MIAMI, Florida – The 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia kicks off this Thursday with both the United States and El Salvador looking to deliver strong performances in Moscow.
The U.S. finished as runners-up in the 2021 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship thanks in part to strong performances from Gabriel Silveira (7 goals) and Tomas Canale (6 goals) and will be relying on those two in Russia.
The U.S. have been drawn into Group A where they will face Paraguay, Japan and hosts RFU (Football Union of Russia). The U.S. will kick off the tournament on Thursday against RFU, followed by clashes with Japan on August 21 and Paraguay on August 23.
This will be the sixth appearance in a FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup for the U.S.
2021 CBSC winners El Salvador have been drawn into Group C, where they will take on Belarus, Switzerland and Brazil.
This will mark El Salvador’s fifth appearance in a Beach Soccer World Cup and they will come in with a plethora of weapons in the form of Frank Velasquez, Ruben Batres and Exon Perdomo.
Velasquez took home the Golden Boot at the 2021 CBSC with 11 goals, while Batres won the Golden Ball with 10 goals, followed by Perdomo’s nine goals.
El Salvador begin their group stage campaign on Friday versus Belarus, followed by Brazil on August 22 and Switzerland on August 24.
