FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Draw

By: Bob | October 4th, 2006

Now that the little football tournament in Germany is over and the Homeless World Cup trophy has rightfully found a home on the streets of Moscow, it is time to turn our attention to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, scheduled to take place on Brazil’s Copacabana beach in early November.

The draw was made this week and even though Heidi Klum was not on hand, there was lots of excitement and immediate talk of things such as the Group of Death. That label goes to Group B, where the Eric Cantona-led defending champions France are scheduled to face European champions Spain, as well as the always formidable teams from Iran and Canada, a country renowned for its beaches. France’s victory last year snapped a string of three-straight titles by Brazil, a county to has won 9 of the 11 World Cups that have been played.

The focus of the beach soccer-loving world might be on Group B, but here at The Offside we’ll be keeping a close eye on Group C where our much beloved lads from the Solomon Islands are making their World Cup debut. In fact, it is the first time that a country from Oceania not named Australia or New Zealand has qualified for any FIFA event, which is news even to the Solomon Island Football Federation’s 1997-era website (ah, blinking page designs, those were the days).

For those who have never had a chance to watch beach soccer, it actually can be kind of fun and we’ve got the YouTube video below to prove it.