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.
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.
Map highlighting the participating teams of the 2018 Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup
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]
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 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.
