– This December, eight teams from the North-Central American region (CONCACAF) will participate: Canada, United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Bahamas, Jamaica and the host Mexico. The two finalists of Puerto Vallarta’s qualifier tournament earn the right to compete in FIFA’s Beach Soccer World Cup Championship in Rome, Italy during the summer of 2011.
This 16th edition of FIFA’s Beach Soccer World Cup is the first to take place every two years, instead of annually as before. The next edition will take place in Tahiti in 2013.
Beach soccer is played between two teams of five players each. The ball bounces erratically when it hits the mounds of sand making it difficult to control the ball. Therefore, players avoid rolling the ball on the surface of the sand using instead plenty of air passes.