The 2017 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, also known as the Huawei Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Dubai 2017 for sponsorship reasons, was the seventh 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.
The tournament started with a group stage, played in a round robin format. The winners and runners-up from each group advanced to the knockout stage, in which the teams then competed in single-elimination matches, beginning with the semi-finals and ending with the final. A third-place deciding match was also contested by the losing semi-finalists.[2] The third and fourth placed nations from each group played in a series of consolation matches to decide fifth through eighth place.
This tournament was the last in a deal signed between Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) and the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) in 2012 in which it was agreed the two parties would organise the tournament until 2017.[3] This year's event occurred between October 31 and November 4.
Brazil were the defending champions and successfully retained their title by beating Portugal in the final to claim their third Intercontinental Cup crown.[4]
Participating teams
Eight teams took part 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, the OFC did not enter a team this year, so UEFA entered two teams.
As incumbent continental champions, Senegal were originally invited to play as the African representatives but were unable to compete due to financial issues.[5]
Overall, Europe, Asia and South America were represented by two nations, Africa and North America one nation and Oceania, none.
Map highlighting the participating teams of the 2017 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup
This edition of the Intercontinental Cup took place in a new venue, in Dubai's Business Bay on the banks of the Dubai Water Canal, having taken place on Jumeirah Beach, Dubai Festival City and the Dubai International Marine Club in previous years.[6] The new stadium had a capacity of 3,000.[7]
Speaking at the draw event, BSWW Vice-president thanked the Dubai International Marine Club for hosting the previous events but explained that due to "external reasons" the competition would be hosted in a new part of the city in 2017.[6] He added the new venue would be easier to access by prospective spectators and that tickets would remain free for fans as in previous years.[8]
Sponsors
The following were the official sponsors of the tournament:[9]
The draw to split the eight teams into two groups of four was conducted at 11:00 GST on October 3 at the headquarters of the DSC in the Dubai Design District.[6] Teams from the same confederation could not be drawn into the same group.[10] The draw was conducted by Aml Wael and Nora Al Mazrouie, members of the UAE's women's national association football team.[11]
For the purposes of the draw, the nations were divided into two sets, Pot 1 and Pot 2, shown in the table below. The allocation of teams into each Pot was based on previous performances in the championship. The first pot contained the three former champions of the Intercontinental Cup and, additionally, the hosts. The second pot contained the other four remaining participants who have not won the tournament before.[12] Two teams from each pot were drawn into Group A and two teams from each pot were drawn into Group B, with the hosts, the United Arab Emirates, automatically allocated to position A1.[12]
Prior to the draw, the eight teams were described as the strongest contingent the championship had ever seen.[13]
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.
