1996 Beach Soccer World Championships
International football competition
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The 1996 Beach Soccer World Championships was the second edition of the Beach Soccer World Championships, the most prestigious competition in international beach soccer contested by men's national teams until 2005, when the competition was then replaced by the second iteration of a world cup in beach soccer, the better known FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[1] It was organised by Brazilian sports agency Koch Tavares (one of the founding partners of Beach Soccer Worldwide).
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Brazil |
| Dates | January 30 – February 4 |
| Teams | 8 (from 3 confederations) |
| Venue | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Brazil (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Uruguay |
| Third place |  Italy |
| Fourth place |  United States |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 132 (8.25 per match) |
| Top scorer | Alessandro Altobelli (14 goals) |
| Best player | Edinho |
| Best goalkeeper | Paulo Sérgio |
← 1995 1997 → | |
The tournament again took place at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as it did during the maiden edition a year earlier.
Brazil successfully defended their title by beating Uruguay 3–0 in what was the lowest scoring final to date, to win their second World Championship. The Uruguayans remained the only side not to score in a world cup final until Tahiti also failed to do so in 2017.
This edition is one of only two world cups after the first (the other being 2003) when no matches went beyond regulation time.
Organisation
The organisation remained the same as the format established for the maiden event in the previous year; the eight participating nations competed in two groups of four teams in a round robin format. The top two teams progressed straight to the semi-finals from which point on the championship was played as a knock-out tournament until a winner was crowned with an additional match to determine third place.
The capacity of the arena used for this edition of the World Championships remained the same as in 1995, at 12,000 seats available for spectators.[2]
Teams
Group stage
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 5 | +19 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Uruguay |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 13 | –1 | 3 | |
| 3 |  Denmark |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 16 | –6 | 3 | |
| 4 |  Canada |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 24 | –12 | 3 |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | W+ | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Italy |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 6 | |
| 3 |  Russia |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | –2 | 3 | |
| 4 |  Argentina |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 13 | –8 | 0 |
Knockout stage
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
Final
Winners
| 1996 Beach Soccer World Championships champions |
|---|
 Brazil Second title |
Awards
| Top scorer | |
|---|---|
| Alessandro Altobelli | |
| 14 goals2 | |
| Best player | |
| Edinho | |
| Best goalkeeper | |
| Paulo Sérgio | |
Final standings
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | W+ | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | Brazil |
5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 9 | +30 | 15 | Champions |
| 2 | A | Uruguay |
5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 16 | +3 | 6 | Runners-up |
| 3 | B | Italy |
5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 24 | −2 | 9 | Third place |
| 4 | B | United States |
5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 20 | −3 | 9 | Fourth place |
| 5 | B | Russia |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 3 | Eliminated in the group stage |
| 6 | A | Denmark |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 16 | −6 | 3 | |
| 7 | A | Canada |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 24 | −12 | 3 | |
| 8 | B | Argentina |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 0 |