World Championships: France, Portugal Soar Up Ranks After Joao Pessoa Breakthroughs

Welcome to the Road to Adelaide, our series breaking down the race to qualifying for the 2025 Beach Volleyball World Championships, which will be held in Adelaide, Australia, November 14-23. Of the 48 teams who qualify for the World Championships, 25 are earned via points, the standings of which are determined by your best six finishes in the 2025 year up through October 5, which follows a Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Mexico. There is a country quota of four teams per federation who can qualify.

It is one thing to jump 11 spots in the World Champs standings early in the season, when finishes are not yet being dropped and points are added directly onto the ledger without any being taken off. It is entirely another when a jump such as that is being made with just three events remaining in the qualifying period.

Such was the monumental leap made by France’s Remi Bassereau and Calvin Aye following a wild run to a silver medal at the Joao Pessoa Elite last week. Their first Elite medal — and best Elite finish by seven spots — tacked on a whopping 720 points to their total as they flew from No. 25 and directly on the bubble of qualifying to No. 14 and assured a spot this fall. in Adelaide.

It was a stunning move, the biggest the men’s side has seen the entire season — and one nearly equaled by Portugal’s Joao Pedrosa and Hugo Campos. Like France, Portugal was just on the outside looking in, needing at least one, preferably two, quality finishes in the final three events to qualify for World Champs. They put together the best Elite finish of their partnership, a fifth-place that included a win over Anders Mol and Christian Sorum. They tacked on nearly 400 points, jumping up five spots and into contention for World Champs. They aren’t assured a berth; far from it. But with just two events remaining — the Rio Elite this week and the Veracruz Challenge the first weekend of October — they are now in the driver’s seat.

Men’s Beach Volleyball World Championships Standings

Anders Mol, Christian Sorum, Norway: 6500 (6)
Stefan Boermans, Yorick de Groot, Netherlands: 5880 (6)
David Ahman, Jonatan Hellvig, Sweden: 5480 (6)
Evandro Goncalves, Arthur Lanci, Brazil: 5060 (6)
Michal Bryl, Bartosz Losiak, Poland: 5020 (6)
Ondrej Perusic, David Schweiner, Czech Republic: 4960 (6)
Jacob Holting-Nilsson, Elmer Andersson, Sweden: 4960 (6)
Tomas Capogrosso, Nico Capogrosso, Argentina: 4600 (6)
Steven van De Velde, Alex Brouwer, Netherlands: 4420 (6)
Jorge Alayo, Noslen Diaz, Cuba: 4300 (6)
Clemens Wickler, Nils Ehlers, Germany: 3940 (6)
Teo Rotar, Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, France: 3880 (6)
Cherif Younousse, Ahmed Tijan, Qatar: 3860 (6)
Remi Bassereau, Calvin Aye, France: 3800 (6)
Martins Plavins, Kristians Fokerots, Latvia: 3800 (6)
Timo Hammarberg, Tim Berger, Austria: 3780 (6)
Paul Henning, Lui Wust, Germany: 3620 (6)
Hendrik Mol, Mathias Berntsen, Norway: 3500 (6)
Mark Nicolaidis, Izac Carracher, Australia: 3480 (6)
Lukas Pfretzschner, Sven Winter, Germany: 3480 (6)
Joao Pedrosa, Hugo Campos, Portugal: 3460 (6)
Marco Krattiger, Leo Dillier, Switzerland: 3380 (6)
Miles Evans, Chase Budinger, USA: 3260 (6)
Pedro Sousa, Renato Lima, Brazil: 3180 (6)
Marco Grimalt, Esteban Grimalt, Chile: 3160 (6)
Chaim Schalk, James Shaw, USA: 3160 (6)
Chris Dressler, Philipp Waller, Austria: 3120 (6)
George Wanderley, Saymon Barbosa, Brazil: 3100 (6)
Adrian Heidrich, Jonathan Jordan, Switzerland: 3040 (6)
Yves Hauusener, Julian Freidli, Switzerland: 3000 (6)
Matthew Immers, Ruben Penninga, Netherlands: 2990 (6)
Jonas Sagstetter, Benedikt Sagstetter, Germany: 2920 (6)

Tania Moreno passes a ball at the Joao Pessoa Elite/Volleyball World photo

Women’s Beach Volleyball World Championships Standings

While there were no epic jumps such as the ones made by Remi Bassereau and Calvin Aye on the women’s side, Spain’s Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno jumped up three spots with their ninth-place finish at the Joao Pessoa Elite, clinching their berth into Adelaide this fall. It’s the second straight top-10 for Alvarez and Moreno, who also finished fifth in Montreal back in August. The NCAA Champions out of TCU will now have an opportunity to win another championship on the world’s biggest stage: The World Championships.