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Campeonato de Futebol de Praia

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Campeonato de Futebol de Praia
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
CountryPortugal
ConfederationUEFA
DivisionsCampeonato Elite
Campeonato Nacional
Number of teams8 (Elite)
26 (National)
Level on pyramid1–2
Domestic cup(s)Taça de Portugal Futebol Praia
International cup(s)Euro Winners Cup
Euro Winners Challenge
Current championsBraga
Most championshipsBraga (9 titles)
WebsiteOfficial website

The FPF Campeonato de Futebol de Praia (English: FPF Beach Soccer Championship) is a league competition for beach soccer clubs in Portugal. Organised by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) who also established the championship in 2012,[1][2] it is the country's primary beach soccer club competition. The national league replaced a previous championship run by district associations as Portugal's paramount club tournament.[1]

Held between May and September, the season is divided into two parts: the regular season followed by the post-season, with matches taking place across Portugal.[1] Many of the world's best players compete in the championship.

Currently, the competition consists of two divisions: the Elite Championship, the top tier, disputed by the eight best teams who compete for the title – the winners are crowned league champions – and the National Championship, the second tier, open to all other clubs who compete for two promotion spots to the top division.[1]

The top three teams qualify for the upcoming edition of the Euro Winners Cup (EWC); as of 2020, the league is ranked as the strongest in Europe by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW).[3]

Braga are the most successful club with eight titles and are the current champions.

Previous national championships

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The first incarnation of a national championship for Portuguese beach soccer clubs with recognition was originally known as the Liga de Clubes de Futebol de Praia[4] and later the Campeonato Elite de Futebol de Praia,[5] which ran from 2005–2011.[1][6][7] However, it was not arranged by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF); the league was established as a result of cooperation between a number of District Football Associations (that of Viana do Castelo, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria, Santarém, Lisbon, Setúbal and Algarve).[1][8]

In 2010, a second national league competition was also established which ran for two seasons, known as the Circuito Nacional de Futebol de Praia; unlike the former, this championship received the "institutional support" of the FPF however was still not organised by them – it was run by an independent event organiser.[9][10]

Results table
Year Winners Runners-up Ref. Year Winners Runners-up Ref.
Campeonato Elite de Futebol de Praia Circuito Nacional de Futebol de Praia
2005 Porto Sporting CP [1]
2006 Benfica Sporting CP [2]
2007 Benfica União de Leiria [3]
2008 Vitória de Setúbal União de Leiria [4]
2009 União de Leiria Rio Ave [5]
2010 Vitória de Setúbal Porto [6] 2010 Sporting CP Benfica [7]
2011 Sporting CP Vitória de Guimarães [8] 2011 Vitória de Guimarães Sporting CP [9]
Note: The 2010 Elite tournament was still considered the primary national event at the time[6] as it took place before the inaugural Circutio season later in 2010;
so both are considered national championship results.[11] In 2011, with the Circutio now established, it was viewed as the main national championship, with the 2011 Elite tournament losing its prestige and
being seen as simply a warm up event for the upcoming Circutio league season.[12]

During this time, there were calls for the FPF to establish their own, official championship.[13] The FPF ultimately started the Campeonato Nacional de Futebol de Praia as the first official national league (that is to say, run by the country's national association) in 2012, superseding the above two de facto national championships which ceased.[1]

Format

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As of 2019; current format introduced in 2015 (with minor revisions since).[1][14][15][16]

Overview

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The championship consists of two championships/divisions; clubs can move between the divisions through a system of promotion and relegation:

  1. Campeonato Elite (Elite Championship): the top tier, containing the eight best clubs. The teams in this division aim to win the title and avoid relegation.
  2. Campeonato Nacional (National Championship): the lower tier, containing all other clubs of lesser quality that choose to enter the competition that season (26 teams in 2019), split into three geographical conferences (north, central and south zones) with approximately ten clubs in each. The teams in this division aim to be promoted to the Elite Championship.

Both championships are played in two phases; a regular season (May through August) and a post-season (August/September).

Elite Championship

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  • Regular season: The clubs play each other once (playing a total of seven matches each) over the course of seven match-days. On each match-day, the fixtures are held in one neutral location in which all eight clubs gather to contest their scheduled matches. This location changes each match-day. Points are earned for the championship table by winning matches.
At the end of the regular season, the top four teams, those occupying positions 1–4 in the table with the most points, advance to the Finals. The bottom four teams, those occupying positions 5–8 in the table with the least points, proceed to the relegation play-offs.
  • Post-season: All eight clubs gather in one location for three consecutive days to compete in the post-season phase.
Finals: The four clubs play each other in a round robin format (playing a total of three matches each). The club with the most points at the completion of all fixtures are crowned league champions.
Relegation play-offs: The four clubs play each other in a round robin format (playing a total of three matches each). The two clubs with the most points at the completion of all fixtures retain their place in the Elite Championship for next season. The two clubs with the least points at the completion of all fixtures will be relegated to the National Championship for next season.

National Championship

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  • Regular season: The clubs play exclusively against the other members of their own conference, once (playing a total of nine matches each), over the course of nine match-days. On each match-day, the fixtures are held in three locations; one in the north, central and south of Portugal, in which all ten clubs of the corresponding conference gather together to contest their scheduled matches. Points are earned for their tables by winning matches. At the end of the regular season, the top two teams in each conferences, plus the best two third-place teams (total of eight clubs) advance to the Finals.
  • Post-season: All eight clubs gather in one location for three consecutive days (the same location and dates as the Elite Division post-season events). The eight clubs play each other in a knockout tournament. The two clubs that reach the final are promoted to the Elite Championship for next season; the six clubs knocked out will remain in the National Championship for next season. The winners of the final are crowned National Championship winners.

Clubs

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Locations of where the 2019 Elite Division clubs originate () and the host venues ().
Campeonato de Futebol de Praia is located in Madeira
Nacional
Nacional
Madeira based Elite clubs

As of 2019[17]

Key
– promoted at the end of 2019
– relegated at the end of 2019

Venues

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Scheduled for use during the 2019 season for the Elite Division:[18]

Results

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Elite Championship

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The following lists the winners and runners-up of the top tier; the former are crowned Portuguese league champions.

Season Winners Runners-up Ref.
2012 Belenenses ACD O Sótão [10]
2013 Braga Estoril Praia [11]
2014 Braga Sporting CP [12]
2015 Braga Sporting CP [13]
2016 Sporting CP Braga [14]
2017 Braga Sporting CP [15]
2018 Braga Sporting CP [16]
2019 Braga Sporting CP [17]
2020 Sporting CP Braga [18]
2021 Braga Casa Benfica de Loures [19]
2022 Braga Casa Benfica de Loures [20]
2023 Braga ACD O Sótão [21]

Note: From 2010–2014 there was only one division comprising the league. Those results have been included as de facto Elite Division results.

Performance by club

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Team Titles Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Braga 9 2 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 2016, 2020
Sporting CP 2 5 2016, 2020 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
Belenenses 1 0 2012
Casa Benfica de Loures 0 2 2021, 2022
ACD O Sótão 0 2 2012, 2023
Estoril Praia 0 1 2013

National Championship

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The second tier was introduced in 2015;[1] the following lists the winners and runners-up. Both are promoted to the top tier.

Season Winners Runners-up Ref.
2015 Varzim Casa Benfica de Loures [22]
2016 Nacional Vila Franca Rosario [23]
2017 Leixões Varzim [24]
2018 Alfarim Sesimbra [25]
2019 ACD O Sótão GD Chaves [26]
2020 Varzim Buarcos 2017 [27]
2021 Leixões São Domingos de Setúbal [28]
2022 GD Chaves Belenenses [29]
2023 AD Nazaré 2022 Vila Flor SC [30]

Performance by club

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Team Titles Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Varzim 2 1 2015, 2020 2017
Leixões 2 0 2017, 2021
GD Chaves 1 1 2022 2019
Nacional 1 0 2016
Alfarim 1 0 2018
ACD O Sótão 1 0 2019
AD Nazaré 2022 1 0 2023
Casa Benfica de Loures 0 1 2015
Vila Franca Rosario 0 1 2016
Sesimbra 0 1 2018
Buarcos 2017 0 1 2020
São Domingos de Setúbal 0 1 2021
Belenenses 0 1 2022
Vilar Flor SC 0 1 2023

Performance at the Euro Winners Cup

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The Euro Winners Cup (EWC), held every May/June since 2013, is a competition contested by the best teams from Europe's domestic beach soccer leagues to determine a European club champion.

A club's final league position determines their qualification route to the EWC.[19] The following table shows the history of qualification opportunities for Portuguese clubs:

Qualification history
Year Final league position Total clubs
qualified
1st 2nd 3rd 4th & below
2013–16 A n/a 1
2017–18 A PR 1+
2019– A PR 3+

Key: Qualification is...

A Green tickY Automatic.
PR  Possible; club eligible to enter the preliminary round.
n/a Red XN Not possible.

(Host club also qualifies automatically; From 2013–18,
host country's league runners-up also qualified automatically.)

The following documents the performances of Portuguese clubs that have qualified for the EWC:

Key
C Champions Round of 16
2nd Runners-up R32 Round of 32
3rd Third place GS Group stage
4th Fourth Place Did not participate
Quarter-finals Host club / country
Team \ Years 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Total
ACD O Sótão 15th GS GS 7th 7th GS 3rd 7
ACD O Sótão Norte GS R32 2
Alfarim GS 1
Belenenses GS GS 2
Braga 3rd 5th 3rd C C C 2nd 2nd 2nd 6th 10
Buarcos 2017 GS R32 GS R32 4
Caxinas GS 1
CB Loures GS R32 15th C 4
CB Caldas da Rainha 16th 1
Chaves GS 1
Costa Caparica GS 1
GR Amigos Paz GS GS 12th GS GS 5
Nacional GS GS GS R32 4
Os Nazarenos 11th GS 2
Porto Mendo GS 1
São Domingos GS 1
Sesimbra GS GS GS 3
Sporting CP 7th 5th 11th 9th R32 11th 6
Varzim R32 GS 2
Vila Flor GS 1
Portuguese teams 1 1 1 1 4 5 9 6 17 9 5

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "CAMPEONATO NACIONAL HISTÓRIA" (in Portuguese). Futebol de Praia Portugal. Archived from the original on 2020-01-21. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  2. ^ "Crescimento da competitividade" (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  3. ^ "BSWW опубликовала рейтинги клубов мира по итогам сезона-2019" (in Russian). Beach Soccer Russia. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Benfica Vencedor da Liga de Clubes de Futebol de Praia 2007" (in Portuguese). Futebol de Praia Portugal. 1 July 2007. Archived from the original on 26 August 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  5. ^ "Campeonato de Elite de Futebol de Praia" (in Portuguese). cm-matosinhos.pt. 26 June 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  6. ^ a b "V. Setúbal campeão na praia" (in Portuguese). Record. 27 June 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Sporting bate V. Guimarães e conquista o título de elite" (in Portuguese). Record. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Organização" (in Portuguese). lcfutpraia.com. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-08-26. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  9. ^ "1º Circuito Nacional de Futebol de Praia 2010" (in Portuguese). CNFP2010.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-08-06. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Futebol de praia: Três grandes entram no Circuito Nacional" (in Portuguese). Record. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Sporting de Braga sagra-se campeão de futebol de praia" (in Portuguese). cmjornal.pt. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Este Domingo, Vá À Praia! Vitória está na Final !" (in Portuguese). cmjornal.pt. 25 June 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  13. ^ "F. Praia: U. Leiria conquista título" (in Portuguese). Record. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  14. ^ Federação Portuguesa de Futebol (20 March 2015). "CN Fut. Praia: Inscrições abertas". FPF.pt (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Campeonato Elite Futebol Praia Clubes Participantes E Formato Prova Epoca 2018/19" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Campeonato Nacional Futebol Praia Formato Prova Epoca 2018/19" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  17. ^ "EQUIPAS" (in Portuguese). Futebol de Praia Portugal. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  18. ^ "DIVISÃO ELITE INICIA SÁBADO" (in Portuguese). Futebol de Praia Portugal. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Euro Winners Cup HISTÓRIA" (in Portuguese). Futebol de Praia Portugal. Archived from the original on 2020-01-21. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
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