1995 Beach Soccer World Championships

In 1994, Koch Tavares organised the first international beach soccer competition in Brazil, the Mundialito de beach soccer, a small 4-team event, in view of understanding how commercially successful beach soccer could be in the region. It featured Brazil, Argentina, Italy and the United States and was dubbed an "unofficial World Cup". The Mundialito was deemed a huge success, which gave Koch Tavares the incentive to organise a fully-fledged international competition.{{cite news ==Organisation==

Format The following format was decided upon by the organisers for the maiden edition of the championships: the eight participating nations competed in two groups of four teams in a round robin format. The top two teams progressed straight to the semi-finals from which point on the championship was played as a knock-out tournament until a winner was crowned with an additional match to determine third place. Miscellaneous The launch of the tournament took place from 12:30 onwards on January 18 at the Rio Internacional Hotel which involved the press and guests attending to see the opening presentation of the World Championships as well as explanations of the rules of the newly founded sport and the tournament's schedule.{{cite news The presence of Zico as part of the Brazilian squad, who made over 70 appearances for the Brazilian national association football team, gained considerable attention in the local press prior to the start of the championship.{{cite news Following the launch, official training for the World Championships began the next day on January 19 on pitches external to the beach arena, in front of Copacabana Palace, concluding with training sessions inside the arena on January 23.{{cite news The draw to split the eight teams into Groups A and B was conducted on January 21 at the Rio Internacional Hotel. Brazil and Argentina were allocated as heads of the two respective groups, with the other six teams then drawn to accompany them.(Note that other articles dated before the 21st claim the draw was to take place at the beach soccer arena on Copacabana beach, however this article referenced, dated after the draw, suggests an unexplained decision to change location of the draw in the meantime, and that it happened at the Rio Internacional Hotel.){{cite news The Championships were part of the 1st Olympic Summer Festival (Festival Olímpico de Verão), taking place in the Copacabana beach arena with a capacity of 12,000. Entry to all games was free of charge for fans. In total, US$1 million (1.6 million in 2017) was invested into the organisation of the tournament, including payment for the players who participated. ==Teams==

There was no qualification process for the first Beach Soccer World Championships; nations were simply invited to play. However, such invites were not random – specific nations were summoned. Koch Tavares, the tournament organisers, decided that as the first World Cup of beach soccer, since the sport is a derivative of association football, it would be fitting for the six winners of the FIFA World Cup of football throughout history (as of 1995) to field a team in Rio (being hosts Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Uruguay, England and Germany) and as such the aforementioned nations were invited to play, all of which accepted the opportunity. To make up the numbers, the Netherlands and the United States, despite having never won a FIFA World Cup title, were also invited as "guests". Africa, Asia and Oceania were unrepresented. European Zone (4): • • • • North American Zone (1): • South American Zone (2): • • Hosts: • (South America) ==Group stage==

Group A ---- ---- Group B ---- ---- ==Knockout stage==

January 27 was allocated as a rest day. Semi-finals ---- Third place play-off Final ==Winners==