The 2025 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the 13th edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the premier international beach soccer championship contested by men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. Overall, this was the 23rd edition of a world cup in beach soccer since the establishment of the Beach Soccer World Championships which ran from 1995 to 2004 but was not governed by FIFA; the World Cup took place annually until 2009 when it then became a biennial event.
It took place in Victoria, capital of Seychelles, on Mahé island, between 1 and 11 May 2025.[1] This was the first time that Seychelles hosted a FIFA tournament, and the first edition of the World Cup to be played in Africa.
On 14 February 2022, FIFA announced that three of the five associations had submitted bids through to the final stage of the process,[7] with Colombia and Thailand withdrawing.
Confirmation of the awarding of hosting rights was due to be announced at the FIFA Council meeting in Doha, Qatar on 31 March 2022.[5] However, no announcement was made; it was then due to be awarded at its meeting in Auckland, New Zealand on 22 October 2022, but it was announced at the meeting that the decision had been deferred again until a subsequent Council meeting.[8] On 16 December 2022, the United Arab Emirates was awarded the hosting rights for the 2023 tournament, and the Seychelles for the 2025 tournament.[9]
Qualification
Team qualified
Team failed to qualify
Team suspended
Did not enter
Not a FIFA member.
A total of 16 teams qualified for the final tournament. In addition to Seychelles who qualified automatically as the host country, 15 other teams qualified from six separate continental competitions. The slot allocation was approved by the FIFA Council on 4 October 2023.[1] Overall, 72 nations entered qualification.
The process of qualification for the World Cup finals began in October 2024 and ended in March 2025.[10]
Of the qualifiers, made their debut: Chile, Guatemala, Mauritania and hosts Seychelles. This is Mauritania's and Seychelles' first ever FIFA tournament.
Paraguay and El Salvador were the returnees, both coming back after missing out on a berth in 2024.
Note: The appearance statistics below refer only to the FIFA era of world cups in beach soccer (since 2005); see this article for the inclusion of World Championships era stats (1995–2004).
Location of The Paradise Arena in Victoria, where the tournament was held.
The single venue, named "The Paradise Arena", was located in the capital city of Victoria.[10]
The venue was the same building as was used in the 2024 edition, disassembled and transported from Dubai, and reconstructed in Victoria. It has a capacity of 3,572.[11]
The teams were divided into four pots of four based upon a ranking created by FIFA considering each team's total points at the World Cup over the past five editions (since 2015); the more recent the tournament, the more weight was given to those results, with 20% weight for the oldest year and increasing by 20% annually until 100% weight for the most recent year. Bonus points were also awarded to the teams that won their confederation's championship during qualifying. Using this ranking, the best-performing teams were placed in Pot 1 (plus the hosts), the next best performers were placed in Pot 2 and so on.
The numbers in parentheses show the BSWW World Ranking of the teams at the time of the draw, out of 90 nations.[13] The rankings are displayed for context only and had no influence on the draw.
The draw started with Pot 1. As the hosts, the Seychelles were automatically assigned to position A1. The highest-ranked team, Brazil, was automatically assigned to position D1. The other teams were then drawn – the first out was placed into Group A, second into B and so on. The same was repeated for Pots 3 and 4. The exact positions in the groups the teams were allocated to was determined by the drawing of lots from an auxiliary pot. Teams from the same confederation could not be drawn into the same group.
From the International Referees List, FIFA chose 24 officials from 24 different countries to adjudicate matches at the World Cup, who were revealed on 29 April 2025.[14] All of the appointed officials are male.
Each team named a preliminary squad of between 12 and 18 players. From the preliminary squad, the team named a final squad of 12 players (two of whom must be goalkeepers). Players in the final squad could be replaced by a player from the preliminary squad due to serious injury or illness up to 24 hours prior to kickoff of the team's first match.[16]
The squads were revealed by FIFA on 15 April 2025.[17]
Group stage
In the group stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time should be played (one period of three minutes) and followed, if necessary, by kicks from the penalty mark to determine the winner. Each team earned three points for a win in regulation time, two points for a win in extra time, one point for a win in a penalty shoot-out, and no points for a defeat. The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals.[16]
Tiebreakers
The rankings of teams in each group were determined as follows:[16]
points obtained in all group matches;
goal difference in all group matches;
number of goals scored in all group matches;
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings are determined as follows:
points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
goal difference in the group matches between the teams concerned;
number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
Yellow card: −1 points;
Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
After the final, FIFA presented individual awards to the three best players of the tournament, three top goalscorers, and to the best goalkeeper. In addition, a collective award was given to the team with the most points in the Fair Play ranking.[45]
The individual awards were all sponsored by Adidas, except for the FIFA Fair Play Award.
There were 288 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 9 goals per match. Ihar Bryshtel became the third man to end as top scorer in consecutive editions, after Madjer (2005 and 2006) and Gabriele Gori (2017 and 2019).[46]
On 3 May 2024, the official emblem and brand identity were unveiled at the Kempinski Seychelles Resort.[47] On 3 December 2024, the official poster was revealed.[48]
Official ball
On 27 November 2024, FIFA and Adidas announced the official match ball is the Adidas CNXT25 PRO BCH.[49]
Theme song
On 3 April 2025, the official song for the tournament, entitled Boom SE SE, was announced by FIFA. The song was performed by two popular artists in the region, Elijah Seychelles and Taniah, at the draw.[50][51]
Mascot
On 7 March 2025, the mascot was revealed: a turtle who loves football named "TiKay". The mascot pays homage to the essence of the competition's first edition to take place in Africa. Its name comes from the French word "petit," which means small, and from the abbreviated Seychellois Creole word for "scales." The passionate little turtle was born among the fine white sand dunes of Seychelles, representing the beautiful beaches, culture, and biodiversity of Africa's smallest country, as well as the crystal-clear waters that surround it. Its debut took place at Beau Vallon Beach, where the nation's President, Wavel Ramkalawan, was present. More than 40 children, coaches, and members of the Seychellois beach soccer national team joined in a beach soccer activity to promote the sport to local youth.[52]
↑ "Meeting in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau sees key transfer system regulations approved". FIFA.com. 22 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022. It was also decided that four items would be presented at a subsequent FIFA Council meeting, namely the appointment of hosts for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2023, proposed amendments to the FIFA Disciplinary Code and to the FIFA Code of Ethics, and the approval of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations.
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Brazil (7th title)
Belarus 
Portugal 
Senegal 
Japan 
