Beach football

Beach soccer

International match between Norway and Azerbaijan
Highest governing body	FIFA
Nicknames	Beach football, beach footie, beasal
First played	1992 in Brazil
Characteristics
Contact	Yes
Team members	5 at a time
Type	Team sport, ball sport
Equipment	Football
Presence
Olympic	No

Beach soccer, also known as beach football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand.

The game emphasises skill, agility and shooting at goal.

Whilst football has been played informally on beaches for many years, the introduction of beach soccer was an attempt to codify rules for the game. This was done in 1992 by the founders of Beach Soccer Worldwide, a company set up to develop the sport and is responsible for the majority of its tournaments to this day. This was a major foundation for what is now known as beach soccer and what has led to the sport rapidly growing in popularity.

The irregularity of the soft-sand playing surface leads to a totally different style of play than is used in football, with a greater degree of improvisation. The compact field, much smaller than a normal football field, allows players to score from anywhere on the sand, leading to an average of sixty attempts at goal in a single game. With an average of scoring rate of one goal every three or four minutes, around eleven goals are scored in total during an average game.

Beach soccer (beasal) started in Brazil, more precisely at Leme beach, Rio de Janeiro, and has grown to be an international game. The participation of internationally renowned players such as flamboyant Frenchman Eric Cantona, legendary Spanish strikers Michel and Julio Salinas and Brazilian stars such as Romário, Júnior and Zico has helped to expand television coverage to large audiences in over 170 countries worldwide.