Beach football, officially known as beach soccer, is rapidly transforming in Kenya from a casual coastal pastime into one of the country’s fastest-growing organised sports.
Driven by the Football Kenya Federation (FKF), the game is managed through the federation’s Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee alongside regional branches such as Mombasa and Kwale, creating structured competitions and nurturing talent beyond the coastline.
In today’s Know Your Sport, we step onto the sand to explore what makes beach soccer unique, from its explosive rules to the breathtaking skills that set it apart from the 11-a-side game. Beach soccer is a variant of association football played on sand.
Two teams of five players, four outfield players and a goalkeeper, play the game with unlimited rolling substitutions from a matchday squad of up to 12 players.
The constant rotations keep the tempo relentless, allowing players to maintain high intensity throughout the match. The pitch is far more compact than a football field, measuring 35–37 metres long and 26–28 metres wide.
Traditional tournaments are staged on natural beaches with temporary facilities, while inland regions increasingly use climate-controlled indoor sand arenas, making the sport possible all year round, regardless of weather conditions.
One of beach soccer’s defining features is its specially designed ball. Although it is the same size as a regular football, it is softer, lighter and inflated to much lower pressure, roughly half that of an ordinary match ball.
The softer construction protects players’ bare feet, while its water-resistant synthetic outer layer prevents it from absorbing moisture or heavy sand.
The result is a ball that floats beautifully through the air, encouraging spectacular bicycle kicks, volleys and curling strikes that have become the sport’s trademark.
A professional beach soccer match lasts 36 minutes, divided into three 12-minute periods, instead of two halves. Two three-minute breaks separate the periods, and the clock stops whenever play is interrupted by a goal, foul, injury or the ball leaving the field. Unlike conventional football, every second counts because time only runs while the ball is in play.
There is also no settling for a draw; if teams remain level after regulation, they contest a three-minute extra-time period. The winner is decided through penalty shootouts in case of a deadlock— guaranteeing every match produces a victor.
The players’ attire reflects the demands of competing on sand. FIFA regulations require matching jerseys with sleeves, shorts for outfield players and the option of long tracksuit bottoms for goalkeepers.
Most importantly, every player competes barefoot; boots and shin guards are prohibited, making balance, agility and ball control even more crucial on the unstable surface. Beach soccer traces its origins to the famous beaches of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, around the 1940s. The modern era began in 1992 when Beach Soccer Worldwide formalised the Laws of the Game, laying the foundation for international competition.
FIFA officially assumed global governance in 2005, launching the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and propelling the sport onto the world stage.
