Beach Soccer World Cup 2001
| VII Beach Soccer World Championships 2001 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Brazil |
| Dates | 11 – 18 February |
| Teams | 12 (from 3 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Portugal (1st title)
|
| Runners-up |
 France
|
| Third place |
 Argentina
|
| Fourth place |
 Brazil
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 20 |
| Goals scored | 144 (7.2 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
Alan (10 goals) |
| Best player |
Hernâni
|
| Best goalkeeper |
Pascal Olmeta
|
The 2001 Beach Soccer World Championship was the seventh edition of the Beach Soccer World Championships, the most prestigious competition in international beach soccer contested by men's national teams. It was organised by Brazilian sports agency Koch Tavares in cooperation with and under the supervision of Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the sports governing body, with the championships ultimately coming under the control of FIFA in 2005 and subsequently rebranded as the better known FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
For the first time since its establishment in 1995, the tournament took place outside of the sport's native home of Rio de Janeiro and instead was hosted at the resort of Costa do Sauipe, in the state of Bahia, approximately 70km north of the major city of Salvador.
It was also the first time that hosts and six-time defending champions Brazil did not win the championships, finishing in fourth, as Portugal beat France in the final to claim their first title.
Having increased the number of participating teams in 1999, these championships continued to consist of twelve nations who were split into four groups of three playing in a round robin format. The top two from each group advanced to the quarter 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 draw for the allocation of the twelve nations into the four groups was conducted on January 14 in Villa-Lobos State Park in São Paulo.
A representative of FIFA, Alfredo Asfura, attended the finals to assess the sport's premier event to understand the suitability of potentially incorporating beach soccer into the FIFA family. His post-competition analysis of the sport was that beach soccer was full of "prosperity" and that the "experience, professionalism and seriousness of the organization [of the event] will be fundamental for FIFA" in deciding where or not to adopt the sport in the future. FIFA ultimately took over as governing body of beach soccer in late 2004.
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