The U.S. Men’s Beach Soccer National Team will kick off its journey at the 2024 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup on Thursday, Feb. 15 vs. Italy (6:30 a.m. ET; FS2, Universo). Entering the tournament as champion of Concacaf, the Beach MNT is looking to become the first U.S. squad to advance from the group stage at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
The USA’s first match against Italy is also the opening match of the tournament, and will mark the first-ever meeting between the two nations in the FIFA Beach Soccer era (2005-present).
The U.S. continues Group A play against tournament hosts United Arab Emirates on Saturday, February 17 (10:30 a.m. ET; FS2, Telemundo.com, Telemundo App), and closes the group stage vs. Egypt on Monday, Feb. 19 (6:30 a.m. ET; FS2, Universo).
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup will be broadcast in English on Fox Sports platforms and on the Fox Sports app with corresponding authentication. Matches will be broadcast in Spanish on Telemundo platforms and the Telemundo app.
Fans can follow all of the action from UAE on ussoccer.com as well as U.S. Soccer Extended National Teams on Facebook, and @ussoccer_ENT on Twitter and Instagram.
GOALKEEPERS (2): 12-Austin Collier (Chesapeake, Va.; 11/0), 1-Chris Toth (San Diego, Calif; 97/16)
DEFENDERS (3): 3-Antonio Chavez (Oceanside, Calif.; 35/7), 5-Nico Perea (Hollywood, Fla.; 35/19), 6-Cody Valcarcel (Santa Cruz, Calif.; 21/6)
MIDFIELDERS (4): 2-Tanner Akol (Santa Cruz, Calif.; 24/12), 11-Chris Albiston (Virginia Beach, Va.; 48/22), 4-Ricardo Carvalho (Milwaukee, Wis.; 10/4), Andres Navas (Miami, Fla.; 16/5)
FORWARDS (3): 9-Alessandro Canale (Venice Beach, Calif.; 93/66), 8-Conner Rezende (Davie, Fla.; 33/5), 8-Gabriel Silveira (San Francisco, Calif.; 54/44)
Averaging 40 caps, the roster includes seven players with previous World Cup experience, highlighted by the duo of goalkeeper Chris Toth and forward Alessandro Canale (2013, 2019, 2021, 2024) who both appear in their fourth FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, tying the U.S. record set by Farberoff (2005, 2006, 2007, 2013). Canale is the USA’s joint all-time leading goal scorer at the tournament, with nine goals in as many matches, while Toth’s eight tournament appearances are the most all-time among U.S. goalkeepers. The 2023 Beach Soccer Male Player of the Year, Gabe Silveira (2019, 2021, 2024), also heads to his third World Cup.
Meanwhile, defender Nico Perea – who tallied four goals for the USA at Russia 2021 – heads to his second World Cup along with midfielders Chris Albiston and Tanner Akol, and forward Conner Rezende.
Overall, 10 of the 12 players on the roster were part of the squad that helped the USA qualify for the World Cup and win the 2023 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship.
Originally named to the World Cup roster, team captain Nick Perera was forced to withdraw from the squad this week after sustaining a left knee injury injury while playing for Tacoma Stars of the MASL. The long-time team captain and USA’s all-time leading scorer in Beach Soccer, Perera was slated to go to his fourth World Cup along with Alessandro Canale and Chris Toth.
The Beach MNT veteran was replaced on the roster by midfielder Andres Navas, who has amassed 16 caps and five goals since debuting with the USBMNT during the Intercontinental Cup in Dubai played in November 2022.
Having made his Beach MNT debut in March 2012, veteran goalkeeper Chris Toth is set to hit 100 caps during the tournament, making him the first Beach athlete to reach the milestone since U.S. Soccer began overseeing Beach Soccer in 2005. Currently on 97 caps, Toth – who has been named team captain in place of the injured Nick Perera — is projected to hit the century mark in the group stage finale against Egypt on Feb. 19.
The son of former Hungarian international Zoltan Toth, Chris’ road to 100 has seen him overcome two heart surgeries – the second of which nearly saw him have to stop playing soccer. Instead of ending his playing career, Toth switched to become a goalkeeper just like his father, and has had a storied indoor soccer career while also being recognized as one of the world’s best beach soccer goalkeepers.
Toth will captain the USA in the injury absence of Nick Perera, doing so in the same place where he first wore for the USBMNT in the 2022 Intercontinental Cup in Dubai.
While Toth is set to hit the century mark, Beach MNT head coach Francis Farberoff also earned over 100 caps during his playing career which began in the unaffiliated World Championship era, and extended into the first nine years of U.S. Soccer’s administration of the beach soccer discipline. The first Beach MNT athlete to appear on four FIFA World Cup rosters (2005, 2006, 2007, 2013), Farberoff has participated in all seven of the USA’s tournament appearances, serving as an assistant to Eddie Soto in 2019 and head coach in 2021 and 2024.
The U.S. Men’s Beach Soccer National Team qualified for this year’s World Cup at the 2023 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship held in Nassau, Bahamas last May. Francis Farberoff’s side breezed through the group stage, defeating Dominican Republic 11-1, upending Trinidad and Tobago 6-2, and seeing of Panama 5-1 to claim the top spot in Group C.
In the quarterfinal against Costa Rica, the USA overcame a 3-2 deficit to earn a 5-4 comeback win putting them within one victory of qualification for the World Cup. Facing defending Concacaf champs El Salvador in the semifinals, the USA used a brace from Nick Perera and goals from Nico Perea, Gabe Silveira and Alessandro Canale to claim a 5-2 win and a spot in a third consecutive World Cup.
In the final the USA earned one of its most dominant wins ever, as this time a Gabe Silveira brace, followed by goals from Perera, Ricardo Carvalho, and Canale led the team to a decisive 5-0 win against rivals Mexico. With the victory, the USA claimed its third Concacaf Beach Soccer title and first since 2013, while captain and all-time leading scorer Nick Perera claimed the Golden Ball as best player at the tournament.
Additionally, the six straight wins in the Bahamas tied the record for longest winning streak in team history, and pushed the USBMNT to an 11-3-0 mark in 2023 – the most successful year since U.S. Soccer began overseeing Beach Soccer in 2005.
The 2024 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup features 16 countries divided into four groups of four teams. The top two finishers in each group, advance to the Quarterfinals. From there, the tournament will feature a knockout bracket to the tournament final. Groups A and B will cross over for the quarterfinals, as will Groups C and D.
The USA will take part in its seventh FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, and third straight tournament, at Dubai 2024. While the U.S. side is no stranger to the World Cup sand, the team holds a 3-14 all-time record at the tournament, with its only wins coming in a 4-2 result against Poland in 2006, 7-6 victory versus IR Iran in 2007 and a 6-4 edging against United Arab Emirates in 2013.
And while the USA has gone 0-6 at the last two World Cups, three of those matches have been one-goal games. Most recently in 2019, the USA opened the World Cup with a 5-4 extra time defeat to the Russia Football Union, and then also fell 4-3 to Japan two days later. While the team lost two matches, both opponents made it to the final which Russia won.
As reigning champions of Concacaf and coming off a year its most successful year in team history, Francis Farberoff’s side has made the goal of becoming the first U.S. team to advance from the group stage of the Beach Soccer World Cup at Dubai 2024.
The U.S. Men’s Beach Soccer National Team is one of nine teams that falls under U.S. Soccer’s Extended National Teams department, providing world-class athletes the ability to represent the United States in various disciplines of the game. The Beach MNT is joined by the Beach WNT, as well as Futsal MNT and WNT, CP MNT and WNT, Deaf MNT and WNT and the Power Soccer National Team. As part of U.S. Soccer’s planned training facility in Atlanta, all nine Extended National Teams will have dedicated training facilities along with the USMNT, USWNT and the Federations various youth national teams.
ITALY
Feb. 15 at 6:30 a.m. ET (FS2, Universo)
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Andrea Carpita, 12-Leandro Casapieri
DEFENDERS (3): 6-Luca Bertacca, 5-Josep Gentilin Junior, 3-Alessandro Miceli
MIDFIELDERS (4): 2-Ovidio Alla, 8-Tommaso Fazzini, 4-Gianmarco Genovali, 10-Alessandro Remedi
FORWARDS (3): 11-Marco Giordani, 7-Fabio Sciacca, 9-Emmanuele Zurlo
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Feb. 17 at 10:30 a.m. ET (FS2, Telemundo.com, Telemundo App)
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Mohamed Al Bahri, 12-Humaid Jamal
DEFENDERS (6): 2-Haitham Mohamed, 4-Waleed Beshr, 5-Abbas Ali, 6-Kamal Ali, 7-Ahmad Malahi, 9-Abudlla Abbas
FORWARDS (4): 3-Ahmed Beshr, 8-Ali Mohammad, 10-Alid Mohammad, 11-Rashed Eid
EGYPT
Feb. 19 at 6:30 a.m. ET (FS2, Universo)
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Ibrahim Hassan, 12-Mohamed Elsayed
DEFENDERS (5): 2-Hassan Hussein, 4-Ahmed Alshahat, 5-Moustafa Sasa, 7-Elhusseini Taha, 8-Mostafa Ahmed
FORWARDS (3): 3-Ishmael Baghat, 6-Moustafa Samir, 9-Haitham Costa, 10-Mohamed Loha, 11-Abdoo Elshafei
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