Sunday 25 February 2024, 21:30

FIFA President thanks FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup™ hosts as Brazil make history

  • Gianni Infantino sees Brazil score historic sixth FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup™ final win

  • Thanks people of United Arab Emirates "for being such fantastic hosts"

  • Over 70,000 fans watched games in Dubai during 2024 tournament

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has thanked the "fantastic hosts" of the United Arab Emirates after Brazil brought the curtain down in style on the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup UAE 2024™ in Dubai. The FIFA President watched the Seleçao overcome Italy 6-4 in the final to record an historic sixth world title, making them the first six-time world champions in beach soccer, futsal or football.

The tournament itself, hosted by the United Arab Emirates for a second time, saw more than 70,000 take in matches at the Dubai Design District Stadium. This marks a significant increase on the 2021 tournament (53,149), and is double the number of fans who attended the 2019 competition (34,997). "We witnessed an incredible final game of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2024 here in Dubai," said Mr Infantino amid the post-match celebrations on the sand in Dubai. "Many congratulations to Brazil on winning your sixth trophy, a fantastic achievement, and to Italy for putting on such a fantastic performance."

Brazil were not the only ones to make history at the tournament. While Italy finished runners-up for an unprecedented third time, IR Iran secured bronze medals for the second time in their country's history, beating Belarus 6-1 in the third-place play-off. Colombia made their tournament debuts, while fellow first-timers Egypt picked up their maiden win at this level, defeating the USA 5-4. The Seychelles will host the next edition of the tournament in 2025, which will mean each of FIFA's six confederations will have staged a FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup since the inaugural edition in 2005. "Congratulations also to IR Iran and all the individual award winners as well as the remaining participating nations for playing with such distinction, showing the millions of fans why this is such an exciting competition," added the FIFA President. "Thank you very much to all the people of the United Arab Emirates for being such fantastic hosts."

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