The Euro Winners Cup is an annual continental beach soccer club competition contested between top-division European men's teams; the clubs that are their country's national league/championship champions from countries all across Europe take part. Organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide, the championship is viewed as the sport's version of the UEFA Champions League in association football. An equivalent also exists for national club champions in South America, the Copa Libertadores de Beach Soccer. Featuring many of the world's best beach soccer players and clubs, the championship offers the strongest level of club competition on the old continent. It is therefore the most prestigious club beach soccer championship in Europe, the winners becoming continental champions. Established in 2013 as a 20 team, five-day event, domestic beach soccer advancement in Europe has seen the tournament rapidly expand; in 2017, BSWW introduced a preliminary qualifying round, open to all clubs not automatically qualified into the subsequent main round. This has doubled the competition's length to 10 days, with over 50 clubs now participating. BSWW also began a women's edition in 2016. Braga of Portugal is the most successful club with three titles.
Organisation
Founding
The idea of the Euro Winners Cup had been "worked on for so much time", finally being founded on 9 October 2012 after an agreement was signed between BSWW and the Comune of San Benedetto del Tronto to host the first edition in the Italian city the following spring. At the signing, Gabino Renales said with increasing numbers of national leagues in Europe and the growing level of competitiveness in them, taking clubs onto an international scene was something the sport was demanding and hence the Euro Winners Cup was created to satisfy this craving.
Qualification
Current system
The champions of each of Europe's national beach soccer leagues qualify to play in the event. The host country is allowed to enter two additional clubs – the club based in the hostcity of the event and their national league runners-up. The defending champions also earn automatic qualification along with their country's league title winners. Other runners-up may be accepted at the discretion of BSWW. Clubs can also qualify via the Preliminary Round introduced in 2017 – a qualifying stage that is open to application from all clubs that did not qualify automatically as domestic league champions, regardless of where they placed in their nation's league. The successful clubs progress to the Main Round.
Future
BSWW have said that, in the future, qualification may be switched to a system based on the UEFA coefficient, in which national leagues ranked as the strongest receive multiple berths in the competition, similar to the situation in the UEFA Champions League. However, BSWW are currently committed to ensuring weaker teams have a fair chance. The :it:Campionato italiano di beach soccer|Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian leagues are currently viewed as the strongest national club championships in Europe by BSWW; the latter the very best of the four. Bar Spain, BSWW say these leagues are deserving of multiple clubs qualifying to the EWC if a switch was made to a UEFA coefficient system; Spain need to invest more in their domestic championship.
Format
Currently a 10-day event, the tournament takes place in late May or/and early June.
Days 1–3: The Preliminary Round takes place. The participating clubs are split into groups competing in a round robin format.
Days 4–6: The Main Round – the best ranking teams from the Preliminary Round proceed to join the automatic qualifiers in the Main Round. The clubs are split into groups competing in a round robin format.
Days 7–10: The Knockout stage – 16 clubs, the Main Round's group winners and best runners-up, advance to the Knockout stage. The teams compete in single-elimination matches; the Round of 16, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and ending with the final. Consolation matches are also played to determine the final rankings involving the clubs knocked out of these rounds.
Results
Performance
By club
By nation
Top scorers
The following lists the top scorer of each tournament.
Dejan Stankovic
Leo Martins
Milano
Ihar Brishtel
FC Vybor
Llorenç Gómez
Falfala Kfar Qassem