BSWW World Ranking

The BSWW World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in beach soccer, calculated by the sport's developmental body, Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW).[2] The rankings are currently led by Brazil[1] who have held the number one spot since March 2023.[3]

Top 25 Rankings – August 2023[1]
RankChangeTeamPointsConfederation
1Steady Brazil2852CONMEBOL (1)
2Steady Portugal2472UEFA (1)
×× Russia[lower-alpha 1]××
3Steady Paraguay2247CONMEBOL (2)
4Increase 1 Spain2032UEFA (2)
5Increase 1  Switzerland1967UEFA (3)
6Decrease 2 Japan1935AFC (1)
7Steady Senegal1751CAF (1)
8Steady Iran1720AFC (2)
9Steady Italy1603UEFA (4)
10Increase 1 United Arab Emirates1449AFC (3)
11Increase 6 Colombia1358CONMEBOL (3)
12Increase 1 El Salvador1339CONCACAF (1)
13Decrease 1 United States1311CONCACAF (2)
14Steady Argentina1292CONMEBOL (4)
15Decrease 5 Uruguay1182CONMEBOL (5)
16Decrease 1 Ukraine1131UEFA (5)
17Decrease 1 Oman1001AFC (4)
18Increase 4 Tahiti920OFC (1)
19Decrease 1 Morocco909CAF (2)
20Steady Venezuela897CONMEBOL (6)
21Decrease 2 Mexico889CONCACAF (3)
22Decrease 4 Belarus805UEFA (6)
23Increase 2 Saudi Arabia696AFC (5)
24Decrease 3 Egypt695CAF (3)
25Increase 5 Bahamas692CONCACAF (4)
Complete rankings (of 102 teams) at beachsoccer.com
*Change since May 2023; Parentheses show the team's confederation rank.

The teams (both member nations of FIFA – the sport's governing body – and non-members) are ranked using a "points-per-event system", whereby the ranking of the team in the final standings of each event they participate in awards that team a certain number of points; the teams that accumulate the most points are ranked highest.[2]

The rankings were introduced in February 2014 and were originally updated monthly;[4] since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, new issues have been released at irregular intervals. To date, only three teams (Russia, Portugal and Brazil) have held the top position, of which Russia have spent the longest ranked first.

The ranking system is based upon that which is used to produce the FIFA World Rankings[2] in its parent sport, association football, and since its establishment has been used for such purposes as seeding teams at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[5]

Background

Since the 2000s, BSWW had been producing a European ranking; it was used to seed the teams in regional events. At each competition the teams played in, they earned points depending on their final position (an approach also adapted for use in the world ranking).[6]

BSWW believed creating a world ranking would help teams, national associations and fans in understanding the "reality of beach soccer".[4]

The ranking was first presented at the 2nd FIFA Beach Soccer Workshop in Dubai from 22 to 23 November 2013 to representatives of over 100 national associations who debated the composition of its materialisation.[4][7]

In building the initial version of the ranking, BSWW took into account "many aspects and factors" used to create the FIFA World Rankings.[8] Points earned from events over the previous five years (2009–13) were observed to include the outcomes of the three previous World Cups, therefore providing "an extensive results record and a solid criteria" for its basis; the results of over 1400 matches from ~100 events were integrated into the ranking. The weight of a team's points was reduced by 20% going back year on year.[8]

The finalised version was subsequently released on 6 February 2014;[4] for succeeding updates, the current calculation method immediately superseded the method use to create the initial ranking.[lower-alpha 2][8]

Current calculation method

Correct as of November 2022[lower-alpha 2][2]

Points distribution

The teams are ranked using a "points-per-event system"; in each event they participate, the teams will earn ranking points (providing the event is sanctioned by BSWW and/or FIFA) – the number of points they earn is determined by their placement in the final standings of that event. The higher in the standings the team finishes, the more points they will earn. Runners-up receive 25% less points than the champions; for most subsequent places, they receive 20% less points than the position above.

BSWW have divided the different types of competitions on the calendar into eight tiers of prestige for the purposes of the world ranking. Higher tier events that are deemed to be the most prestigious reward teams with more points than lower tier events.

The following table shows exactly how many points a team will earn per their final position at each type of event:

Key:
Symbol Description
†a) The points on offer vary for each continent due to the perceived strength of the different confederations. Strength is calculated by considering interconfederation matches at the last three FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups. The confederations that win the most points on average from these matches are considered strongest and therefore receive more points in tier 3 tournaments than the weaker ones.

b) Continental championships also act as qualification tournaments to the World Cup (WC). Since the WC hosts qualify automatically, sometimes they do not compete in their respective continental championship. To compensate for their induced absence, the team is automatically awarded with a set of points – the average they have earned from their last three appearances in the championship.

∇Applies to Europe only – note that unlike any other competitions, points earned from regular season events expire from a team's ranking points total immediately after the end of the league season, not after the usual four year limit.
‡Premium and Category 1 events are organised by BSWW; they involve a larger number of FIFA referees, more BSWW delegates, higher stadium standards and more TV coverage than Category 2 events.
∆In the event a friendly ends in a tie, both teams receive 5 points.
—This position is never applicable to this competition.
...Continued from previous (when/if applicable).
Tier Event Points per position in final standings of event
C RU 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd ...
1 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 1750 1315 1050 840 670 540 430 345 275 220 175 140 115 115 115 115 — — — — — — —
2 World Beach Games 600 450 360 290 230 185 150 120 95 75 60 50 40 40 40 40 — — — — — — —
3 Continental championships† OFC; UEFA 550 415 330 265 210 170 135 110 85 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 55 55 ... ... ... ... ...
CONMEBOL 544 411 327 262 208 168 134 109 84 69 — — — — — — — — — — — — —
AFC 528 398 316 254 201 163 130 105 81 67 67 67 67 67 67 67 53 53 ... ... ... ... ...
CAF 484 365 290 233 185 149 119 97 75 61 61 61 61 61 61 61 48 48 ... ... ... ... ...
CONCACAF 470 350 280 225 180 145 115 90 75 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 45 45 ... ... ... ... ...
4 Intercontinental Cup 450 340 270 215 175 140 110 90 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
5 Continental leagues Finals 400 300 240 190 155 125 100 90 85 80 75 75 70 70 70 70 60 60 60 60 55 55 ...
Regular
season∇		 Division A 45 35 25 20 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Division B 25 18 13 10 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
6 Continental cups & games 300 225 180 145 115 90 75 60 50 50 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
7 BSWW Tour‡ Premium 200 160 120 80 60 50 40 30 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Category 1 100 80 60 40 30 25 20 20 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Category 2 40 30 20 10 5 5 5 5 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
8 Friendly matches∆ 10 2 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Points weighting & assessment periods

Only the total points earned from the above events over the last four years (counting back from the current month) go towards the team's ranking; points older than four years expire and do not count.

The four years in question are assessed as individual twelve month periods; the total points earned during each period are weighted differently to put an emphasis on the value of points earned more recently. 100% of a team's total points gained during the last twelve months count towards their ranking. However, from the three preceding twelve month periods, only a portion of their points earned during each count towards their ranking; the portion that counts gets smaller the further back in time the period in question is which are 75%, 50% and 25% of their original points totals respectively.

This is illustrated/summarised in the table below:

For the current ranking month: September 2023 Example calculation
Time when points were earned Period assessed in current ranking % of points
total counted		 Points earned
during period		 Points counted
towards ranking
Up to 1 year ago October 2022 – September 2023 100% 500 x1.00 = 500
1 to 2 years ago October 2021 – September 2022 75% 500 x0.75 = 375
2 to 3 years ago October 2020 – September 2021 50% 500 x0.50 = 250
3 to 4 years ago October 2019 – September 2020 25% 500 x0.25 = 125
2500 1250

World number 1 teams

Ranking leaders
Timeline of
BSWW World Ranking leaders

Three teams have been ranked world number 1, namely Russia, Portugal and Brazil. The rank leaders have roughly coincided with the team that is reigning World Cup champions during that time.

When the rankings debuted in February 2014, Russia were the inaugural leaders, having amassing over 5000 points[4] thanks to winning the 2011 and 2013 World Cup and Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL) titles. Portugal won the next World Cup in July 2015 and the EBSL in the August; Russia finished third in both. Despite Portugal's successes, they were not enough to knock Russia off the top spot until June 2016.[9] Portugal relinquished their world crown to Brazil in May 2017 who immediately took the number 1 ranking[10] and subsequently overtook Russia as the team longest ranked the world's best in October 2019. Portugal regained the World Cup title in December 2019, cutting Brazil's lead to a mere 240 points, but nevertheless the South American's clung on to the number 1 spot in the immediate aftermath of the tournament.[11] Their near three-year stay at the top of the ranking finally ended with the release of the March 2020 listings, with world champions Portugal replacing them at the peak by a slender 21 points,[12] becoming the first team to spend a second spell as number 1.[13] Russia then began their second spell as ranking leaders after a five year gap, in August 2021, immediately after claiming the 2021 World Cup.[14] By January 2022, they had spent enough time at the summit during this spell to regain the record of team longest ranked the world's best cumulatively. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine then occurred in February; as a result, Russia were suspended from participating in BSWW competitions in accordance with sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA in response to the conflict.[15][16] Subsequently, they were powerless in surrendering the top spot back to Portugal by November.[17] However, Portugal's third spell as world number 1 would ultimately by the shortest of any incumbent to date, as within just a few months, a series of titles, primarily the 2023 Copa América, saw Brazil earn enough points to return to the pinnacle after three years.[3]

Only one team has peaked at number 2 without yet going on to reach the top spot which is Iran; both Switzerland and Paraguay have peaked at number 3, the highest of any landlocked countries.

Summary of world number 1 teams
Nº Team Start date End date Months Total
1  Russia January 2014 May 2016 29 29
2  Portugal June 2016 April 2017 11 11
3  Brazil May 2017 February 2020 34 34
 Portugal (2) March 2020 July 2021 17 28
 Russia (2) August 2021 October 2022 15 44
 Portugal (3) November 2022 February 2023 4 32
 Brazil (2) March 2023 present 7 41

Season-end number 1

The season-end number 1 is the team which garnered the most points during the calendar year in question.

Season Team Ref.
2013  Russia
2014  Portugal
2015  Portugal
2016  Portugal
2017  Brazil
2018  Spain
2019  Portugal
2020 n/a

Movers of the Month

Movers of the Month was (2015–2021) a commendation bestowed by BSWW with the release of each new update to the rankings to give recognition to the team that during that month (providing that they had played) had moved up the rankings the most or the team which had gained the most points. It began with the September 2015 update when Power Horse became official sponsors of the rankings,[18] started to be awarded infrequently and at irregular intervals following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has stopped being awarded entirely since the end of 2021.

Towards the tail end of its existence, in 2020, BSWW began awarding the commendation to teams part of the club rankings and women's national teams as well; the following tables list the men's national teams winners of Movers of the Month:

Year Month Movers of the Month Change Ref.
2015 September  Egypt Increase 11
October  Trinidad and Tobago Increase 2
November  Egypt Increase 11
December  Ivory Coast Increase 3
2016 January  Brazil Steady 0
February  Japan Increase 2
March  Portugal Steady 0
April  United Arab Emirates Increase 2
May  England Increase 6
June  Portugal Increase 1
July  Brazil Increase 1
August  Ukraine Increase 4
September  Poland Increase 22
October  Japan Increase 3
November  Iran Increase 1
December  Senegal Increase 8
2017 January   Switzerland Increase 1
February  Panama Increase 38
March  United Arab Emirates Increase 9
April  Tahiti Increase 1
May  Brazil Increase 2
June  France Increase 1
July  Belarus Increase 1
August  Iran Increase 1
September  Russia Increase 1
October  Mexico Steady 0
Year Month Movers of the Month Change Ref.
2017 November  Brazil Steady 0
December  Spain Increase 3
2018 January  Iran Steady 0
February  Senegal Increase 1
March  Brazil Steady 0
April  Mexico Increase 2
May  France Increase 3
June  Portugal Steady 0
July  Morocco Increase 5
August  United States Increase 8
September  Italy Increase 1
October  Brazil Steady 0
November  Iran Increase 1
December  Senegal Increase 4
2019 January  Spain Steady 0
February  Iraq Increase 11
March  Japan Increase 2
April  Portugal Steady 0
May  Mexico Increase 8
June  Tahiti Increase 3
July  Russia Increase 1
August  Portugal Increase 1
September  Ukraine Increase 3
October  Brazil Steady 0
November  Japan Increase 3
December  Portugal Increase 2
Year Month Movers of the Month Change Ref.
2020
January Not awarded to men's national teams
February
March  Portugal Increase 1
April → Not awarded due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
2021 → July
August  Russia Increase 3
September  Portugal Steady 0
October Not awarded to men's national teams
November  Senegal Increase 3

Other rankings

BSWW formally published a series of new rankings to accompany the primary men's national team world rankings in December 2018, all of which were concerned purely with European sides.[19] In November 2019, these rankings were upgraded from being only European based, to fully global rankings (save for the association ranking).[20] Unlike the men's world ranking, they are not updated monthly.[19]

Each ranking category, and the basis of each (at the release of the current issue), is listed below.

The club rankings are used to seed teams in European competitions. Similar to the UEFA coefficient's relationship with the UEFA Champions League, the association ranking is used to determine the number of clubs that qualify from each country's domestic league to the next edition of the Euro Winners Cup; better quality associations receive more berths.[21]

The following tables show the top ten in each ranking's current issue:

Key: Confederation –   AFC /   CAF /   CONCACAF /   CONMEBOL /   OFC /   UEFA

References
Notes
  1. Russia are currently suspended from the rankings. However, their name still appears on the official ranking list, in the place of their last position before suspension (2nd). But furthermore, they are listed without a ranking or points attached.[1]
  2. As of the current calculation method date stated, the ranking system has remained largely the same throughout its existence, with the exception of some minor alterations that have been introduced gradually over time, most notably the addition of new competition tiers (for example, the World Beach Games have only existed since 2019). Temporary changes to the points distribution of some events were also made in consideration of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
Citations
  1. "Ranking - Men's National Teams". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  2. "Men's National Team Beach Soccer World Ranking" (PDF). Beach Soccer Worldwide. November 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. "Brasil retoma liderança do ranking mundial de beach soccer depois de três anos". O Globo (in Portuguese). 31 March 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  4. "Beach Soccer World Ranking, presented!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  5. "Draw Procedures FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  6. "BSWW - aktuální žebříček evropských zemí 2010" (in Czech). plazovakopana.cz. 2010. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  7. "II FIFA Beach Soccer Workshop in Dubai". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  8. "BEACH SOCCER WORLD RANKING POINTS DISTRIBUTION 2014" (PDF). Beach Soccer Worldwide. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  9. "Portugal reel in Russia to top rankings". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  10. "Movers of the Month: Brazil". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  11. "Portugal: The decade's final Movers of the Month!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 29 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  12. "Portugal é o melhor do mundo em futebol de praia". Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). 1 April 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  13. "Portugal atop of the World ranking once more!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  14. "Swiss trio are Russia 2021's golden boys". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 29 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  15. "Decision of the UEFA Executive Committee related to Russia" (PDF). UEFA.com (Press release). Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2022. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  16. "Measures taken by BSWW after the attacks on Ukraine". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 28 February 2022. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  17. "Portugal subiu ao topo do ranking mundial". Record (in Portuguese). 3 December 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  18. "Overall World Ranking show many changes". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  19. "Three new beach soccer rankings released!". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  20. "New beach soccer rankings released". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  21. "Новый год начался в ноябре. Что известно о календаре сезона-2019". Beach Soccer Russia. 14 November 2018. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
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