2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
| Coupe du monde de football de plage 2008 | |
|---|---|
The official logo of the 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
|
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| Tournament details | |
| Host country | France |
| Dates | 17–27 July 2008 |
| Teams | 16 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Brazil (12th title)
|
| Runners-up |
 Italy
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| Third place |
 Portugal
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| Fourth place |
 Spain
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| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 258 (8.06 per match) |
| Attendance | 176,500 (5,516 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
Madjer (13 goals) |
| Best player |
Amarelle
|
| Best goalkeeper |
Roberto Valeiro |
| Fair play award |
 Russia
|
The 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, governed by FIFA. Previous editions before 2005 were not governed by FIFA and were held under the title Beach Soccer World Championships. Overall, this was the fourteenth edition of the World Cup since its establishment in 1995. It took place in Marseille, France, in the Plages du Prado. It was the first tournament to take place outside Brazil, from 17–27 July 2008. The winners of the tournament were Brazil, who won their third consecutive FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup title and their twelfth title overall.
The qualifiers to determine the two African nations who would play in the World Cup took place in Durban, South Africa for the third year running between March 25 and March 30. Eight nations took part in the competition, all of whom participated in the 2007 Championship, which eventually saw Senegal claim their first title, qualifying for the second successive World Cup and which saw Cameroon finish in second place, also qualifying for the second time.
The Asian qualifiers took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the third time, between May 6 and May 10. The hosts, the United Arab Emirates qualified for the second time after beating Japan in the final of the championship, 4-3, for the second consecutive year. Iran beat China in the third place play off to claim the third berth at the World Cup for the third year in a row.
For the first time since the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers began in 2006, due to the large interest of European nations in beach soccer, UEFA held a tournament dedicated to World Cup qualification in Benidorm, Spain, between, May 11 and May 18, instead of allowing European nations to qualify to the World Cup through the Euro Beach Soccer League. Hosts Spain won the championship, with neighbours Portugal finishing second. Russia beat Italy in the third place play off, but regardless of the result, both teams qualified to the World Cup, along with the finalists.
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