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). The rankings are currently led by Brazil who have held the number one spot since March 2023.
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.
The rankings were introduced in February 2014 and were originally updated monthly; 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 Brazil have spent the longest ranked first.
The ranking system is based upon that which is used to produce the FIFA World Rankings 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.
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).
BSWW believed creating a world ranking would help teams, national associations and fans in understanding the "reality of beach soccer".
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.
In building the initial version of the ranking, BSWW took into account "many aspects and factors" used to create the FIFA World Rankings. 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.
The finalised version was subsequently released on 6 February 2014; for succeeding updates, the current calculation method immediately superseded the method use to create the initial ranking.
Current calculation method Correct as of November 2022
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:SymbolDescription 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).
+TierEventPoints per position in final standings of event 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th18th19th20th21st22nd...1FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup175013151050840670540430345275220175140115115115115 — — — — — — —2World Beach Games6004503602902301851501209575605040404040 — — — — — — —3Continental championshipsOFC; UEFA55041533026521017013511085707070707070705555...............CONMEBOL5444113272622081681341098469—————————————AFC52839831625420116313010581676767676767675353...............CAF4843652902331851491199775616161616161614848...............CONCACAF4703502802251801451159075606060606060604545...............4Intercontinental Cup45034027021517514011090 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —5Continental leaguesFinals400300240190155125100908580757570707070606060605555...RegularseasonDivision A45352520 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —Division B25181310 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —6Continental cups & games3002251801451159075605050.......................................7BSWW TourPremium2001601208060504030.............................................Category 110080604030252020.............................................Category 2403020105555.............................................8Friendly matches102 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
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: Example calculationTime when points were earnedPeriod assessed in current ranking% of pointstotal countedPoints earnedduring periodPoints countedtowards rankingUp to 1 year ago – 100%500x1.00 = 5001 to 2 years ago – 75%500x0.75 = 3752 to 3 years ago – 50%500x0.50 = 2503 to 4 years ago – 25%500x0.25 = 12520001250
World number 1 teams Ranking leaders Timeline ofBSWW 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 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. Portugal relinquished their world crown to Brazil in May 2017 who immediately took the number 1 ranking 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. 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, becoming the first team to spend a second spell as number 1. Russia then began their second spell as ranking leaders after a five year gap, in August 2021, immediately after claiming the 2021 World Cup. 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. Subsequently, they were powerless in surrendering the top spot back to Portugal by November. 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, later leapfrogging Russia to have amassed the most time at number 1 once again by January 2024.
Two teams have peaked at number 2 without yet going on to reach the top spot which are Iran and Spain. Both Switzerland and Paraguay have peaked at number 3, the highest of any landlocked countries.
+Summary of world number 1 teamsNºTeamStart dateEnd dateMonthsTotal1January 2014May 201629292June 2016April 201711113May 2017February 20203434 March 2020July 20211728 August 2021October 20221544 November 2022February 2023432 March 2023present
Season-end number 1 The season-end number 1 is the team which garnered the most points during the calendar year in question.
SeasonTeam20132014201520162017201820192020n/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 became official sponsors of the rankings, 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:
YearMonthMovers of the MonthChange2015September 11October 2November 11December 32016January 0February 2March 0April 2May 6June 1July 1August 4September 22October 3November 1December 82017January 1February 38March 9April 1May 2June 1July 1August 1September 1October 0YearMonthMovers of the MonthChange2017November 0December 32018January 0February 1March 0April 2May 3June 0July 5August 8September 1October 0November 1December 42019January 0February 11March 2April 0May 8June 3July 1August 1September 3October 0November 3December 2YearMonthMovers of the MonthChange2020JanuaryNot awarded to men's national teamsFebruaryMarch 1April →Not awarded due to theCOVID-19 pandemic2021→ JulyAugust 3September 0OctoberNot awarded to men's national teamsNovember 3
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