AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

Football tournament

AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

Organising body| AFC
Founded| 2006; 19 years ago (2006)
Region| Asia
Number of teams| ~16
Qualifier for| FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
Current champions|  Iran (4th title)
Most successful team(s)|  Iran
(4 titles)
Website| afc.com
2027 AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

The AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup is the main championship for beach soccer in Asia, contested between the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the sport's version of the better known AFC Asian Cup in association football.

The winners of the championship are crowned continental champions; the tournament also acts as the qualification route for Asian nations to the upcoming edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[1] Coinciding with the annual staging of the World Cup, the competition took place yearly until 2009; the World Cup then became biennial, and as its supplementary qualification event, the championship followed suit. Japan are the most successful nation with three titles and having also qualified for the World Cup on every occasion

## History

[edit]

The championship was established in 2006 by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW)[2] under the title, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup AFC qualifier;[3][4]after FIFA made it a requirement for all confederations to begin holding qualification tournaments to determine the best national team(s) in their region who would proceed to represent their continent in the upcoming World Cup (previously, nations were simply invited to play, without having to earn their place).[5] BSWW organised the first six editions. During this time it also became informally known by the misnomer, the AFC Beach Soccer Championship.[6]

In 2015, the Asia's governing body for football, the AFC adopted the competition and branded it using its informal title in an official capacity; they jointly organised that year's edition with BSWW.[7] Since 2017, the AFC have been sole organisers.[1] For 2021, the competition was renamed as the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup, bringing it in line with the naming of other AFC senior national tournaments.[8]

## Results

[edit]

For all tournaments, the top three teams qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (except for 2009, when only the top two teams qualified as one of the AFC spots was automatically given to the World Cup hosts, United Arab Emirates).

Tournament names

* 2006 – 2019: AFC Beach Soccer Championship
* 2021 – present: AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup

#  | Year  | Location  |  | Final  |  | Third place play-off  |  | Teams

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Winners  | Score  | Runners-up  | Third place  | Score  | Fourth place
1  | 2006
details |  Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
Bahrain | 5–3 |
Japan |
Iran | 6–4 |
China | 6
2  | 2007
details |  Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
United Arab Emirates | 4–3 |
Japan |
Iran | 6–0 |
Bahrain | 6
3  | 2008
details |  Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
United Arab Emirates | 4–3 |
Japan |
Iran | 4–1 |
China | 6
4  | 2009
details |  Dubai United Arab Emirates[a] |
Japan | 4–2 |
Bahrain |
Oman | 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(2–1 p) |
Iran | 7
5  | 2011
details |  Muscat, Oman |
Japan | 2–1 |
Oman |
Iran | 6–2 |
United Arab Emirates | 11
6  | 2013
details |  Doha, Qatar |
Iran | 6–6 (a.e.t.)
(5–4 p) |
Japan |
United Arab Emirates | 3–2 |
Australia | 16
7  | 2015
details |  Doha, Qatar |
Oman | 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(3–2 p) |
Japan |
Iran | 8–3 |
Lebanon | 14
8  | 2017
details |  Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia |
Iran | 7–2 |
United Arab Emirates |
Japan | 6–3 |
Lebanon | 12
9  | 2019
details |  Pattaya, Thailand |
Japan | 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(3–1 p) |
United Arab Emirates |
Oman | 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(2–1 p) |
Palestine | 15
–  | 2021
details |  Phuket, Thailand | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Teams to play at the World Cup handpicked by the AFC.[9] | –
10  | 2023
details |  Pattaya, Thailand[9] |
Iran | 6–0 |
Japan |  |
Oman | 4–2 |
United Arab Emirates | 16
11  | 2025
details |  Pattaya, Thailand |
Iran | 8–1 |
Oman |
Japan | 3–1 |
Saudi Arabia | 16

a. ^ Despite being hosts and defending champions, the United Arab Emirates did not participate in the championship as they had already qualified automatically for the 2009 World Cup as its host nation.

* 2026: 23-31 May 2026 Qualification / 18-28 November 2026 Final
* 2028: 3-11 June 2028 Qualification / 1-11 November 2028 Final

## Teams reaching the top four

[edit]

Team  | Titles  | Runners-up  | Third place  | Fourth place  | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Iran | 4 (2013, 2017, 2023, 2025)  | –  | 5 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015)  | 1 (2009)  | 10
Japan | 3 (2009, 2011, 2019)  | 6 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2023)  | 2 (2017, 2025)  | –  | 11
United Arab Emirates | 2 (2007*, 2008*)  | 2 (2017, 2019)  | 1 (2013)  | 2 (2011, 2023)  | 7
Oman | 1 (2015)  | 2 (2011*, 2025)  | 3 (2009, 2019, 2023)  | –  | 6
Bahrain | 1 (2006)  | 1 (2009)  | –  | 1 (2007)  | 3
China | –  | –  | –  | 2 (2006, 2008)  | 2
Lebanon | –  | –  | –  | 2 (2015, 2017)  | 2
Australia | –  | –  | –  | 1 (2013)  | 1
Palestine | –  | –  | –  | 1 (2019)  | 1
Saudi Arabia | –  | –  | –  | 1 (2025)  | 1

* Hosts

## Summary (2006–2025)

[edit]

Rank | Team | Part | M | W | WE | WP | L | GF | GA | GD | Points

|
|
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|
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|
|

1 |  Japan | 11 | 55 | 40 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 289 | 137 | +152 | 124
2 |  Iran | 11 | 53 | 39 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 334 | 129 | +205 | 120
3 |  United Arab Emirates | 10 | 46 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 196 | 129 | +87 | 97
4 |  Oman | 8 | 40 | 28 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 177 | 97 | +80 | 88
5 |  Bahrain | 10 | 43 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 136 | 145 | -9 | 67
6 |  China | 11 | 42 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 27 | 119 | 182 | –63 | 40
7 |  Lebanon | 6 | 25 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 106 | 89 | +17 | 32
8 |  Palestine | 3 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 48 | 52 | –8 | 23
9 |  Thailand | 6 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 55 | 68 | –13 | 23
10 |  Uzbekistan | 6 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 72 | 94 | –22 | 15
11 |  Afghanistan | 5 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 53 | 85 | –32 | 14
12 |  Australia | 2 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 24 | +1 | 10
13 |  Kuwait | 5 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 55 | 72 | –17 | 13
14 |  Iraq | 6 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 48 | 93 | –45 | 9
15 |  Saudi Arabia | 3 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 38 | 60 | –22 | 16
16 |  Malaysia | 4 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 42 | 83 | –41 | 9
17 |  Laos | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 21 | –10 | 3
18 |  Qatar | 4 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 30 | 85 | –55 | 3
19 |  Vietnam | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 26 | –9 | 2
20 |  India | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 23 | –15 | 0
21 |  Syria | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 19 | –13 | 0
22 |  Kyrgyzstan | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 40 | –28 | 0
23 |  Indonesia | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 64 | –45 | 3
24 |  Philippines | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 90 | –77 | 0

Points: W = 3 points / WE = 2 points / WP = 1 points / L = 0 points

## Awards

[edit]

### By category

[edit]

Year  | Top goalscorer(s)  | Gls  | Best player  | Best goalkeeper  | Fair play | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|
|

2006 |  Takeshi Kawaharazuka | 9 |  Abdullah Omar |  Hamed Ghorbanpour  | not awarded | [7]
2007 |  Farid Boulokbashi  |  |  Bakhit Alabadla |  Mohamed Al Mazam  | [8]
2008 |  Shusei Yamauchi  | 12 |  Rami Al Mesaabi  |  Shingo Terukina  | [9]
2009 |  Moslem Mesigar |  |  Yaqoob Al Nesuf  |  Tomoya Ginoza  | [10]
2011 |  Takeshi Kawaharazuka
Ishaq Al-Qassmi | 8 |  Yahya Al Araimi  |  Shingo Terukina  | [11]
2013 |  Moslem Mesigar | 11 |  Ozu Moreira |  Simon Jaeger  | [12]
2015 |  Takasuke Goto | 8 |  Ozu Moreira |  Peyman Hosseini | [13]
2017 |  Mohammadali Mokhtari  | 12 |  Mohammadali Mokhtari  | not awarded[a] |  Iran | [14]
2019 |  Ozu Moreira | 9 |  Ozu Moreira |  United Arab Emirates | [15]
2023 |  Takuya Akaguma | 11 |  Moslem Mesigar |  Mahdi Mirjalili  |  Oman | [16]
2025 |  Ali Mirshekari | 12 |  Ali Mirshekari |  Mahdi Mirjalili |  |

1. ^ In 2017 and 2019, the "best goalkeeper" was not awarded. However, the goalkeepers chosen for the "dream team" of the tournament may be considered as the de facto best goalkeepers for these years.

### By nationality

[edit]

Rank  | Team  | Awards

|
|

1 |  Iran | 13
2 |  Japan | 12
3 |  United Arab Emirates | 4
4 |  Oman | 3
5 |  Bahrain | 2
6 |  Australia | 1

## Team of the tournament

[edit]

Since 2017, the competition's Technical Study Group have produced a post-tournament report including a dream and reserve "team of the tournament".

Year  | Dream team  | Reserve team  | Ref.

|
|
|

2017

Shingo Terukina (GK)
Ozu Moreira (DF)
Ahmed Beshr (DF)
Mohammad Ahmadzadeh (FW)
Mohammadali Mokhtari (FW)

Peyman Hosseini (GK)
Hassan Abdollahi (DF)
Ali Karim (MF)
Takaaki Oba (MF)
Mohamad Merhi (FW)

[17]

2019

Mohamed Abdulla (GK)
Ozu Moreira (DF)
Waleed Beshr (DF)
Yahya Abyoua (FW)
Shusei Yamauchi (FW)

Shingo Terukina (GK)
Maisara Alawwab (DF)
Mushel Hilal (DF)
Walid Mohammad (DF)
Takuya Akaguma (FW)

[18]

2023

Mahdi Mirjalili (GK)
Ozu Moreira (DF)
Moslem Mesigar (FW)
Takuya Akaguma (FW)
Khalid Al Oraimi (FW)

Shinya Shibamoto (GK)
Ali Mohammadi (DF)
Mohammadali Mokhtari (FW)
Sami Al Balushi (FW)
Ali Mirshekari (FW)

[19]

## Appearances and performance timeline

[edit]

The following is a performance timeline of the teams who have appeared in the AFC Beach Soccer Championship and how many appearances they each have made.

Legend

* 1st – Champions
* 2nd – Runners-up
* 3rd – Third place
* 4th – Fourth place
* 5th–16th – Fifth to sixteenth place

* Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
* × – Did not enter
* •• – Entered but withdrew
*    – Hosts
* Apps – No. of appearances

|

Timeline

Year

Team

| 2006

(6)  | 2007

(6)  | 2008

(6)  | 2009

(7)  | 2011

(11)  | 2013

(16)  | 2015

(14)  | 2017

(12)  | 2019

(15)  | 2023

(16)  | 2025

(16)  | Apps

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|

Afghanistan | × | × | × | × | •• | 11th | × | 6th | 12th | 13th | 16th  | 5
Australia | × | × | × | 5th | × | 4th | × | × | × | × | ×  | 2
Bahrain | 1st | 4th | × | 2nd | 6th | 9th | 7th | 5th | 6th | 6th | 8th  | 10
China | 4th | 5th | 4th | 7th | 5th | 7th | 6th | 12th | 9th | 7th | 12th  | 11
India | × | 6th | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | 15th  | 2
Indonesia | × | × | × | × | 11th | × | × | × | × | 16th | 11th  | 3
Iran | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 7th | 1st | 1st | 11
Iraq | × | × | × | × | 9th | 10th | 12th | 9th | 13th | × | 14th  | 6
Japan | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd  | 11
Kuwait | × | × | × | × | 10th | × | 9th | × | 11th | 8th | 9th  | 5
Kyrgyzstan | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | 15th | 14th | ×  | 2
Laos | × | × | × | × | × | × | 10th | × | × | × | ×  | 1
Lebanon | × | × | × | × | × | 8th | 4th | 4th | 5th | 10th | 7th  | 6
Malaysia | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | 8th | 8th | 15th | 10th  | 4
Oman | × | × | × | 3rd | 2nd | 5th | 1st | 7th | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd  | 8
Palestine | × | × | × | × | •• | 6th | •• | × | 4th | 11th | ×  | 3
Philippines | 6th | × | 6th | × | × | 16th | × | × | × | × | ×  | 3
Qatar | × | × | × | × | •• | 15th | 14th | 11th | 14th | × | ×  | 4
Saudi Arabia | × | × | × | × | × | 12th | × | × | × | 9th | 4th  | 3
Syria | × | × | × | × | 8th | × | × | × | × | × | ×  | 1
Thailand | × | × | × | × | × | 13th | 13th | 10th | 10th | 5th | 5th  | 6
United Arab Emirates | 5th | 1st | 1st | × | 4th | 3rd | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | 4th | 6th  | 10
Uzbekistan | × | × | 5th | 6th | 7th | 14th | 8th | •• | × | 12th | ×  | 6
Vietnam | × | × | × | × | × | × | 11th | × | × | × | 13th  | 2

## Performance of qualifiers at the World Cup

[edit]

Main article: FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup records and statistics

The following is a performance timeline of the AFC teams who have appeared in the Beach Soccer World Cup since being sanctioned by FIFA in 2005.

Legend

* 1st – Champions
* 2nd – Runners-up
* 3rd – Third place
* 4th – Fourth place
*    – Hosts

* QF – Quarter-finals
* R1 – Round 1 (group stage)
* q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
* Total – Total times qualified for World Cup

|

Team \ Years  |
2005[†] |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2011 |
2013 |
2015 |
2017 |
2019 |
2021[†] |
2023 |
2025 | Total

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Bahrain |  | QF |  |  | R1 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 2
Iran |  | R1 | R1 | R1 |  | R1 | QF | QF | 3rd |  |  | 3rd | Q | 9
Japan | 4th | QF | R1 | R1 | QF | R1 | QF | QF | R1 | 4th | 2nd | QF | Q | 13
Oman |  |  |  |  |  | R1 |  | R1 |  | R1 | R1 | R1 | Q | 6
Thailand | R1 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 1
United Arab Emirates |  |  | R1 | R1 | R1 |  | R1 |  | R1 | R1 | R1 | QF |  | 8

Notes

1. ^

In 2005 and 2021, no AFC qualifiers for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup were held and teams were selected to represent AFC (2005: Japan and Thailand; 2021: Japan, Oman and United Arab Emirates).

## See also

[edit]

* Beach soccer at the Asian Beach Games
* AFF Beach Soccer Championship
* WAFF Beach Soccer Championship
* AFC Futsal Asian Cup

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b AFC Beach Soccer Championship 2017 Competition Regulations. Asian Football Confederation. 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
2. ^ "Regulations FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2006" (PDF). fifa.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
3. ^ Gaich, Rémi (11 January 2016). BSWW competitions / National teams. Barcelona: Beach Soccer Worldwide. pp. 14, 15, 19.
4. ^ FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2015 - AFC Qualifier Qatar Archived 2020-10-20 at the Wayback Machine. Beach Soccer Worldwide. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
5. ^ "FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2006 qualifiers to start in Brazil on 5 March". FIFA. 3 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
6. ^ See the following for examples: [1]; [2]; [3][dead link]; [4]; [5]; [6].
7. ^ FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015 – AFC Qualifier Qatar Regulations. Asian Football Confederation. 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
8. ^ "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". AFC. 2 October 2020.
9. ^ a b ""الآسيوي" يبلغ الاتحاد اللبناني بمواعيد بطولاته الجديدة" (in Arabic). Lebanese Football Association. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup, the-AFC.com

* v
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* FIFA
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AFC|

* 20051
* 2006
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CAF|

* 20051
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CONCACAF|

* 20052
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CONMEBOL|

* 20052
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OFC|

* 20051
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UEFA|

* 20053(p)
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* 2008
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* 2011
* 2013
* 2015
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* 2019
* 2021
* 2023
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1 No qualifiers took place; representatives were selected by the confederation. 2 CONCACAF and CONMEBOL held a joint championship for qualification.
3 Qualification was achieved through the Euro Beach Soccer League. (p) This indicates an additional play-off round, supplement to the main qualification event.

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|

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