The world's top 16 beach soccer teams are competing for the World Cup on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach.

The outcome, semi-finals, third place game and the final, will be live on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 this weekend - starting 1.30pm and 3pm respectively on November 10 and the same time on Eurosport on Sunday.

The quarter-finals line-up is already completed with the tournament favourites all included. Hosts and defending champions Brazil extended their current impressive run of over two years without a defeat, winning all three games in group stage to face their big rival Portugal in the quarters. Coach Alexandre Soares and captain Junior Negao both indicated their team is confident of retaining the 2006 title. "Everyone is here to beat Brazil, but with hard work I am sure we will be able to succeed and not only win but also please the home fans," said Negao.

However, French coach Eric Cantona, who led his team to victory in 2005, and Portugal's Madjer, best player and top goalscorer of the past two tournaments, emphasised that they would not be settling for second place. "Having won in 2005 and reaching the semi-finals in 2006, we know France is one of the best in the world. Like the others we are here to win. Brazil is the best, but in 10 days minor details will play an important role and the team that takes care of details will be champion," said former Man United star Cantona. "We have been working very hard to prepare ourselves, and we are sure that, if we focus game by game, we will reach our goal of becoming world champions," said a confident Madjer.

This is the third time that the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup has been played in Rio de Janeiro before the tournament moves on to Marseilles (France) in 2008 and Dubai in 2009. The event has now reached full FIFA competition standard and the rights to broadcast the 32 matches have been sold in a record 203 countries and territories across the globe, underlining the growing importance of this young sport.

Over the past 15 years, beach soccer has journeyed from the beaches of Brazil to the hearts of millions of fans all over the globe. The participation of internationally renowned players has helped to expand television coverage to large audiences worldwide, making beach soccer one of the fastest growing professional sports in the world. It started in 1992 when the Laws of the Game were envisioned and a pilot event staged in Los Angeles. The following summer, the first professional beach soccer competition was organized at Miami Beach. In April 1994 the first event to be covered by network television transmissions was held on the Copacabana in Rio and the city hosted the inaugural Beach Soccer World Championship one year later. The competition was won by the host nation, making Brazil the first ever World Champions of Beach Soccer. In 1996 the first Pro Beach Soccer Tour included a total of 60 games in two years across South America, Europe, Asia and the USA, attracting major names both on and off the pitch. Interest generated by the tour in Europe led to the creation of the European Pro Beach Soccer League in 1998.