The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is a bi-annual international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament has taken place every year since its establishment in 1995, when it was originally supervised by Beach Soccer World Wide (BSWW) and was called the Beach Soccer World Championship. Due to the sport's rapid growth, FIFA took over the organization of the competition in 2005 and rebranded it as an official FIFA tournament. As of 2009, the tournament takes place every two years to allow continental tournaments to flourish without the burden of the World Cup qualifiers crowding the schedule. The growing global popularity of beach soccer resulted in FIFA's decision to move the stage of the World Cup from Brazil, its native home, to other parts of the globe. The first edition held outside Brazil was in 2008 in Marseille, France.
The current format of the tournament lasts over a week and involves 16 teams competing initially in four groups of four teams. The group winners and runners-up advance to a series of knockout stages until the final. The losing semifinalist teams play each other in a 3rd place play-off match to determine the third-placed team. The most recent edition, the 2011 World Cup, was held in Ravenna, Italy, and crowned Russia as champions for the first time, after defeating the defending champions Brazil by 12–8.
From the 16 tournaments held so far, only four nations have taken the title. Brazil is the leading and dominant national team, having won 13 titles. The other three champions are Portugal, in 2001, France, in 2005 and Russia, in 2011.
Read more about FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup: Qualification, Tournament Appearances As of 2011
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