Beach soccer had been played recreationally all over the world for many years and in many different formats. However, it wasn’t until 1992 that the Laws of the Game were envisioned and a pilot event staged in Los Angeles. The following summer, the first professional beach soccer competition was organized at Miami Beach, with the teams from the USA, Brazil, Argentina and Italy taking part in what would turn out to be an historic event.

In April 1994 the first event to be covered by network television transmissions was held on the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro and the city hosted the inaugural Beach Soccer World Championship one year later. The competition was won by the host nation, making Brazil the first ever World Champions of Beach Soccer. The success of the tournament saw international interest begin to match developments on the pitch and growing demand for the sport around the world gave rise to the Pro Beach Soccer Tour in 1996.

The first Pro Beach Soccer Tour included a total of 60 games in two years across South America, Europe, Asia and the USA, attracting major names both on and off the pitch. Interest generated by the tour in Europe led to the creation of the European Pro Beach Soccer League in 1998, providing a solid infrastructure that would increase the professionalism of the spectacle on all levels. The EPBSL, now known as the Euro BS League, united promoters from across the continent and satisfied the demands of the media, sponsors and fans. Only four years on from its creation, the successful first step in the building of a legitimate Worldwide Competition Structure for the sport of Pro Beach Soccer had been taken.

The euro BS league flourished, with a nail-biting 2000 season decided in the closing match of the final tournament when Spain beat Portugal in an intense encounter.

The next four years would see this growth consolidated by further progress both on and off the pitch, with the Euro BS League emerging as the strongest Pro Beach Soccer competition in the world. By 2004, some 17 nations had entered teams, and by 2005 this had risen to 20, leading to more than seventy countries looking to stage events.

Just over two years ago, beach soccer became a part of the FIFA family, and in May, the first-ever FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was staged on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. To everyone’s surprise, France defeated Portugal in the final, while hot favourites Brazil fell in the semis.

However, the following year, at the first edition of the tournament to feature 16 nations, the Auriverde avenged the previous year’s loss. In the final of the competition, they were never in any real trouble against Uruguay as they proceeded to claim their first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Eric Cantona’s Blues, meanwhile, triumphed in the third-place play-off, again at the expense of Portugal.