MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. Participating teams of the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which kicks off this month in the Russian capital of Moscow, unveiled their final rosters for the tournament, the world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced in a statement on Friday.
"On Friday 13 August the official squad lists for the 16 teams participating in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021 were published," the statement reads. "A total of 192 players will take part in the eleventh edition of the tournament, which will take place at the Luzhniki Olympic complex from August 19 to 29, 2021."
The squad of Russian footballers lists 14 players and they are: Maxim Chuzhkov, Denis Parkhomenko, Stanislav Kosharny, Anton Shkarin, Andrei Kotenev, Ostap Fyodorov, Fyodor Zemskov, Boris Nikonorov, Andrei Novikov, Alexei Makarov, Kirill Romanov, Yury Krasheninnikov, Dmitry Shishin and Artur Paporotny.
The 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia is scheduled to take place between August 19 and 29 in the Russian capital of Moscow. Due to international sanctions against Russian sports, the team of Russian beach soccer players will be participating in the championship as Team RFU (the Russian Football Union).
Last month, FIFA announced the teams of four groups for the championship and they are: Group A (Team RFU, the United States, Paraguay and Japan), Group B (Mozambique, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and Tahiti), Group C (Belarus, El Salvador, Switzerland and Brazil), Group D (Portugal, Oman, Senegal and Uruguay).
2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia
A decision to award the Russian capital the right to host the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was made during the FIFA Council meeting in China’s Shanghai in late October 2019. Two other contenders to host the global beach soccer event in 2021 were FESFUT (the Salvadorian Football Association) and the Chilean Football Association.
After Moscow was selected to host the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the official website of municipal authorities launched a public opinion poll to choose among four proposed venues, including Red Square, where the matches of the global championship would be played. In early June, FIFA announced that: "Russia 2021 will be the 11th edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and will be held in its entirety at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex from 19 to 29 August."
The first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was held back in 1995, and Russia has never hosted this international biennial event. The Russian national beach soccer team won the World Championships twice (in 2011 and 2013).
The 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was hosted between November 21 and December 1 in Luque, Paraguay near the capital, Asuncion, where the Russian national team won the bronze edging out Japan (5-4) in the match for third place. The Portuguese squad won the championship in Paraguay defeating Italy 6-4 in the final.