1. Organisation

2. Teams

3. Group stage
    Group A  Group B 

4. Knockout stage
    Semi-finals  Third place play-off  Final 

5. Winners

6. Awards

7. Final standings

8. Sources

The 1996 Beach Soccer World Championship was the second edition of the Beach Soccer World Championships, the most prestigious competition in international beach soccer contested by men's national teams. It was organised by Brazilian sports agency Koch Tavares (one of the founding partners of Beach Soccer Worldwide), with the championships ultimately coming under the control of FIFA in 2005 and subsequently rebranded as the better known FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

The tournament again took place at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as it did during the maiden edition a year earlier.

Brazil successfully defended their title by beating Uruguay 3–0 in what was the lowest scoring final to date, to win their second World Championship. The Uruguayans remained the only side not to score in a World Cup final until Tahiti also failed to do so in 2017.

This edition is one of only two World Cups after the first (the other being 2003) when no matches went beyond regulation time.

Organisation

The organisation remained the same as the format established for the maiden event in the previous year; the eight participating nations competed in two groups of four teams in a round robin format. The top two teams progressed straight to the semi-finals from which point on the championship was played as a knock-out tournament until a winner was crowned with an additional match to determine third place.

The capacity of the arena used for this edition of the World Championships remained the same as in 1995, at 12,000 seats available for spectators.^[1]

Teams

Africa, Asia and Oceania were unrepresented.

European Zone (3):

• {{beachsoccer|DEN}}¹
• {{beachsoccer|ITA}}
• {{beachsoccer|RUS}}¹

North American Zone (2):

• {{beachsoccer|CAN}}¹
• {{beachsoccer|USA}}

South American Zone (2):

• {{beachsoccer|ARG}}
• {{beachsoccer|URU}}

Hosts:

• {{beachsoccer|BRA}} (South America)

1. Teams making their debut

Group stage

Group A

date = January 30, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|URU}} |

score = 5–6 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|CAN}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = January 30, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|BRA}} |

score = 7–1 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|DEN}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = January 31, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|URU}} |

score = 5–3 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|DEN}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = January 31, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|BRA}} |

score = 13–2 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|CAN}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = February 1, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|DEN}} |

score = 6–4 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|CAN}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = February 1, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|BRA}} |

score = 4–2 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|URU}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

Group B

date = January 30, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|USA}} |

score = 4–2 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|ARG}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = January 30, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|ITA}} |

score = 5–1 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|RUS}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = January 31, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|RUS}} |

score = 4–1 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|ARG}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = January 31, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|USA}} |

score = 6–4 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|ITA}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = February 1, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|ITA}} |

score = 5–2 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|ARG}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = February 1, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|USA}} |

score = 4–3 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|RUS}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

date = February 3, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|URU}} |

score = 7–0 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|USA}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

date = February 3, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|BRA}} |

score = 12–4 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|ITA}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

Third place play-off

date = February 4, 1996 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|ITA}} |

score = 4–3 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|USA}} |

goals1 =   |

goals2 =   |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

Final

date = February 4, 1996 |

time = 10:00 UTC-2 |

team1 = {{beachsoccer-rt|BRA}} |

score = 3–0 |

report = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bzAyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BbcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6756%2C2123917 |

team2 = {{beachsoccer|URU}} |

goals1 = Zico {{goal}}
Magal {{goal}}
Neném {{goal}} |

goals2 =   |

referee = Jose Roberto Wright |

stadium = Copacabana beach}}

Winners

Awards

• Jie Fang
• Jiefangbei
• Jiefangbei CBD
• Jiefang CA-10
• Jiefang, Dinghai District
• Jiefang Township
• Jiegera language
• Jie Hao
• Jie He
• Jie Hua
• Jieitai-Mae Station
• Jieitaimae Station
• Jie "Jack" Zhao
• Jie language
• JIEM
• Jiemian Dam
• Jiemian Hydro Power Station
• Jiemin of Northern Wei
• Ji Eon-hak
• Jiepang
• Jiepang.com
• Jiepang Network
• Jie Prefecture (Gansu)
• Jiesa Lake
• Jieshi