1–3 July  Portugal Nazaré
8–9 September  Italy Cagliari
Superfinal 10–11 September

Teams[edit]

Of the 12 nations who earnt Division A status at the end of last season, 10 entered into this season's top tier as follows[1] (The numbers in parentheses show the European ranking of each team prior to the start of the season, out of 34 nations):[5]

^ a: In accordance with sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian national team was banned from entering.[6][7]
^ b: Did not enter; reported by media as excluded due to Belarus' role in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[8][9]
^ P: Promoted from Division B at the end of the 2021 season.

Regular season[edit]

Key: Advance to –   Superfinal semi-finals /   Superfinal 5th to 8th place /   Superfinal 9th place match / (H) Hosts

Group 1[edit]

Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts
1  Spain 4 4 0 0 0 22 9 +13 12
2  Italy (H) 4 3 0 0 1 25 13 +12 9
3  Ukraine 4 2 0 0 2 9 12 –3 6
4  Azerbaijan 4 1 0 0 3 14 20 –6 3
5  Germany 4 0 0 0 4 11 27 –16 0
1 July 2022 Spain  8–1  Germany Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
11:15 (UTC+1) Chiky 4', 12'
Domi 8' (pen.)
Cassano 20', 27', 31'
Suárez 22'
Paredes 23'		 Report 17' (pen.) Lüth Referee: Vitalij Gomolko (Lithuania)
1 July 2022 Italy  7–3  Azerbaijan Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
15:15 (UTC+1) Gori 1' (pen.)
Casapieri 11'
Zurlo 19', 30'
Bertacca 32', 33'
Sanfilippo 36'		 Report 9' K. Huseynov
23' Mammadov
36' Mehtiyev		 Referee: Sergio Gomes (Portugal)
2 July 2022 Germany  5–6  Azerbaijan Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
12:30 (UTC+1) Romrig 1', 3'
Metzler 26', 26'
Lüth 30'		 Report 4' Nazarov
10', 28' Akhundov
14' Gazamov
26' Elshad
29' Mammadov		 Referee: Tomasz Winiarczyk (Poland)
2 July 2022 Spain  4–1  Ukraine Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
16:30 (UTC+1) Suárez 10', 16'
Chiky 17'
Antonio 31'		 Report 16' Scherytsia Referee: Csaba Baghy (Hungary)
3 July 2022 Spain  6–4  Azerbaijan Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
12:30 (UTC+1) Arias 12'
Antonio 12', 24'
Nazarov 23' (o.g.)
Domi 24' (pen.)
Suárez 34'		 Report 12' Mammadov
28' Mehtiyev
29' Jomard
32' Allaghulyev		 Referee: Francisco Costa (Portugal)
3 July 2022 Italy  5–3  Ukraine Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
16:30 (UTC+1) Zurlo 8'
Gori 19', 28'
Giordani 34'
Genovali 36'		 Report 11' Nerush
25' Scherytsia
33' A. Borsuk		 Referee: Lukasz Ostrowski (Poland)
8 September 2022 Ukraine  2–1  Azerbaijan Palm Beach, Cagliari
13:30 (UTC+2) Nerush 11'
Glutskyi 14'		 Report 28' Ramil Referee: Sergio Gomes (Portugal)
8 September 2022 Italy  10–3  Germany Palm Beach, Cagliari
17:30 (UTC+2) Josep Jr. 3'
Giordani 8', 13'
Gori 13', 15', 19', 20', 36'
Sciacca 31'
Remedi 32'		 Report 10' Metzler
20' Nowak
36' Hoeveler		 Referee: Eduards Borisevics (Latvia)
9 September 2022 Ukraine  3–2  Germany Palm Beach, Cagliari
(UTC+2) Zborovskyi 11'
Medvid 14'
Voitenko 34'		 Report 19' (o.g.) A. Borsuk
36' Nowak		 Referee: Saverio Bottalico (Italy)
9 September 2022 Italy  3–4  Spain Palm Beach, Cagliari
17:30 (UTC+2) Fazzini 9'
Miceli 19'
Zurlo 34'		 Report 2' Dona
16' Domingo
19' Chiky
30' David		 Referee: Lukasz Ostrowski (Poland)

Group 2[edit]

Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts
1  Portugal (H) 4 4 0 0 0 26 9 +17 12
2   Switzerland 4 3 0 0 1 24 13 +11 9
3  Poland 4 1 1 0 2 16 17 –1 5
4  France 4 1 0 0 3 14 24 –10 3
5  Estonia 4 0 0 0 4 9 26 –17 0
1 July 2022 France  2–8   Switzerland Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
13:45 (UTC+1) Barbotti 1'
Gosselin 35'		 Report 16', 29' Stankovic
22' Ott
27' Borer
30' Wandji
31' Spacca
34' Eliott
34' Hodel		 Referee: Luca Romani (Italy)
1 July 2022 Portugal  8–1  Estonia Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
17:45 (UTC+1)
Report
  • 1' Nõmmiko
 Referee: Csaba Baghy (Hungary)
2 July 2022 Estonia  2–7  Poland Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
15:00 (UTC+1) Lepik 1', 32' Report 2', 7', 23', 34' Petrasiak
5', 12' Ziober
27' Witkowski		 Referee: Francisco Bumedien (Spain)
2 July 2022 Portugal  8–2  France Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
19:00 (UTC+1)
Report
  • 14' Barbotti
  • 33' (o.g.) Algarvio
 Referee: Vitalij Gomolko (Lithuania)
3 July 2022 Poland  5–4 (a.e.t.)  France Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
15:00 (UTC+1) Gac 17'
Pietrasiak 20', 24', 39'
Karolak 29'		 Report 7', 28', 28' Varrel
23' Basquaise		 Referee: Vasileios Fitsas (Greece)
3 July 2022 Portugal  6–4   Switzerland Estádio do Viveiro, Nazaré
19:00 (UTC+1) Léo Martins 14', 22', 30'
Bê Martins 34', 35' (pen.), 36'		 Report 4', 22' (pen.), 24' Hodel
24' Steinmann		 Referee: Csaba Baghy (Hungary)
8 September 2022 Switzerland  5–3  Estonia Palm Beach, Cagliari
11:00 (UTC+2) W.Tchatat 6'
Ott 9', 23'
Stankovic 22', 32'		 Report 19' Lepik
29' Er. Stüf
30' Mäeorg		 Referee: Francisco de Oses Bumedien (Spain)
8 September 2022 Portugal  4–2  Poland Palm Beach, Cagliari
15:00 (UTC+2) Bê Martins 20', 32'
M. Pintado 24'
Belchior 25'		 Report 13' Pietrasiak
18' Bistuła		 Referee: Luca Romani (Italy)
9 September 2022 France  6–3  Estonia Palm Beach, Cagliari
11:00 (UTC+2) Barbotti 7', 28', 30'
Bru 7', 33'
Basquaise 23'		 Report 2', 36' Lepik
23' Er. Stüf		 Referee: Moreno Longo (Italy)
9 September 2022 Switzerland  7–2  Poland Palm Beach, Cagliari
15:00 (UTC+2) Eliott 7'
Spacca 10', 14'
Ott 12'
Hodel 17'
Stankovic 35', 36'		 Report 32', 35' Jesionowski Referee: Vladimir Tashkov (Bulgaria)

Awards[edit]

The following awards were presented after the conclusion of the first round of matches in Nazaré.[10]

Nazaré stage trophy Top scorer(s) Best player Best goalkeeper
 Portugal Portugal Léo Martins 9 goals Portugal Léo Martins Switzerland Eliott Mounoud

Superfinal[edit]

Consolation[edit]

9th place match[edit]
Estonia 3–1 Germany
Nõmmiko 1'
Er. Stüf 25'
Lepik 26'		 Report 25' Olli
Palm Beach, Cagliari
Referee: Luca Romani (Italy)
5th–8th place[edit]
 
5th–8th place semi-finalsFifth place match
 
      
 
10 September
 
 
 Ukraine 10
 
11 September
 
 France 5
 
 Ukraine 6
 
10 September
 
 Azerbaijan 2
 
 Poland 2
 
 
 Azerbaijan 6
 
Seventh place match
 
 
11 September
 
 
 France 1
 
 
 Poland 7
5th–8th place semi-finals[edit]
Ukraine 10–5 France
Medvid 5', 33'
Nerush 12'
Glutskyi 16'
Voitenko 18', 24', 26'
Pashko 20'
Shcherytsia 27'		 Report 15' Bru
20' Guerin
24', 31' Gosselin
26' Barbotti
28' S. Dias
Palm Beach, Cagliari
Referee: Sergio Gomes (Portugal)
Poland 2–6 Azerbaijan
Meloyan 27'
Jesionowski 29'		 Report 8' Mammadov
8' Akhundov
21' Sabir
28', 30' Ramil
31' Nazarov
Palm Beach, Cagliari
Referee: Malte Gerhardt (Germany)
Seventh place match[edit]
France 1–7 Poland
Barbotti 32' Report 2', 32' Bistuła
3' Popławski
7', 17' Pietrasiak
9' Witkowski
31' Gac
Palm Beach, Cagliari
Referee: Vladimir Tashkov (Bulgaria)
Fifth place match[edit]
Ukraine 6–2 Azerbaijan
Voitenko 9'
I. Borsuk 13'
A. Borsuk 18'
Voitok 25'
Pashko 31'
Kovalenko 36'		 Report 18' Zeynalli
34' (o.g.) Kovalenko
Palm Beach, Cagliari
Referee: Francisco De Oses (Spain)

Final four[edit]

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
10 September
 
 
 Spain 5
 
11 September
 
  Switzerland 8
 
  Switzerland6
 
10 September
 
 Portugal 5
 
 Portugal 8
 
 
 Italy 3
 
Third place match
 
 
11 September
 
 
 Spain2
 
 
 Italy 3
Semi-finals[edit]
Spain 5–8  Switzerland
Kuman 16', 27' (pen.), 33'
D. Ardil 21', 31'		 Report 10', 12', 32' Eliott
2', 21', 22' Hodel
23' Stankovic
36' Steinmann
Palm Beach, Cagliari
Referee: Saverio Bottalico (Italy)
Portugal 8–3 Italy
Léo Martins 5', 25', 28'
M. Pintado 19', 31'
Bê Martins 22', 36'
Rui Coimbra 27'		 Report 7' Casapieri
31' Remedi
35' Gori
Palm Beach, Cagliari
Referee: Vladimir Tashkov (Bulgaria)
Third place match[edit]
Italy 3–2 Spain
Bertacca 5', 6'
Josep Jr. 33'		 Report 5' Chiky
22' Dona
Palm Beach, Cagliari
Referee: Malte Gerhardt (Germany)
Superfinal match[edit]
Portugal 5–6  Switzerland
Bê Martins 11', 23'
Lourenço 13'
R. Pinhal 32'
Léo Martins 35'		 Report 2', 17', 18' Ott
10', 36' Stankovic
23' Hodel
Palm Beach, Cagliari
Referee: Lukasz Ostrowski (Poland)

Awards[edit]

Winners trophy[edit]

 2022 Euro Beach Soccer League
champions 
 
Switzerland
Second title

Individual awards[edit]

Top scorer(s)
Portugal Léo Martins
13 goals
Best player
Switzerland Noël Ott
Best goalkeeper
Portugal Elinton Andrade
Source

Final standings[edit]

Key:
  Qualified to 2023 European Games
  Qualified to 2023 European Games automatically as host nation of the Games
Pos Team Result
1   Switzerland
  
 EBSL Champions (2nd title)
2  Portugal
  
 Runners-up
3  Italy
  
 Third place
4  Spain
  
5  Ukraine
  
6  Azerbaijan
  
7  Poland
  
8  France
9  Estonia
10  Germany

Top scorers[edit]

The following table lists the top 10 scorers in Division A, including goals scored across both the regular season and post season matches.

Rank Player Goals
1 Portugal Léo Martins 13
2 Portugal Bê Martins 11
3 Switzerland Glenn Hodel 10
Poland Patryk Pietrasiak
5 Italy Gabriele Gori 9
Switzerland Dejan Stankovic
7 France Anthony Barbotti 6
Estonia Sander Lepik
Switzerland Noël Ott
10 Portugal André Lourenço 5
Spain Chiky Ardil
Switzerland Eliott Mounoud
Portugal Miguel Pintado
Ukraine Dmytro Voitenko

Sources: Matchdays 1–3, Matchdays 4–5 and Superfinal

Division B[edit]

Calendar[edit]

Phase Dates Country City
Promotion Final 27–31 July  Moldova Chișinău

Teams[edit]

The following teams entered Division B this season[11] (The numbers in parentheses show the European ranking of each team prior to the start of the season, out of 34 nations):[5]

England returned after a one-season absence. Having originally expressed intentions to compete as far back as 2004,[12] Malta finally made their first appearance in the competition. Czech Republic, Sweden, Bulgaria and Slovakia were also among the preliminary list of participants,[1] but ultimately did not enter; the first did not feature for the first time since their 2007 debut.

^ R: Relegated from Division A at the end of the 2021 season.
^ c.: Team making their debut.

Promotion Final[edit]

The best four teams earn promotion to Division A for the 2023 season.

Key: Advance to –   Promotion Final semi-finals / Hosts (H)

Group stage[edit]

Group A[edit]
Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts
1  Moldova (H) 3 3 0 0 0 11 2 +9 9
2  Romania 3 1 0 1 1 8 10 –2 4
3  England 3 1 0 0 2 9 10 –1 3
4  Malta 3 0 0 0 3 7 13 –6 0
27 July 2022 Romania  4–3  England FMF Beach Soccer Arena
14:30 (UTC+3)
  • Zaharia
  • Liviu
  • Andrescu
Report
  • Clarke
  • Grossett
  • O'Neill
27 July 2022 Malta  1–4  Moldova FMF Beach Soccer Arena
18:30 (UTC+3)
  • R. Caruana
Report
  • Negara
  • Ignat
  • Florea
  • Cojocari
28 July 2022 Romania  4–4 (a.e.t.)
(3–1 p)		  Malta FMF Beach Soccer Arena
14:30 (UTC+3) Report
28 July 2022 Moldova  4–1  England FMF Beach Soccer Arena
18:30 (UTC+3) Report
29 July 2022 England  5–2  Malta FMF Beach Soccer Arena
14:30 (UTC+3) Report
29 July 2022 Moldova  3–0  Romania FMF Beach Soccer Arena
18:30 (UTC+3) Report
Group B[edit]
Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts
1  Turkey 3 2 1 0 0 7 3 +4 8
2  Denmark 3 1 0 0 2 13 6 +7 3
3  Latvia 3 0 1 1 1 8 8 0 3
4  Lithuania 3 0 0 0 3 8 19 –11 0
27 July 2022 Lithuania  3–12  Denmark FMF Beach Soccer Arena
13:15 (UTC+3)
  • Makutunovičius
  • Giedraitis
Report
  • Damm
  • Levin
  • Plytnikas (o.g.)
  • Dorph
  • Frandsen
  • Jorgensen
  • Wegeberg
  • Rædkjær
27 July 2022 Latvia  2–3  Turkey FMF Beach Soccer Arena
17:15 (UTC+3)
  • Skuratovics
  • Yasin (o.g.)
 Report
  • Semih
  • Bariș
  • Ferhat
28 July 2022 Lithuania  4–4 (a.e.t.)
(2–4 p)		  Latvia FMF Beach Soccer Arena
13:15 (UTC+3) Report
28 July 2022 Turkey  1–0 (a.e.t.)  Denmark FMF Beach Soccer Arena
17:15 (UTC+3) Report
29 July 2022 Denmark  1–2 (a.e.t.)  Latvia FMF Beach Soccer Arena
13:15 (UTC+3) Report
29 July 2022 Turkey  3–1  Lithuania FMF Beach Soccer Arena
17:15 (UTC+3) Report
Group C[edit]
Pos Team Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts
1  Kazakhstan 3 2 0 1 0 16 6 +10 7
2  Greece 3 2 0 0 1 11 4 +7 6
3  Norway 3 1 0 0 2 6 13 –7 3
4  Georgia 3 0 0 0 3 5 15 –10 0
27 July 2022 Kazakhstan  7–3  Norway FMF Beach Soccer Arena
12:00 (UTC+3)
  • Tyulpa
  • Makagon
  • Muralinov
  • Azhikenov
  • Perevyortov
  • Demeshko
  • Bogdanov
Report
  • Demeshko (o.g.)
  • Aano
  • Li
27 July 2022 Georgia  2–5  Greece FMF Beach Soccer Arena
16:00 (UTC+3)
  • Gkritzalis (o.g.)
  • Partenadze
Report
  • Katsoulis
  • Tsitsaris
  • Papastathopoulos
28 July 2022 Kazakhstan  7–1  Georgia FMF Beach Soccer Arena
12:00 (UTC+3) Report
28 July 2022 Greece  4–0  Norway FMF Beach Soccer Arena
16:00 (UTC+3) Report
29 July 2022 Norway  3–2  Georgia FMF Beach Soccer Arena
12:00 (UTC+3) Report
29 July 2022 Greece  2–2 (a.e.t.)
(3–4 p)		  Kazakhstan FMF Beach Soccer Arena
16:00 (UTC+3) Report

Play-offs[edit]

9th–12th place[edit]
 
9th–12th place semi-finalsNinth place match
 
      
 
30 July
 
 
 Malta 5
 
31 July
 
 Georgia 6
 
 Georgia 3 (2)
 
30 July
 
 Norway (p)3 (4)
 
 Norway 2
 
 
 Lithuania 1
 
Eleventh place match
 
 
31 July
 
 
 Malta 4
 
 
 Lithuania 9
9th–12th place semi-finals[edit]
Malta 5–6 Georgia
  • D. Caruana 17'
  • Cutajar 20'
  • R. Caruana 23'
  • Nanapere 29'
  • J. Zammit 35'
 Report
  • Lomidze 19'
  • Partenadze 22'
  • G. Makharadze 24'
  • Diakvnishvili 27', 35'
  • K. H. Makharadze 35'
Referee: Cepoi Octavian (Moldova)
Norway 2–1 Lithuania
  • Li 20'
  • Hellman 32'
 Report
  • Makutunovičius 18'
Referee: Dmytro Dudka (Ukraine)
Eleventh place match[edit]
Malta 4–9 Lithuania
  • J. Zammit 23', 24'
  • Nanapere 31'
  • Cutajar 32'
 Report
  • Plytnikas 6', 24'
  • Navickas 11', 19'
  • Giedraitis 14'
  • Makutunovičius 15', 22', 35'
  • Lebedevas 28'
Referee: Rick Bruijn-Rodrigo (Netherlands)
Ninth place match[edit]
Georgia 3–3 (a.e.t.) Norway
  • Partenadze 1'
  • G. Makharadze 3', 26'
 Report
  • Gaare 8'
  • Dyngeland 33'
  • Bidro 36'
Penalties
2–4
Referee: Andrei Karhu (Estonia)
5th–8th place[edit]
 
5th–8th place semi-finalsFifth place match
 
      
 
30 July
 
 
 Latvia 3
 
31 July
 
 Denmark 1
 
 Latvia 2
 
30 July
 
 Romania (a.e.t.)3
 
 Romania 7
 
 
 England 5
 
Seventh place match
 
 
31 July
 
 
 Denmark 3
 
 
 England 2
5th–8th place semi-finals[edit]
Latvia 3–1 Denmark
  • Zuburs 6'
  • Vasiljevs 23', 30'
 Report
  • Madsen 29'
Referee: Piotr Stoianov (Moldova)
Romania 7–5 England
  • Alexandru 3'
  • Boata 6', 12'
  • Enis 11'
  • Ravoiu 18'
  • Dumitrica 28'
  • Andrei 35'
 Report
  • Day 8'
  • Lawson 9', 14', 25'
  • Grossett 19'
Referee: Ozcan Sultanoglu (Turkey)
Seventh place match[edit]
Denmark 3–2 England
  • Wegeberg 15'
  • Dorph 17'
  • Rædkjær 33'
 Report
  • Clarke 10', 21'
Referee: Attila Balint (Romania)
Fifth place match[edit]
Latvia 2–3 (a.e.t.) Romania
  • Pastars 10'
  • Jak 20'
 Report
  • Liviu 12'
  • Boata 34'
  • Enis 38'
Referee: Ingilab Mammadov (Azerbaijan)
1st–4th place[edit]
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
30 July
 
 
 Turkey 12
 
31 July
 
 Kazakhstan 10
 
 Turkey 3
 
30 July