The Intercontinental Cup is typically seen as the biggest tournament in the current international beach soccer calendar after the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[2] Similar in nature to that of the FIFA Confederations Cup,[3] eight nations took part.
The tournament started with a round robin group stage. The winners and runners-up from each group advanced to the knockout stage, a series of single-elimination matches, beginning with the semi-finals and ending with the final. Consolation matches were also played to determine other final rankings.
The season-ending Beach Soccer Stars awards were also presented in Dubai as a conclusion to the tournament.[4]
Iran were the defending champions and successfully retained their title, winning a third Intercontinental Cup crown by beating Spain 6–3 in the final.[5] Hosts UAE matched their best previous performance of third place for the first time since 2013.[6]
Participating teams
The following eight teams took part.
Overall, Europe and Asia were represented by three nations; Africa and North America, one nation each. Oceania, and for the first time, South America, did not enter any teams.[7]
The tournament took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; this edition was held at a purpose-built arena on Kite Beach, Jumeirah 3, for the second consecutive year with a capacity of 2,500.
Sponsors
The following were the official sponsors of the tournament:[8]
For the purposes of the draw, the nations were divided into two pots, shown in the table below; the teams were split based on their BSWW World Ranking – the top three teams plus the hosts were placed into Pot 1 whilst the lowest four teams of the ranking were placed in Pot 2. As each was drawn, the placement of the teams alternated back and forth between Groups A and B. The hosts, the United Arab Emirates, were automatically allocated to position A1.
The teams finishing in third and fourth place are knocked out of title-winning contention, receding to play in consolation matches to determine 5th through 8th place in the final standings.