2004 Euro Beach Soccer League

This season 18 nations took part in the Euro Beach Soccer League whom were and were distributed as follows:

There were eight berths available in this season's Superfinal, expanded from the six spots in previous seasons. The table summarises in what positions nations needed to finish in their respective divisions in order to qualify to the Superfinal, what round of the Superfinal they would enter finishing in said positions, and the seeding they would receive.

Allocations^[1]

• Division A, consisting of the best teams of the EBSL, was awarded four Superfinal berths
• Division B, as the middle tier, received three berths
• The new Division C, in consideration of being the bottom tier of teams, received just one berth.

Division A consisted of six rounds of fixtures known as stages, with one stage hosted in each of the six countries participating as shown. Four teams took part in each, with each team taking part in a total of four of the six stages. In each stage, the teams played each other once. The nation who earned the most points at the end of the stage was crowned stage winners.

At the end of the six stages all results were tallied up in a final league table.

The first stage took place in Marseille, France. Portugal claimed the stage.

Matches 2 July 2004 Portugal  7–3  Italy France  5–3  Norway 3 July 2004 France  7–9  Italy Norway  3–4  Portugal 4 July 2004 Italy  5–4  Norway France  10–10 (a.e.t.) 1–2 (pens.)  Portugal

Final standings Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts 1  Portugal 3 2 1 0 21 16 +5 8 2  Italy 3 2 0 1 17 18 –1 6 3  France 3 1 0 2 22 22 0 3 4  Norway 3 0 0 3 10 14 –4 0 Awards[5] Best player: Didier Samoun Top scorer(s): Belchior, Madjer (8 goals) Best goalkeeper: Karl Røsland

The second stage took place in Scoglitti, Italy. Spain won their first stage of the season.

Matches 9 July 2004 Spain  9–2  Norway Italy  3–2 (a.e.t.)  England 10 July 2004 Spain  7–2  England Italy  8–5  Norway 11 July 2004 Italy  2–4  Spain England  2–3  Norway

Final standings Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts 1  Spain 3 3 0 0 20 6 +14 9 2  Italy 3 1 1 1 13 11 +2 5 3  Norway 3 1 0 2 10 22 −12 3 4  England 3 0 0 3 6 10 –4 0 Awards[6] Best player: Amarelle Top scorer(s): David Cordón (7 goals) Best goalkeeper: Roberto Valeiro

The third stage took place in Portimão, Portugal. The hosts earned their second stage crown.

Matches 16 July 2004 Spain  8–7  England Portugal  4–6  Italy 17 July 2004 Portugal  10–2  England Spain  7–3  Italy 18 July 2004 Italy  6–1  England Portugal  5–4  Spain

Final standings Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts 1  Portugal 3 2 0 1 19 12 +7 6 2  Spain 3 2 0 1 19 15 +4 6 3  Italy 3 2 0 1 15 12 +3 6 4  England 3 0 0 3 10 24 –14 0 Awards[7] Best player: Alan Top scorer(s): Massimo Agostini, Amarelle (7 goals) Best goalkeeper: Giuseppe Rasulo

The fourth stage took place in Stavanger, Norway. A second stage victory was claimed by Spain.

Matches 23 July 2004 Norway  5–3  England Spain  7–3  France 24 July 2004 Norway  4–7  France Spain  11–3  England 25 July 2004 France  9–4  England Norway  4–7  Spain

Final standings Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts 1  Spain 3 3 0 0 25 10 +15 9 2  France 3 2 0 1 19 15 +4 6 3  Norway 3 1 0 2 13 17 –4 3 4  England 3 0 0 3 10 25 –15 0 Awards[8] Best player: Amarelle Top scorer(s): David Cordón (7 goals) Best goalkeeper: Roberto Valeiro

The penultimate fifth stage took place in Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca, Spain. The hosts won their third stage title of the season. The Spanish also earned enough points during this stage to secure first place in the final division standings.

Matches 6 August 2004 France  4–3 (a.e.t.)  Portugal Spain  5–4 (a.e.t.)  Norway 7 August 2004 Portugal  4–6  Norway Spain  6–4  France 8 August 2004 France  4–3  Norway Spain  7–5  Portugal

Final standings Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts 1  Spain 3 2 1 0 18 13 +5 8 2  France 3 1 1 1 12 12 0 5 3  Norway 3 1 0 2 13 13 0 3 4  Portugal 3 0 0 3 12 17 –5 0 Awards[9] Best player: Manuel Bustillo Top scorer(s): David Cordón, Jørn Larsen, Madjer (5 goals) Best goalkeeper: Karl Rossland

The sixth and final stage was due to be the English stage of Division A, to be held in Brighton (originally to be stage 1 of the division, held at the end of June). However, the sponsors of the English event in previous years, Kronenbourg, and other potential sponsors, were deterred from investing in the event again due to this year's fixtures clashing with Euro 2004, in which it was believed audiences would be far more interested and therefore a risk to invest money into this event. Sky continued to offer TV coverage, but no new sponsor could be found, and so the stage was ultimately cancelled.^[10]

BSWW subsequently made an attempt to reorganise the stage as stage 6 in Catanzaro, Italy at the end of August, but this ultimately fell through too.^[11]

25–27 June (original) 24–26 August (reschedule) England  Cancelled  France Italy  Cancelled  Portugal France  Cancelled  Portugal England  Cancelled  Italy England  Cancelled  Portugal France  Cancelled  Italy

The top four teams qualified to the Superfinal. The final positions of the nations occupying first through fourth respectively determined seedings in the quarter-finals. Spain were crowned runaway winners of the division, earning the top seed in the Superfinal. France, finishing in the last qualifying position, claimed the lowest seed on offer in Division A.

Despite the teams playing different numbers of games due to stage 6 being cancelled, this ultimately proved inconsequential to the final league table since, after the completion of stage 5, Norway had no fixtures remaining and it was impossible for England to gain enough points in the final round of matches to move up into a Superfinal qualification spot. Hence the four qualifiers were confirmed at this point. If played, the matches of stage 6 would have been dead rubbers.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	W+	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	12	10	1	1	82	44	+38	32	Advance to Superfinal
2	Italy	9	5	1	3	45	41	+4	17
3	Portugal	9	4	1	4	52	45	+7	14
4	France	9	4	1	4	53	49	+4	14
5	Norway	12	3	0	9	48	66	–18	9
6	England	9	0	0	9	24	59	–35	0

Like the top tier, Division B consisted of five rounds of fixtures known as stages, with one stage hosted in each of the five countries participating as shown. Four teams took part in each stage, with each nation participating in four of the five stages overall. In every round of fixtures the teams played each other once. The nation who earned the most points at the end of the stage was crowned stage winners.

At the end of the five stages all results were tallied up in a final league table.

The first stage took place in Istanbul, Turkey. Belgium won the first stage of Division B.

Matches 9 July 2004 Turkey  5–6  Austria Switzerland  5–3  Belgium 10 July 2004 Austria  3–6  Belgium Turkey  4–1   Switzerland 11 July 2004 Austria  5–3   Switzerland Turkey  2–5  Belgium

Final standings Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts 1  Belgium 3 2 0 1 14 10 +4 6 2  Austria 3 2 0 1 14 14 0 6 3  Turkey 3 1 0 2 11 12 –1 3 4   Switzerland 3 1 0 2 9 12 –3 3 Awards[12] Best player: Jimmy Fortemps Top scorer(s): Mathieu Belme (8 goals) Best goalkeeper: Jimmy Fortemps

The second stage took place in Linz, Austria. Switzerland won the event.

Matches 16 July 2004 Austria  2–4   Switzerland Turkey  7–4  Germany 17 July 2004 Austria  3–3 (a.e.t.) 2–1 (pens.)  Germany Switzerland  5–2  Turkey 18 July 2004 Austria  5–4  Turkey Germany  7–4   Switzerland

Final standings Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts 1   Switzerland 3 2 0 1 13 11 +2 6 2  Austria 3 1 1 1 10 11 –1 5 3  Turkey 3 1 0 2 13 14 –1 3 4  Germany 3 1 0 2 14 14 +1 3 Awards[13] Best player: David Wimleitner Top scorer(s): Markus Högi (6 goals) Best goalkeeper: Nico Jung

The third stage took place in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, alongside the running of the Division A and C events. Austria claimed their first stage win.

Matches 6 August 2004 Belgium  3–2  Turkey Germany  6–5  Austria 7 August 2004 Austria  8–4  Belgium Germany  7–5  Turkey 8 August 2004 Germany  5–6  Belgium Austria  4–2  Turkey

Final standings Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts 1  Austria 3 2 0 1 17 12 +5 6 2  Germany 3 2 0 1 18 16 +2 6 3  Belgium 3 2 0 1 13 15 –2 6 4  Turkey 3 0 0 3 9 14 –5 0 Awards[14] Best player:  ? Top scorer(s): Stefano Mari (8 goals) Best goalkeeper: David Wimleitner

The fourth and next to last stage took place in Interlaken, Switzerland. The hosts won their second stage crown.

Matches 13 August 2004 Germany  7–2  Turkey Switzerland  8–6  Belgium 14 August 2004 Switzerland  12–9  Germany Turkey  5–8  Belgium 15 August 2004 Belgium  6–8  Germany Switzerland  9–5  Turkey

Final standings Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts 1   Switzerland 3 3 0 0 29 20 +9 9 2  Germany 3 2 0 1 24 20 +4 6 3  Belgium 3 1 0 2 20 21 –1 3 4  Turkey 3 0 0 3 12 24 –12 0 Awards[15] Best player: Stephan Leu Top scorer(s): Stefano Mari, Stephan Meier (13 goals) Best goalkeeper: Nico Jung

The fifth and final stage took place in Brussels, Belgium. The hosts won the event, their second of the season, and secured the division title after beating Germany on the final day.

Matches 20 August 2004 Belgium  6–3   Switzerland Austria  5–6  Germany 21 August 2004 Switzerland  10–1  Germany Belgium  3–2  Austria 22 August 2004 Belgium  6–4  Germany Switzerland  3–4  Austria

Final standings Pos Team Pld W W+ L GF GA GD Pts 1  Belgium 3 3 0 0 15 9 +6 9 2   Switzerland 3 1 0 2 16 11 +5 3 3  Austria 3 1 0 2 11 12 –1 3 4  Germany 3 1 0 2 11 21 –10 3 Awards[16] Best player:  ? Top scorer(s): Stephan Meier (8 goals) Best goalkeeper: Jimmy Fortemps

The top three teams qualified to the Superfinal. The final positions of the nations occupying first through third respectively determined seedings in the quarter-finals. The remaining Division B nations exited this season's EBSL.

Belgium were crowned winners. Switzerland and Austria were the other two successful teams, the latter qualifying ahead of Germany by a slim margin.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	W+	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Belgium	12	8	0	4	62	55	+7	24	Advance to Superfinal
2	Switzerland	12	7	0	5	67	54	+13	21
3	Austria	12	6	1	5	52	49	+3	20
4	Germany	12	6	0	6	67	71	–4	18
5	Turkey	12	2	0	10	45	64	–19	6