The Euro Winners Cup (EWC) is an annual, continental beach soccer club competition contested between top-division European teams; the clubs that are their country's national league/cup champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) from countries across Europe which are members of UEFA take part. Organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the championship is viewed as beach soccer's rudimentary version of the UEFA Champions League in its parent sport, association football.
Featuring many of the world’s leading beach soccer players and clubs, the competition is regarded as one of the highest levels of club beach soccer in Europe. Its winners are recognized as continental champions.
Established in 2013 as a 20 team, five-day event, domestic beach soccer advancement in Europe has seen the tournament rapidly expand; in 2017, BSWW introduced a preliminary qualifying round, open to all clubs not automatically qualified for the competition proper. This has doubled the competition's length to 10 days, with over 50 clubs now participating; it takes place on multiple pitches in one location. BSWW also began a women's edition in 2016.
Braga (Portugal) and Kristall (Russia) are the most successful clubs with four titles apiece. BSC 54 of Switzerland are the current champions.
Organisation Founding
The idea of the Euro Winners Cup had been "worked on for so much time", finally being founded on 9 October 2012 after an agreement was signed between organisers Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) and the Comune of San Benedetto del Tronto to host the first edition in the Italian city the following spring.
At the signing, Gabino Renales (BSWW General Manager) said with increasing numbers of national leagues across Europe and the growing level of competitiveness within them, taking clubs onto an international scene was something the sport was demanding and hence the Euro Winners Cup was created to satisfy this craving.
Qualification From 2013 to 2016, just one club from each European nation qualified – the champions of their highest level of beach soccer competition (be it a national league or knockout cup). The host country was also allowed to enter two additional clubs – the club based in the host city of the event and their national league/cup runners-up. The defending champions also earned automatic qualification regardless of domestic performance. Other runners-up were also sometimes accepted at the discretion of BSWW.
In 2017, the Preliminary Round was introduced – a qualifying stage open to any and all clubs that do not qualify automatically, regardless of where they placed in their nation's domestic league/cup competition. The successful clubs progress to the competition proper.. In 2018 the qualification was transformed into the Euro Winners Challenge, the secondary continental competition that qualify the winner to the EWC quarterfinal (2018-2023) or the following EWC edition (2024-present).
In 2019, BSWW overhauled the qualification system, adopting one based upon the UEFA coefficient ranking used in the UEFA Champions League. In this system, more than one club from stronger national leagues – those featuring higher quality clubs and players – qualify for the competition. The strength of each league is determined by analysing the performance of clubs in the EWC on a country-by-country basis over the previous five editions. Currently, three clubs (league champions, runners-up and third place) from the top six ranked countries qualify to the competition (as of 2022 these are: Portugal, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, Germany and Poland). Two clubs (league champions and runners-up) from the leagues ranked seventh, eighth and ninth qualify (as of 2022 these are: Turkey, Italy and Belgium). And the remaining countries ranked tenth and lower continue to have just one club qualify – their league champions. The preliminary round remains in place, as do additional slots for the host club and defending champions.
In 2020 and 2021, qualification was completely abandoned due to health concerns and travel constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meaning many clubs could not compete. The competition was opened up to simply any club in Europe that was able and willing to participate; the competition format was also altered accordingly for these editions.The 2020 beach soccer season to begin in August. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.Teams announced for 2020 Euro Winners Cup. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020. Since 2022, clubs from Russia have been banned from entering in accordance with sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Format Currently, the tournament is a 10-day event taking place in late May or early June and typically operates under the following format:
Days 1–3: Preliminary round – the participating clubs are split into groups (usually of four) and compete in a round robin format. Days 4–6: Group stage – the eight best ranking teams from the preliminary round proceed to join the automatic qualifiers in the group stage. The clubs are split into groups (usually of four) and compete in a round robin format. Days 7–10: Knockout stage – the 32 best ranking teams from the group stage advance to the knockout stage. The teams compete in single-elimination matches; the round of 32 (day 7), the round of 16 and quarter-finals (day 8), semi-finals (9) and ending with the final (10). Consolation matches are also played to determine the final rankings involving the clubs knocked out of these rounds.
Results Year Location No. of clubsFinalThird place play-offWinnersResultRunners-upThird placeResultFourth place 2013 San Benedetto, Italy20Lokomotiv Moscow 3–0 Griffin KyivBeşiktaş 3–1 Grasshoppers 2014 Catania, Italy25Kristall 2–0 Milano BSBraga 4–1 Sable Dancers Bern 2015 Catania, Italy28Kristall 6–2 Catania BSVybor Lokomotiv Moscow 2016 Catania, Italy32Viareggio Artur MusicBraga 5–4 Catania 2017 Nazaré, Portugal54Braga 8–5 Artur MusicLokomotiv Moscow 5–4 Delta Saratov 2018 Nazaré, Portugal58Braga KristallKP Łódź 4–3 Lokomotiv Moscow 2019 Nazaré, Portugal 60Braga 6–0 KP Łódź Levante 7–6 Delta Saratov 2020 Nazaré, Portugal 27Kristall Braga Real Münster 7–6 Marbella 2021 Nazaré, PortugalEuro Winners Cup 2021 teams confirmed. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 6 July 2021. 50Kristall 6–3 Braga San Francisco 7–4 Real Münster 2022 Nazaré, Portugal 60Benfica Loures 3–1 Braga Kfar Qassem 7–2 Grande-Motte Pyramide 2023 Nazaré, Portugal 52Kfar Qassem PisaO Sótão 3–2 Huelva 2024 Nazaré, Portugal 56Braga 5–3 PisaO Sótão 7–4 Huelva 2025 Nazaré, Portugal 36Catania 6–1 Kfar QassemTSOR Mogilev Marbella 2026 Nazaré, Portugal 36BSC 54 6–4 MinskPisa 9–6 Kfar Qassem
Performance Successful clubs
TeamWinnersRunners-upThird place Braga4 (2017, 2018, 2019, 2024) 3 (2020, 2021, 2022) 2 (2014, 2016) Kristall 1 (2018) – Kfar Qassem1 (2023) 1 (2025) 1 (2022) Catania1 (2025) 1 (2015) – Lokomotiv Moscow1 (2013) – 1 (2017) BSC 541 (2026) – – Benfica Loures1 (2022) – – Viareggio1 (2016) – – Pisa – 2 (2023, 2024) 1 (2026) Artur Music – 2 (2016, 2017) – KP Łódź – 1 (2019) 1 (2018) Minsk – 1 (2026) – Milano – 1 (2014) – Griffin Kyiv – 1 (2013) – O Sótão – – 2 (2023, 2024) TSOR Mogilev – – 1 (2025) San Francisco – – 1 (2021) Real Münster – – 1 (2020) Levante – – 1 (2019) Vybor – – 1 (2015) Beşiktaş – – 1 (2013)
Successful nations NationWinnersRunners-upThird place534511241111100031011011002001001
Awards YearTop goalscorer(s)GlsBest playerBest goalkeeperRef.2013 Dejan Stankovic ( Grasshoppers)13 Egor Shaykov ( Lokomotiv Moscow) ( Griffin Kyiv)2014 Léo Martins ( Milano)13 Bruno Xavier ( Kristall) Dona ( Braga)2015 Ihar Bryshtel ( Vybor)14 Datinha ( Kristall) Simone Del Mestre ( Catania)2016 Gabriele Gori ( Viareggio)18 Rodrigo ( Catania) ( Artur Music)2017 Gabriele Gori ( Viareggio)18 Mauricinho ( Braga) ( Artur Music)2018 Llorenç Gómez ( Kfar Qassem)16 Mauricinho ( Kristall) Dona ( Braga)2019 Gabriele Gori ( Artur Music)26 Jordan Santos ( Braga) ( KP Łódź) 2020 Llorenç Gómez ( Artur Music)22 Mauricinho ( Kristall) ( Braga)2021 Bernardo Lopes ( GRAP)18 Mauricinho ( Kristall) Maxim Chuzhkov ( Kristall)2022 Filip Filipov ( Husty)17 Luís Henrique ( Benfica Loures) Elinton Andrade ( Benfica Loures)2023 Bokinha ( Atlas AO)18 Bruno Xavier ( Pisa) Eliott Mounoud ( Kfar Qassem)2024 Chiky Ardil ( O Sótão)15 ( Braga) Leandro Casapieri ( Pisa)2025 ( Rosh HaAyin)14 Thanger ( Catania) ( Catania)2026 Brendo ( Beach Royals)32 Glenn Hodel ( BSC 54) Mikhail Avgustov ( Minsk)
Appearances and performance timeline The following is an appearance and performance timeline of the countries who have been represented by clubs at the Euro Winners Cup. It shows which countries were represented at each edition and by how many clubs. The colour of the cells indicates the furthest any of that country's clubs progressed in the competition in that edition, corresponding to the key below. Clubs which did not progress passed the preliminary round are not counted.
34 members of UEFA have been represented by at least one club in at least one edition to date.
Key Champions Round of 32[b] Runners-up Group stage Third place No. of clubs entered Fourth place × Did not enter a club Quarter-finals •• Banned from entering Round of 16[a] Host country a. Not used in 2013. b. Not used in 2013–18, 20, 22, 24–26.
Timeline 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Total Azerbaijan 1 × 1 × × × × × × × × × × × 2 Belarus 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 × × × × 1 1 1 10 Belgium × × 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 2 2 1 × × 15 Bulgaria × 1 1 1 1 1 1 × 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 Cyprus × × × × × × × × × × 1 1 1 1 4 Czech Republic × 1 1 × × 1 1 × 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 Denmark × × × 1 × 1 1 × 1 1 × × 1 × 6 England 1 1 1 2 1 × 1 1 × 1 1 × 1 1 12 Estonia × 1 1 1 1 1 1 × × 1 1 × 1 × 9 Finland × × × × × × 1 × × 1 × 1 1 1 5 France 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 4 3 3 3 26 Georgia × × 1 1 1 1 1 × 2 × 1 1 1 × 10 Germany × 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 4 3 3 3 3 27 Greece 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 17 Hungary 1 1 1 1 1 × 1 × × × × 1 × 1 8 Israel 1 1 × 1 1 1 × × 2 2 1 2 2 2 16 Italy 3 3 3 3 2 3 1 × 1 2 3 4 2 2 32 Kazakhstan × 1 1 × 1 × × × × 1 × × 1 × 5 Latvia 1 1 × 1 1 1 1 × × × 1 1 × × 8 Lithuania × × × 1 × 1 × × × 1 × × × × 3 Malta × × × × × × × × × × 1 × 1 1 3 Moldova 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 16 Netherlands 1 1 × 1 1 1 1 × × × × 1 1 1 9 Norway × × × × × 1 × × × × × × 1 1 3 Poland 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 × × 1 × × × 1 14 Portugal 1 1 1 1 4 5 10 7 17 9 8 4 4 3 75 Romania × × 1 1 1 1 × 1 × 1 1 1 × × 8 Russia 1 2 2 3 5 2 5 2 4 •• •• •• •• •• 26 Slovakia × × × × × × × × × 1 1 1 1 1 5 Spain 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 2 5 3 3 3 3 3 34 Sweden × × × × 1 × × 1 2 1 × 1 × × 6 Switzerland 1 1 1 2 1 × 1 1 × × × 1 × 1 10 Turkey 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 × × 1 1 1 1 2 14 Ukraine 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 × 2 × 2 2 23 Total teams 20 25 28 32 36 34 44 27 50 40 40 36 36 35 483 Total countries 18 22 23 25 25 24 24 13 16 22 21 23 24 23 —
See also Euro Winners Challenge Women's Euro Winners Cup Copa Libertadores de Beach Soccer World Winners Cup UEFA Futsal Champions League
References
External links Beach Soccer Worldwide, official website