On the beach sand

Belarus’ national beach soccer team prepares to conquer the world

The Seychelles Islands, located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa, are where romantics dream of spending their honeymoon. They say there are perhaps the most beautiful sunsets there, perfect weather year-round, a warm ocean, and magically beautiful landscapes. Our national beach soccer team — the most successful and cheerful team among all game sports — will soon have to experience and evaluate all of this firsthand. It will be especially hot in the Seychelles from May 1st to 11th — the 13th FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup will be held there.

Anatoliy Ryabko soars above the ground like a bird

Do you know what ‘trululu’ is? In the Seychelles, it is a national dish made from small crabs in sauce. Well, that is exactly what Belarusian beach soccer players want to make of their rivals — and they have every reason for such bravado. Last year at the World Cup in Dubai, Nicolás Alvarado’s lads shone brighter than the hot Arabian sun, making fans squint with pleasure from their play. In the group stage, they beat everyone: Senegal — 6:4, Japan — 3:1, Colombia — 4:1, and advanced to the playoffs. There, in the quarterfinals — in a tense and dramatic match that would later be called the highlight of the entire championship — they knocked out the Portuguese — 4:3, scoring the winning goal in extra time. However, in the semifinals, drama struck: they narrowly missed out in the match against Italy: the regular time of the match ended in a draw, and the opponent was luckier in the penalty shootout. They wanted to meet Brazil in the final match and show them who the real king of world beaches is, but, alas — it did not work out that time: the Brazilians eventually won, and we came fourth. The Belarusian team is now flying to the Seychelles for revenge.
Once, some 15-20 years ago, beach soccer was considered exotic. In 2008, the first ever Belarus’ national team was assembled virtually from scratch and quite literally through advertisements. It was not so much a team as a real hotchpotch: it mainly consisted of players who had finished their careers in regular football, as well as futsal players. They had to train and play practically in the mud, so nowadays you would probably dub it ‘bog soccer’ rather than beach soccer. The fifth beach at the Minsk Sea was considered to be the point of attraction. It had its own quirks, though: while playing, you could easily injure your foot on a chicken bone or a beer bottle cap. And before a match could start, drunk beachgoers sleeping on the pitch had to be dragged off by their legs (in the literal sense). There was not much romance in that. Conditions were not much better in the provinces either: washing after a match under a standpipe was common practice for the first wave of beach soccer players.
Now, beach soccer in Belarus has fantastic infrastructure: there are stadiums, and places for training camps and practice. This sport, thanks to its dynamism, spectacle and unpredictability, has also gained huge popularity worldwide since then. Just recently, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has announced that the organisation is actively working to include beach soccer and futsal in the Olympic Games programme as early as Los Angeles 2028! “We thank the IOC for the fruitful discussions that will make the 2028 Olympic Games an innovative event, and we will continue working with our partners to incorporate futsal and beach soccer into the Olympic programme,” said the FIFA boss. According to a number of foreign media outlets, the official inclusion of beach soccer in the Olympic Games programme may be announced in the Seychelles in May. So, the prospects for Belarus’ national team are looking incredibly promising!
Ball control is one of the fundamental principles of beach soccer. Furthermore, you need to think very quickly because the pitch is small and uneven, a shot can be taken at any second (including by the goalkeeper), and the ball can fly along a completely improbable trajectory. Physical fitness is also important, because running on sand is no easy task. Anyone who has tried it knows.

The Belarusian national team has mastered all these components perfectly well. Plus, tactical discipline and a wonderful atmosphere in the team — these are down to the head coach, Nicolás Alvarado, a Spaniard with a Belarusian heart. For many years, he was a star of beach soccer and captain of the Spanish national team, but he risked starting his coaching career in Belarus and it is here that he has grown to become one of the best specialists in the world.

To put it into perspective, in big, classic football, Alvarado is on the level of Luis Enrique or Jurgen Klopp. He has repeatedly received prestigious and tempting offers to head clubs and national teams of other countries, but he has not even considered them. “I’m a ‘bulbash’ [aka ‘potatoman’ — a common nickname of Belarusians],” says Alvarado, and there is not a hint of affectation in it.
The Belarusian national team has conducted thorough and focused preparations for the World Cup. They flew to training camps in Iran, the UAE and Oman, and the final stage is taking place in Minsk at the Olympic sports and recreation complex, where all the conditions for professional work have been created. The squad remains the same — a fighting one; it has not changed for several years, and this teamwork, without a doubt, is also our strength: the guys understand each other with half a word and half a glance. There is neither the possibility nor the need to single anyone out in the team: our national team is strong precisely because everyone here is capable of deciding the outcome of any match, taking responsibility for the decisive strike and the burden of leadership. However, foreign media and experts unanimously state that Ihar Bryshtsel is a unique player, capable of everything on the pitch — almost a magician. We won’t argue with that, it is an obvious fact. Ihar has officially been recognised as the best player in Belarus in recent years, he is a recipient of prestigious international awards, and in the autumn of last year, the Belarusian officially topped the scoring charts for the entire history of the Russian Championship — he hammered in so many goals while playing for St. Petersburg’s Kristall that it is unlikely anyone will be able to catch up with him any time soon.
All that was then, and what will be — we will see. The Belarusian national team players set themselves the goal of becoming world champions a long time ago. At first, people around them laughed about it, then they simply did not believe it, and now everyone is eagerly waiting for it to happen. Maybe in the Seychelles, on the islands that romantics and dreamers so aspire to visit?

Our squad

Goalkeepers: Uladzimir Ustsinovich, Mikhail Avgustov. 
Outfield players: Vadzim Bokach, Ivan Kanstantsinau, Artsemi Drozd, Mikita Chaikouski, Yury Piatrouski, Yauheni Novikau, Ihar Bryshtsel, Yahor Hardzetski, Anatoliy Ryabko, Aleh Hapon.

World Cup 2025 participants 

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

Always forward! Yahor Hardzetski is battling for the ball.

By Sergei Kanashits

Photo courtesy of beachsoccer.by