Last weekend we saw some amazing footvolley when the first ever EFVL World Challenge was held in Graz, Austria. Teams from all around the world gathered at the beautiful and historical Freiheits Platz to find out who are the best teams in the world.

Brazil has “always” been known for having the best footvolley players in the world. They have a lot of dedicated players and many high level tournaments all year around. However, footvolley in Europe is growing fast and the top nations in Europe, like Portugal, Israel, France, Spain, Germany and Italy, are eager to push Brazil down from the crown. And every year they come a little bit closer to achieving this goal.

Learn more: The European Ranking for men | The European Ranking for women

The EFVL World Challenge gathered teams from 12 nations, for both men and women. We applaud the organization for putting together such a nice tournament and for giving us incredible images and memories.

MEN: A battle between Brazil and Israel

If we have a look at the male tournament this was likely to become a battle between Brazil and Israel. Brazils Franklin and Hiltinho are by many concidered to be the best team in the world, but Ron Ben Ishay & Maor Haas from Israel are getting closer and closer every year. Their level has improved a lot the last three years and they are now a force to be reckoned with. Would they be able to beat the Brazilians this time around?

The outsiders were the strong Italian team, with Federico Iacopucci & Alain Faccini, the new German team, with Joel Nisslein & Lukas Kicherer and the solid Spanish team, with Juan López & Facu Silva. Also Austria, with the two teams Klemens and Jakob Hofmann-Wellenhof and Jakob Rauch & Daniel Neuhold, the Netherlands, with Ben Sparenberg & Antonio Aurino and Norway, with Martin Haven & Magnus Kyte, attended from Europe. Unfortunately we did not see a French team as they were not able to attend.

We also got to meet teams from other nations around the world, like Betto Lima & Dalan Telles from the USA, Taufiq Khairi & Amirul Iskandar from Singapore.

Learn more: See full schedule and results
Learn more: See male groups and team pictures

Quarter finals

As the tournament progressed we saw the quarter finals with no real surprises:

🇮🇱 Israel
vs
🇦🇹 Austria 2

🇧🇷 Brazil
vs
🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇩🇪 Germany
vs
🇮🇹 Italy

🇪🇸 Spain
vs
🇦🇹 Austria 1

🇮🇱 Israel vs 🇦🇹 Austria 2

The young Austrian team came into the tournament in the last minute as the French team was not able to attend. They played well against the strong Israelian team, but in the end they lost 18:11, 18:10. It is nice to see new teams coming up in Austria that can challenge the best Austrian team in the last 5 years, Klemens and Jakob Hofmann-Wellenhof.

🇧🇷 Brazil vs 🇳🇱 Netherlands

No doubt the Dutch had an unlucky draw and they had to face the tournament favourites Brazil. During the game the Dutch figured out that it was impossible to score enough points just by playing “normal” footvolley and they decided to start a rally of shark attacks. This made this game one of the most entertaining games of the tournament. In the end Brazil won 18:10 and 18:7.

🇩🇪 Germany vs 🇮🇹 Italy

But, the prize for the most entertaining game of the tournament went to the tight game between Germany and Italy. Here we saw a battle between the future of European footvolley. In the end the Germans came out stronger and beat the Italians 18:8, 17:19 and 18:16. We had a lot of long rallies, all kinds of shark attacks and eagle attacks and with the lead switching constantly.

🇪🇸 Spain vs 🇦🇹 Austria 1

The local team Austria 1 are always in the quarter finals fighting for a spot in the semi finals. This time they had to face the experienced Juan Lopez and the new prodigy Facu Silva. Their playing style is very similar with great defense and a lot of attacking angles and short balls. With the help of the home crowd the Austrians were able to win the first set 18:15. The Spaniards quickly came back with a 18:8 win in the second set and we had to go into a third and deciding set to 15 points. This was very close, but the Spaniards proved to be the stronger team and came out with a 15:11 score - and a win.

Semi finals

This gave us the following games for the semi finals:

🇮🇱 Israel
vs
🇪🇸 Spain

🇧🇷 Brazil
vs
🇩🇪 Germany

🇮🇱 Israel vs 🇪🇸 Spain

The Spaniards came out hard in this match and had a lead in the middle of the first set. But after that this game was all about the Israelians. They showed no mercy and stepped up their game to win it 18:14 and 18:6. Facu and Lopez realized they had met a better team - but can look back at a very good tournament with a lot of great games.

🇧🇷 Brazil vs 🇩🇪 Germany

This time around the Germans were unlucky and had to face the tournament favourites in the semi finals. They played another Brazilian team in Cascais just a couple of weeks earlier and they were close to beating them. So, the only thing they could do was to try. And once again they showed us how much talent they have between them and gave the Brazilians a fight for the money. Still, Brazil proved to be stronger and won the game 18:10 and 18:8.

Finals

🇧🇷 Brazil vs 🇮🇱 Israel

As predicted the final would be a game between the favourites Brazil and the up and coming Israel. This was a great game to watch with a lot of spectacular defense and attacks. Both teams showcased some of the best footvolley skills we have ever seen and the highlights from the finals are highly entertaining. Brazil came out as the winners with a winning score of 18:14 and 18:11.

In the game for third place Spain beat Germany 18:8.

WOMEN: Who could challenge Brazil

We also had a 12 team tournament for the women and the clear favourite was of course Brazil, with Lane & Ray. In the last couple of years Norway has been the strongest European team, but Pernille & Henriette, the twins from Norway, were not able to attend and Norway sent a team with no international experience. The winners of last years European Championship, Austria 1, with Julia Rauch and Antonia Missethan, clearly was the team we thought would give Brazil a fight for the title and the Spanish sent a strong team with Yoselin Silva Vera & Itziar Cid Echevarría. However, we got a few surprises as the tournament progressed and two familiar names ended up in the final against Brazil.

Learn more: See full schedule and results
Learn more: See female groups and team pictures

Quarter finals

Portugal, with Mariana & Rafaela Veiga, Norway, with Cecilie Reiersen & Anne Aune, Sweden, Elin Astrid Gustafsson & Julia Jonasson and Germany 1, with Nicole Kraus & Lea Storzum, did not get into the quarter finals after losing their matches. Closest was Germany 1 in their tight game against Israel. In the last and final set they lost 15:11 and they were out of the tournament.

🇦🇹 Austria 2 W
vs
🇩🇪 Germany 2 W

🇧🇷 Brazil W	
vs
🇪🇸 Spain W

🇳🇱 Netherlands W
vs
🇦🇹 Austria 1 W

🇮🇹 Italy W
vs
🇮🇱 Israel W

🇦🇹 Austria 2 W vs 🇩🇪 Germany 2 W

This game was very close, but the Austrians took charge and won 18:16 and 18:10. The second team of Austria, with Nina Steinbauer and Tina Kulhanek, suddenly could see themselves in the semi final.

🇧🇷 Brazil W vs 🇪🇸 Spain W

The Spanish girls had to face the favourites already in the quarter finals. They gave them a good fight, but in the end they lost 18:10 and 18:7. Even if they lost this is a solid result against a much more experienced team from Brazil.

🇳🇱 Netherlands W vs 🇦🇹 Austria 1 W

In this game we had the European favourites Austria 1 against a strong Dutch team with Evelyn Dobbinga & Emmelie van der Velde. This was probably the tightest game of the tournament and the lead was switching from side to side throughout the game. In the first set the Dutch girls won 24:22. After this they took command of the second set and won 18:11. What a match and what a great performance from the Dutch ladies.

🇮🇹 Italy W vs 🇮🇱 Israel W

Israel had to face a familiar team with Elisabetta Fiorella & Sara Cupellini. They are experienced players on the EFVL tour with different partners, but this year they are playing together for the first time. This new team proves to be very strong and they won the game 18:8 and 18:7. The talented Israelians, with Illy Levy & Marjorie Finguerman, had great technique and spectacular moves, but were not able to beat the Italians.

Semi finals

This gave us the following games for the semi finals:

🇦🇹 Austria 2 W
vs
🇮🇹 Italy W

🇧🇷 Brazil
vs
🇳🇱 Netherlands W

🇦🇹 Austria 2 W vs 🇮🇹 Italy W

The second team from Austria kept advancing in this tournament and in the end they came farther than the first team - and reigning European champions. But, they met their match in the semi finals. Italy won the game 18:9 and 18:12.

🇧🇷 Brazil W vs 🇳🇱 Netherlands W

The Dutch ladies had played so well so far in the tournament only to meet the big favourites in the semi finals. They tried really hard to beat them, but in the end they lost 18:7 and 18:8.

Finals

🇮🇹 Italy W vs 🇧🇷 Brazil W

In the final we hoped for a close game, but the Brazilians showed us that they had even another gear hidden. They took an early command and showed us great skills and spectacular moves. They came out the winners with the set scores of 18:9 and 18:6

In the game for third place the Netherlands beat Austria 2 18:15 in a close and well played game.