BeachSoccer

The ball has been rolling on the sands of Praia de Copacabana since the 1930s. Back then, beach football (also called futebol de praia or beach soccer) kept all the pomp of professional football, with a referee and uniforms, but was played barefoot. Besides being skilled players, the athletes also had to be good swimmers, in order to retrieve the ball when it fell into the sea on rough-surf days.

The teams were formed by friends who organized themselves according to the geography of the Rio neighborhoods near the beaches. The first clubs were Pracinha, Ouro Preto, and Juventus, and the competitions were held along the South Zone waterfront. Starting in the 1950s, the sport gained momentum with the unification of the tournaments into a championship called Interbairros. The number of players increased and new clubs emerged, such as Copaleme, Dínamo, and Guaíba.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a beach soccer game. On the left side, we see two players in action, one of them falling as he tries to control the ball. In the background, there are other players and spectators. The image was taken by Gilmar and is available on the "memorias" website, under the caption "Beach Soccer - Columbia x Copaleme - 06/26/1971".

Some of these teams had their superstitions and adopted somewhat exotic habits. It is said that the Dínamo players, among them the comedian Tião Macalé, never washed their uniforms, and it was from this that the catchphrase "ih, nojento!" ("ugh, gross!") emerged, which became a hit on the famous television show "Os Trapalhões" in the 1980s and 1990s.

In the 1960s, beach soccer had already taken over the city, and games were broadcast on television. Every weekend, hundreds of spectators packed the boardwalk along Rio's shoreline, from Leme to Leblon, to watch the same star players who took to the sand on Saturdays and to the Maracanã pitch on Sundays. In the 1970s, with the landfill of the South Zone's beaches, larger fields emerged and the number of teams competing in the Rio de Janeiro Beach Soccer Championship grew. Among the new clubs were Racing, Paula Freitas, Força e Saúde, Bairro Peixoto, and Prado Junior.

Image description: The image is a painting depicting a beach soccer game. On the left side, we see a goal with the net open. In front of it, two players wear green and white striped shirts. One of them is in a defensive position, while the other prepares to kick the ball. In the center, a player in a red and white shirt tries to score a goal. In the background, a goalkeeper, also wearing a green and white shirt, is ready to defend. On the right, two other players watch the action. In the background, there is a heart-shaped island and green trees. Below the image, it reads "FUTEBOL DE PRAIA".

The sport continued to gain new followers and brought to light a talented and eccentric referee who moved from the sand to the field. Referee Margarida had been officiating beach soccer games since 1968 and eventually gained notoriety, but in the first professional match he refereed at Estádio da Gávea, in 1988, he suffered homophobic insults due to his "effeminate physicality." That same year, the referee became the first official in Brazil's first division to come out as gay, stating: "I acknowledged my sexuality to a prejudiced country, which is a difficult thing to do." His competence was widely recognized, and he was highly respected by the press as well as by fellow referees and players.

From the beach soccer teams came many talents for field football, such as the famous Flamengo and Brazilian national team player Júnior, discovered by Juventus. After retiring from the fields, he returned to the sands and was one of those responsible for elevating beach soccer to the status of a recognized sport and audience success. Along with other field stars, such as Zico and Cláudio Adão, Júnior took part in the first major achievements of the Brazilian beach soccer national team.

Image description: The image is a photograph of five men wearing yellow uniforms with green and blue details. They are standing side by side, smiling and looking at the camera. Behind them is a white background with the name "ARENA" and other characters visible. All the men have short hair and are wearing green shorts with yellow stripes.

Beach soccer began to professionalize in the 1990s, when some rules from the original 11-a-side game were changed, such as reducing the number of players to four on the field (besides the goalkeeper) and marking out spaces and areas within the pitch. Although the ball has the same dimensions as the one used in traditional soccer, it is much lighter, and the length of the match is also different, with three periods of just 12 minutes each and three-minute intervals.

In 1992, the United States hosted the sport's first professional competition, in Miami Beach. The national teams of the United States, Italy, Argentina, and Brazil took part — Brazil being the champion, of course. In the following years, the Brazilian national team took first place in the international championships held on Praia de Copacabana. Beach soccer took off around the world and gained new competitions, such as the Pro Beach Soccer Tour (1996) and the European League (1998).

Of the ten world beach soccer championships held between 1995 and 2004, eight took place in Rio de Janeiro. The International Federation of Football (FIFA) officially incorporated it into the federation in 2004 and, in May of the following year, organized the first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, on Praia de Copacabana. This time, it was the French national team that took home the trophy.

In the 2006 and 2007 Cups, also held in Rio, the Brazilian national team won back-to-back titles. Brazil went on to win five more world titles, celebrating its seventh championship in 2025, and leads the ranking of champions with 16 titles in international tournaments. Portugal comes next, with three world titles.

Image description: This is a photograph of a beach soccer team. In the foreground, the players are standing in two rows. In the top row, there are ten players wearing yellow shirts with green and white details. In the bottom row, there are also ten players, but they are wearing red shirts with yellow and white details. Everyone is smiling and posing for the photo. In the background, there is a large crowd watching the game. On the right, there is a blue panel with the FIFA Beach Soccer logo and the phrase "2007 World Cup."

In 2019, for the first time in history, a women's team of the sport represented Brazil at the World Beach Games and won the bronze medal in Qatar. In the same year, the Rio de Janeiro women's team won the Brazilian Championship of State Teams. Rio de Janeiro, the birthplace of beach soccer, continues to stand out on the world stage, with teams such as Flamengo, Botafogo, América, and Vasco da Gama. The men's team of the São Cristóvão club is a three-time winner of the Copa Libertadores da América and champion of the first world beach soccer championship for the deaf, held in Rio in 2019.

This text was prepared with the collaboration of Rafael Rec, vice-president of the Rio de Janeiro State Beach Soccer Federation.