U.S. Men’s Beach Soccer National Team set to compete in Concacaf Championship

CHICAGO, Ill. – U.S. Men’s Beach Soccer National Team head coach Francis Farberoff has selected 12 players for the 2023 Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship, where the USA will aim to qualify for a third consecutive FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

Drawn into Group C in the 12-team field, the Beach MNT will face the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Panama from May 8-10 at the National Beach Soccer Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas.

USA – GROUP C SCHEDULE:

Mon., May 8: USA v Dominican Republic (1:30 p.m. ET)
Tues., May 9: USA v Trinidad and Tobago (1:30 p.m. ET)
Wed., May 10: USA v Panama (1:30 p.m. ET)

After round-robin play, the top two teams from each of the three groups and the two best third-place teams will advance to the knockout stage, which begins with the quarterfinals on May 12. The winners of the semifinals will earn Concacaf’s two berths at 2023 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup this November in the United Arab Emirates and play for the continental title on May 14.

Eight players bring World Cup qualifying experience to this year’s tournament, led by 12-year veteran pivo Nick Perera and goalkeeper Chris Toth, who enters his 11th year representing the red, white and blue. The duo will be appearing in their sixth straight Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021).

Alessandro Canale has played in the last four WCQ tournaments (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021), while Chris Albiston, Antonio Chavez, Nico Perea, Conner Rezende and Gabriel Silveira return from the 2021 qualifying team. Ricardo Carvalho, Austin Collier, Alvaro Franco and Cody Valcarcel will be competing in their first WCQ tournament.

Fans can watch the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship matches on Fox Sports and Televisa-Univision platforms as well as streaming online on Tubi (English) and ViX+ (Spanish).

U.S. MEN’S BEACH SOCCER NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION (HOMETOWN)

GOALKEEPERS (2):12-Austin Collier (Virginia Beach, Va.), 1-Chris Toth (Fallbrook, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (3):3-Antonio Chavez (Oceanside, Calif.), 2-Alvaro Franco (Miami, Fla.), 5-Nicolas Perea (Hollywood, Fla.)

ALAS (4):11-Chris Albiston (Virginia Beach, Va.), 4-Ricardo Carvalho (Tampa, Fla.), 10-Gabriel Silveira (San Francisco, Calif.), 6-Cody Valcarcel (Santa Cruz, Calif.)

PIVOS (3):9-Alessandro Canale (Venice Beach, Calif.), 7-Nick Perera (Carlsbad, Calif.), 8-Conner Rezende (Davie, Fla.)

Head Coach: Francis Farberoff (Miami, Fla.)

Assistant Coach: Ben Astorga (Miami, Fla.)

In April, the Beach MNT won the Association of National Olympic Committees’ (ANOC) World Beach Games Qualifying Tournament in El Salvador to qualify for the World Beach Games, which will be played in Bali, Indonesia in August. The team then finished third at the Acapulco Beach Soccer Cup the following week.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• The USA continues its streak of participating in all 12 editions of the region’s World Cup Qualifying competition. The U.S. won the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship (CBSC) in 2006 and 2013 and was runner-up in 2019 and 2021.
• The USA also qualified for the first two FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups in 2005 and 2007. In those years, Concacaf and CONMEBOL held a joint WCQ tournament, with the USA finishing third in 2005 and winning in 2007.
• The USA is seeking to qualify for its seventh Beach Soccer World Cup and third in a row as this fall marks the 12th edition of the competition. The team qualified in 2019 by beating El Salvador in the CBSC Semifinals before falling to Mexico in the final. The USA also qualified in 2023 by defeating Mexico in the semis, although the team fell to El Salvador in the final.
• This is the third time the CBSC will be held in the Bahamas. In 2013, the U.S. won the tournament in Nassau by sweeping the group stage, then defeating Costa Rica in the semifinals and El Salvador in the final. The USA also swept the three-game group stage in 2017 on the island, however fell to Panama in the quarterfinals.
• The U.S. and Dominican Republic will be meeting on sand for the first time. This is Dominican Republic’s second appearance at the CBSC after debuting in 2021.
• The USA has won all four previous meetings with Trinidad and Tobago: 2021 and 2017 CBSC, 2019 and 2023 ANOC World Beach Games Qualifiers.
• The USA and Panama will be meeting for a fourth time. After the 2017 quarterfinal loss, the USA defeated Panama at the 2019 ANOC WBGQ and in the 2023 CBSC Quarterfinals (4-3).
• Perera is the USA’s all-time leading scorer at the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship with 41 goals: 11 in 2013, 9 in 2015, 4 in 2017, 13 in 2019 and 4 in 2021.
  • Canale is tied for third all-time with 20 WCQ goals: 2 in 2015; 9 in 2017, 3 in 2019 and 6 in 2021
  • Toth has 8 WCQ goals: 1 in 2013, 2 in 2015, 3 in 2017 and 2 in 2021
  • Perea (3), Albiston (2), Chavez and Rezende (1) also scored in the 2021 CBSC.
• All but Perera and Carvalho were on the rosters for April’s ANOC World Beach Games Qualifiers in El Salvador and the Acapulco Beach Soccer Cup in Mexico. Carvalho will be looking to earn his first official cap.
• Since returning to play in 2021 after not playing in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the team’s leading scorers are Silveira with 26 goals, Canale, 21, Perea, 14 and Albiston with 11. Additionally, Toth and Perera have scored 5, Chavez and Valcarcel 4 each, and Rezende 3.