Busy days ahead?

58 matches in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Qualifier Moscow to tell which are the four sides securing Tahiti 2013 berth

In just some hours the doors of the Moscow International Airport will be crossed by more than 300 Beach soccer players and delegates from 24 different teams. In the heads of each of them, only one idea: Fighting until their very last breath for one of the four tickets at stake for European teams to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2013. The Russian capital, home to the current World Champions will host the battlefield where all this fight is to take place, during eight days.

It is only going to be after 56 matches that the four chosen ones will see their dream of flying to Tahiti come true. It is not going to be an easy thing for any of the contenders, not even for hosts Russia or current title holders Ukraine… Only four slots is a way too tight door to harbor the talent of Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, France, Poland… There’s no room for all, and the struggle to get one of the precious berths is going to be fierce…

Get ready for the action, beach soccer fans, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2013 – Qualifier Moscow is ready to begin, under the following demanding match schedule:

Match Schedule

Sun. 1.07.12   
11:00 – Estonia vs. Romania (Pitch 1)
11:00 – Turkey vs. Netherlands (Pitch 2)
12:15 – Norway vs. Spain (Pitch 1)
12:15 – Poland vs. Germany (Pitch 2)
13:30 – Azerbaijan vs. England (Pitch 1)
13:30 – Bulgaria vs. Italy (Pitch 2)
14:45 – Hungary vs. Israel (Pitch 1)
14:45 – Belarus vs. Switzerland (Pitch 2)
16:00 – Ukraine vs. Greece (Pitch 1)
17:15 – Latvia vs. Russia (Pitch 1)
18:30 – Moldova vs. Portugal (Pitch 1)
19:45 – France vs. Czech Republic (Pitch 1)

Mon 2.07.12
11:00 – Romania vs. Czech Republic (Pitch 1)
11:00 – Hungary vs. Bulgaria (Pitch 2)
12:15 – Spain vs. Netherlands (Pitch 1)
12:15 – Turkey vs. Norway (Pitch 2)
13:30 – Ukraine vs. Moldova (Pitch 1)
13:30 – Azerbaijan vs. Belarus (Pitch 2)
14:45 – France vs. Estonia (Pitch 1)
14:45 – Poland vs. Latvia (Pitch 2)
16:00 – Switzerland vs. England (Pitch 1)
17:15 – Russia vs. Germany (Pitch 1)
18:30 – Italy vs. Israel (Pitch 1)
19:45 – Portugal vs. Greece (Pitch 1)

Tues 3.07.12
11:00 –Spain vs. Turkey (Pitch 1)
11:00 – Netherlands vs. Norway (Pitch 2)
12:15 – Greece vs. Moldova (Pitch 1)
12:15 – Switzerland vs. Azerbaijan (Pitch 2)
13:30 – England vs. Belarus (Pitch 1)
13:30 – Germany vs. Latvia (Pitch 2)
14:45 –Romania vs. France (Pitch 1)
14:45 – Czech Republic vs. Estonia (Pitch 2)
16:00 – Israel vs. Bulgaria (Pitch 1)
17:15 – Italy vs. Hungary (Pitch 1)
18:30 – Portugal vs. Ukraine (Pitch 1)
19:45 – Russia vs. Poland (Pitch 1)

Wed 4.07.12 – Round of 16
11:00 –             (Pitch 1)
12:15 –             (Pitch 1)
13:30 –             (Pitch 1)
14:45 –             (Pitch 1)
16:00 –             (Pitch 1)
17:15 –             (Pitch 1)
18:30 –             (Pitch 1)
19:45 –             (Pitch 1)

Thur 5.07.12 – Group stage 2
16:00 –             (Pitch 1)
17:15 –             (Pitch 1)
18:30 –             (Pitch 1)
19:45 –             (Pitch 1)

Fri 6.07.12 – Group stage 2
16:00 –             (Pitch 1)
17:15 –             (Pitch 1)
18:30 –             (Pitch 1)
19:45 –             (Pitch 1)

Sat 7.07.12 – Group stage 2
16:00 –             (Pitch 1)
17:15 –             (Pitch 1)
18:30 –             (Pitch 1)
19:45 –             (Pitch 1)

Sun 8.07.12 – FINALS
18:30 –             (Pitch 1) – 3rd/4th
19:45 –             (Pitch 1)  – FINAL

NOTE: Match Schedule may be altered by the Organizing Committee according to TV requirements.

Remember that there are two major changes in this edition’s qualifier. The toughest beach soccer tournament in the global panorama will discern the four (instead of five) slots for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2013 Tahiti. The reason for this change is that Oceania, continent hosting the event, gets two berths instead of the one they were granted before.

The second big change, even more relevant, is the way that the four teams qualified teams will be selected. Departing from a six-group round robin format, with four teams in every group, the best two ranked teams in each of them will get into the round of sixteen, to be held following the play-off format. This is where the key modification happens… The eight winning sides will be again distributed into two groups of four (depending on their results during the competition), and will face round robin again, with the best two ranked sides earning the ticket to Tahiti. This way, the competition gets much more fair, and allows teams to merit their qualification in more than one single match.