Origins of the clubs in the
2026 Euro Winners Cup group stage.
Groups key:
A;
B;
C;
D;
E;
F;
G;
H;
I.
The 2026 Euro Winners Cup was the fourteenth edition of the Euro Winners Cup (EWC), an annual continental beach soccer tournament for men's top-division European clubs. The championship is widely viewed as beach soccer's rudimentary version of the better known UEFA Champions League in its parent sport, association football.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the tournament was held in Nazaré, Portugal, from 7 to 14 June.[9]
The event began with a round robin group stage. At its conclusion, the best teams progressed to the knockout stage, a series of single elimination games to determine the winners, starting with the Round of 16 and ending with the final. Consolation matches are also played to determine other final rankings.
Catania were the defending champions but did not enter this year due to the club's dissolution in April 2026.[10][11] The tournament was won by BSC 54 from Baden, Switzerland, who claimed their first title.
Teams
Qualification
Qualification for the competition is similar to the UEFA Champions League, whereby clubs qualify via their country’s national beach soccer league (being a country which is a member association of UEFA).
The exact number of clubs which qualify from each association depends on the perceived "strength" of their country’s league. BSWW determine the strength of each league by analysing the performance of all clubs in the EWC on a country-by-country basis over the previous five editions; a points-based ranking is produced from the data. From the most recent edition of their respective leagues, the best performing nations in the ranking are permitted to enter multiple top placing clubs (being their league champions and one or more runners-up), whilst the worst performing are allowed to enter just one club (being their league champions).[12][13] This is similar in concept to that of the UEFA coefficient ranking. The top placing clubs from the previous year's Euro Winners Challenge also qualify.[14]
Eligible clubs may choose not to, or are unable to participate. Thus, in reality, some countries fill their quota with clubs placed lower down in their league, don’t claim all their slots, sometimes fill none of their slots at all, and sometimes unclaimed slots are transferred to other associations at the discretion of BSWW.
Entrants
35 clubs from 23 different nations entered the event.[15]
In accordance with sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine,[16][17][18][19] clubs from Russia remain banned from entering this year.
The draw to split the teams into nine groups of four for the group stage took place on 13 May 2026. An unnamed 36th team was included in the draw but never materialised.[15]
Key: H: Host club \ TH: Title holders \ Chl: Qualified via the 2025 Euro Winners Challenge
Group stage
All eight group winners, along with the five best runners-up, progress to the round of 16 (total of 14 teams).
The worst four runners-up progress to a play-off round to decide the final two round of 16 berths.
All third-placed and fourth-placed teams are consigned to a set of consolation matches to determine final placements.
- Key
- Qualification to the round of 16
- Qualification to the play-off round
- Consigned to placement matches
- Withdrew
References
- ↑ "Euro Winners Cup 2015 to be biggest yet". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 21 May 2015. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
and this is event [sic], which is in a similar vein as the Champions League
- ↑ "Utulu Appointed for Euro Winners Cup 2015 Finals in Catania". Malta Football Association. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
Now in its third edition, this competition is compared to football's Champions' League
- ↑ Roque, José (26 May 2017). "Arranca hoje a 'Liga dos Campeões' do futebol de praia na Nazaré". Diário de Aveiro (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 May 2024.
a contar para a Euro Winners Cup, uma espécie de 'Liga dos Campeões' da modalidade
- ↑ Lacek, Adam (13 July 2021). "Plážoví "klokani" válí v Evropě! V Lize mistrů porazili Řeky i Portugalce". iSport (in Czech). Retrieved 24 May 2024.
na Euro Winners Cupu, nejprestižnějším klubovém turnaji v Evropě, obdoby fotbalové Ligy mistrů
- ↑ Gontier, John (21 October 2022). "Gibraltar Wave - A new star in the women's football sky!". Gibraltar Insight. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
the Euro Winners Cup which is effectively UEFA Beach Soccer Champions League
- ↑ "Euro Winners Cup 2024, Lenergy Pisa Bs group drawn". Cascina Notizie (in Italian). 17 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
della Euro Winners Cup 2024, la Champions League del beach soccer
- ↑ Fretz, Andreas (21 May 2024). "Baden: Beachsoccer-Star Glenn Hodel will mit BSC 54 den ersten Titel gewinnen". Badener Tagblatt (in German). Retrieved 22 May 2024.
den Euro Winners Cup, das Gegenstück zur Champions League
- ↑ "Torneios levam à Nazaré os melhores clubes de futebol de praia". Jornal de Leiria (in Portuguese). 5 June 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
Nesta competição que é encarada como a Liga dos Campeões do futebol de praia
- ↑ "Nazaré volta a receber a Euro Winners". ZeroZero (in Portuguese). 8 April 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
- ↑ "Catania Beach Soccer, il club che ha vinto tutto si ferma dopo 28 stagioni". CataniaToday (in Italian). 13 April 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
- ↑ "Catania Beach Soccer, si chiude la storia dopo 28 anni e 18 titoli". Sport Web Sicilia (in Italian). 13 April 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
- ↑ "Slots - Euro Winners Cup 2022". Beach Soccer Worldwide via Beach Soccer Belgium. 25 January 2022. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ↑ "Draw Procedure - EWC 2022 (Men)". Beach Soccer Worldwide via BLC Vamos. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ↑ "The Euro Winners will return to Nazaré in 2024". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
- 1 2 "Euro Winners Cup & Challenge Group Stage Draw". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 13 May 2026. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
- ↑ "Decision of the UEFA Executive Committee related to Russia" (PDF). UEFA (Press release). Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2022. p. 2. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ↑ "Measures taken by BSWW after the attacks on Ukraine". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ↑ "Утверждён список мужских и женских команд Euro Winners 2022" [The list of men's and women's teams of Euro Winners 2022 has been approved]. Beach Soccer Russia (in Russian). 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ↑ "Состоялась жеребьёвка Euro Winners Cup 2023 – пляжный футбол на BSRussia". BS Russia (in Russian). 19 May 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
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BSC 54 (1st title)
Minsk
Pisa
Kfar Qassem
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Portugal (3)
England (1)
Finland (1)
Greece (1)
France (3)
Hungary (1)
Turkey (2)
Malta (1)
Moldova (1)
Germany (3)
Ukraine (2)
Netherlands (1)
Norway (1)
Poland (1)
Spain (3)
Bulgaria (1)
Slovakia (1)
Cyprus (1)
Czechia (1)