![]() International match | |
Highest governing body | Beach Soccer Worldwide (1992-2005 / 2005-Ongoing) + FIFA (Since 2005) |
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Nicknames | beach football, sand football, beach footie, beasal |
First played | 1992 at Will Rogers Beach, Los Angeles, United States[1] |
Characteristics | |
Contact | Yes |
Team members | 5 at a time |
Type | Team sport, ball sport |
Equipment | Football |
Presence | |
Olympic | No |
Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand.[2]
Football has long been played informally on beaches, but the introduction of beach soccer was an attempt to codify rules for the game in 1992 by the founders of Beach Soccer Worldwide, a company set up to develop the sport and responsible for the majority of its tournaments.[3]
The first international matches were played in 1993 for men and 2009 for women.[4][5] As of July 2023,[update] there are 193 men's and 64 women's clubs and 101 men's and 23 women's national teams sorted in the Beach Soccer Worldwide Rankings.[6]