Beach Soccer Stars


Beach Soccer Stars is an annual award ceremony in beach soccer organised by the sport's developmental body, Beach Soccer Worldwide.
The first edition was held on 7 November 2014 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The ceremony continued to take place in the Emirate every year until 2023, occurring after the conclusion of the Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup during the first week of November and has been called beach soccer's version of the better known Ballon d'Or in association football.
A gala event, attended by many of the world's top current and former players, coaches, officials and other beach soccer figures, five individual prizes are awarded for the best beach soccer player of the year, best goalkeeper of the year, best coach, rising star and best goal. Further awards are presented to the five players that, combined, are deemed to produce a dream team for that season as well as a prize for best event of the year. In 2017, a sixth individual award was introduced for best women's player of the year, a seventh in 2019 to recognise a legendary figure of the sport, and an eighth and ninth in 2023 for best women's goalkeeper and best refereeing figure.
Various parties decide the award winners, including coaches, players, BSWW expert panel and fans. In 2016, coaches and captains from a total of 75 national beach soccer teams voted on the awards, rising to 115 teams in 2021.
The most recent edition, the tenth, celebrating achievements in 2024, took place on 22 May 2025 in El Puerto de Santa María, Spain.

Winners

There was no ceremony held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2023 edition was delayed until February 2024 to coincide with the scheduling of the 2024 [FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup] in Dubai.

Best player

  • Decided by: Players and coaches
Fellow national team captains and coaches vote for who they want to be crowned best player of the year. BSWW reveal a shortlist of the three players with the most votes prior to the ceremony. On the awards night, the winner of the award with the most votes of the three is revealed as the best player of the year.

Best goalkeeper

  • Decided by: Players and coaches
Fellow national team captains and coaches vote for who they want to be crowned best goalkeeper of the year. BSWW reveal a shortlist of the three players with the most votes prior to the ceremony. On the awards night, the winner of the award with the most votes of the three is revealed as the best goalkeeper of the year.

Best coach

  • Decided by: Players and coaches
Fellow national team captains and coaches vote for who they want to be crowned best coach of the year. BSWW reveal a shortlist of the three coaches with the most votes prior to the ceremony. On the awards night, the winner of the award with the most votes of the three is revealed as the best coach of the year.

Rising star award

  • Decided by: BSWW panel of experts
Experts at BSWW decide which player will be crowned the best rising star of the year. On the awards night, the winner of the award is revealed. No preliminary shortlist is disclosed.
YearWinnerTeamDate of birth & age when awarded
2014---
2014Noël Ott
2015---
2015Bê Martins
2016---
2016Rodrigo
2017---
2017Boris Nikonorov
2018---
2018Mohammad Moradi
2019---
2019Josep Junior
2021---
2021Raoul Mendy
2022---
2022Luca Bertacca
2023---
2023Gustav Madsen
2024---
2024Suli Batis

Best Five

  • Decided by: Players and coaches
Fellow national team captains and coaches vote for the five players that they believe, combined, form the best team of the year, similar to the FIFA World XI award in association football. On the awards night, the five winners of the award with the most votes are revealed as the Best Five.

Best goal

  • Decided by: Fans
BSWW allow fans to vote for which goal will be named best of the year through their website. Fans have a shortlist of ten goals to choose from, nominated by BSWW. On the awards night, the winner of the award is revealed.
YearWinnerTeamOpponentMatch dateCompetitionVideo @
2014------
2014Llorenç Gómez16 August 20142014 Euro Beach Soccer League;
2015------
2015Madjer16 July 20152015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup;
2016------
2016Nick Perera31 July 20162016 Mundialito;
2017------
2017Peyman Hosseini27 April 20172017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup;
2018------
2018Eduard Suarez7 September 20182018 Euro Beach Soccer League;
2019------
2019Rubén Batres5 August 2019Beach soccer at the [2019 World Beach Games qualification (CONCACAF)|2019 WBG qualifiers (CONCACAF)];
2021------
2021Nicolae Ignat1 August 20212021 Euro Beach Soccer League;
2022------
2022Chiky Ardil23 July 20222022 Mundialito;
2023------
2023

Best event

  • Decided by: BSWW panel of experts
Experts at BSWW decide which competition will receive the prize for best event of the year. On the awards night, the winner of the award is revealed. No preliminary shortlist is disclosed.
YearEvent winnerLocationDates of event
2014---
20142013 Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup

Best women's player

  • Decided by: Players and coaches
New award introduced in 2017.
Fellow national team captains and coaches vote for who they want to be crowned best women's player of the year. BSWW reveal a shortlist of the three players with the most votes prior to the ceremony. On the awards night, the winner of the award with the most votes of the three is revealed as the best women's player of the year.

Best women's goalkeeper

  • Decided by: Players and coaches
New award introduced in 2023.
Fellow national team captains and coaches vote for who they want to be crowned best women's goalkeeper of the year. BSWW reveal a shortlist of the three players with the most votes prior to the ceremony. On the awards night, the winner of the award with the most votes of the three is revealed as the best women's player of the year.

Best referee

  • Decided by: BSWW panel of experts
New award introduced in 2023.
Experts at BSWW decide which player will be crowned the best refereeing figure of the year. On the awards night, the winner of the award is revealed. No preliminary shortlist is disclosed.
YearWinnerAssociationRefereeing role
2023---
2023Michele Conti

Best legend

  • Decided by: BSWW panel of experts
New award introduced in 2019.
Experts at BSWW decide which figure will be awarded the legend award for that year. On the awards night, the winner of the award is revealed. No preliminary shortlist is disclosed.