El Salvador, Guatemala chases first title at 2025 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

The 13th edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup will be a historic one as the first to be hosted in Africa. Victoria, Seychelles will be the host city for this year's edition.

El Salvador and Guatemala secured the two available spots from the region by reaching the final of the 2025 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship earlier this year. Now, both nations are aiming to become the first from Concacaf to lift the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup title when the tournament concludes on May 11.

The World Cup features four groups, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout stage. From there, the competition will follow a single-elimination format through to the final and third-place matches.

El Salvador enters its sixth Beach Soccer World Cup appearance — and first since 2021 — as the 2025 Concacaf champions. La Selecta’s best finish came in 2011, when they reached the semifinals in Ravenna, Italy, ultimately finishing fourth. Drawn into Group D, El Salvador faces a tough path, opening against defending champions Brazil on May 2, then taking on Oman on May 4, and concluding group play against Italy on May 6.

Guatemala, runners-up in the Concacaf championship, will make its historic debut at the global tournament. Placed in Group A, Los Chapines kick off their campaign on May 1 against Japan, followed by a clash with tournament hosts Seychelles on May 3, and wrap up the group stage versus Belarus on May 5.

Here are the four groups of the 2025 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

Group A: Seychelles, Belarus, Guatemala, Japan

Group B: Mauritania, Iran, Portugal, Paraguay

Group C: Spain, Senegal, Chile, Tahiti

Group D: Brazil, El Salvador, Italy, Oman

Mexico achieved the best-ever finish by a Concacaf team in the FIFA era of the Beach Soccer World Cup in 2007, reaching the final before falling to hosts Brazil and securing a historic second-place finish.

Guatemala is set to become the eighth Concacaf nation to compete in the Beach Soccer World Cup. Of the previous debutants in the FIFA era, only Canada (2006) and Mexico (2007) managed to win their opening matches—both victories coming via penalty shootouts.

Cover Credits - Beach Soccer Worldwide