Beach soccer legend Madjer and former Russia captain Alexey Smertin will help decide the fate of the 16 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021™ contenders at the Official Draw at the Home of FIFA on 8 July. Madjer, a two-time winner of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup with Portugal in 2015 and 2019, and Alexey Smertin, who earned 55 caps and represented his home country at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™, will be the draw assistants for the ceremony scheduled to start at 14:00 CET in Zurich. "The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is the competition that all beach soccer players dream of taking part in, let alone winning," said Madjer. "I was lucky enough to play in it on nine occasions, and to win it twice is a great honour that I will always have with me.

"Seeing the main beach soccer showpiece take place in Russia, a place that understands and lives beach soccer like no other, marks a huge step forward for the sport. Russia deserved a FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and beach soccer deserved a FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia.”

Smertin added: “This is an outstanding event for us – for all of Russia, because in a short period of time we will host a FIFA World Cup for the second time. The first one, in 2018, the FIFA World Cup, and now, three years later, the beach soccer world championship.

"Our team are two-time world champions in beach soccer, so we have tradition in this sport. I remember the final against Brazil in 2011. How happy and how proud I was of our team: beating the Brazilians and winning the World Cup was amazing.

"After finishing my professional career in 'classic' football, I began to play beach soccer and with Lokomotiv I finally won the Russian title. This is how beach soccer made my dream come true. My participation in the draw is a real honour for me."

The draw ceremony will be streamed live on FIFA.com and FIFA on YouTube to allow participants to follow proceedings from their home countries. The 16 participating teams were divided into the following four pots of four based on the official draw procedures: Pot 1: RFU*, Brazil, Portugal, Tahiti Pot 2: Japan, Senegal, Switzerland, Spain, Pot 3: Paraguay, El Salvador, UAE, Uruguay Pot 4: Oman, Belarus, USA, Mozambique

* Football Union of Russia is the member association of the Russian Federation. In accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code and a December 2020 decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, this team will participate at Russia 2021 as neutral athletes of its national sports federation. The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is set to kick off on 19 August in Moscow. The champions will be crowned on 29 August. Russia 2021 will be the 11th edition of the competition and will be held in its entirety at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex.