Big clash in Tarnow. Beach soccer groups drawn

Tarnow will soon become the capital of European beach soccer. On Thursday we learned the composition of the groups of the men’s and women’s tournaments of the upcoming European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023! Fans can prepare for great emotions. The Portuguese, who are defending their title from Minsk will face the finalists from four years ago, the Spanish.

The group draw took place on Thursday in Barcelona, at the headquarters of Beach Soccer World Wide – the world’s largest organization dedicated to promoting beach soccer.

Before the ceremony, the organizers announced that Poland – as the host of the Games – and Switzerland, the top team of the 2022 European Beach Soccer League, will be placed in Groups A and B, respectively, as the highest seeded teams. In the final tournament the Poles will face two best teams of European Games in Minsk (2019) – the Portuguese and the Spanish, as well as the Azeris. The Helvets will face Italy, Ukraine and Moldova in their group.

Among the women, the Polish, the hosts of the competition, and the Spanish, who last year won the gold medal of the European Beach Soccer League, could count on a spread in their groups. The composition of the groups was completed by the Portuguese and Czech women (group A) and the Italian and Ukrainian women (group B), respectively.

The beach soccer competition will take place from June 27 to July 1 and promises to be extremely exciting. Eight national teams will take part in the men’s competition, and six among the women. In both tournaments, the two best teams from each group will advance to the semifinals. The remaining teams will fight for places 5-8 (men) and 5-6 (women). The exact schedule of the struggle can be found HERE.

Beach soccer tournaments were hosted at both previous editions of the European Games. In 2015 in Baku, Russia defeated Italy, and four years later in Minsk, Portugal with the legend of the sport Madjer in the lineup proved to be the best. In the final they won Spain, and now they will face the chance to defend their title. Among women, the competition in Tarnow will be the first in the history of the European Games.

The stands of the Beach Arena Tarnow can seat 2,100 fans, who will be able to follow the struggles of 168 male and female athletes. The facility will also host a beach handball competition.

Tickets for the beach handball tournament can be purchased HERE.