Host nation Seychelles and fellow Group A participants Mauritania suffered defeats in their FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Seychelles 2025 at The Paradise Arena in Victoria on Saturday.

Guatemala edged Seychelles 4-3 earlier on Saturday in front of their home crowd.

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Despite goals from Terrence Amade, Remy De Ketelaere and Brandon Labrosse, the islanders could not contain Guatemalan star Miguel Gonzalez, who bagged all four goals for his side.

Seychelles started brightly with three goals inside the first eight minutes of play, but defensive lapses allowed Gonzalez to strike in all three periods, including a dramatic winner with less than a minute remaining in the final period.

Later in the day, Mauritania also faced a steep challenge and were outclassed 8-4 by Portugal. Cheikh Belkheir and Hamdy Salem gave the West Africans some hope with goals in the second and third periods, while Ahmedou Bilal scored inside the first minute of the opening period.

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However, the European giants dominated proceedings, with Andre Lourenco netting twice and further contributions from Bernardo Lopes, Miguel Pintado, Leo Martins, Jordan, Tim, and Pedro Mano.

In Saturday’s other matches, Belarus claimed an impressive 6-3 victory over Japan, while Iran cruised to a 5-1 win against Paraguay.

Seyi John Salau is a BusinessDay Correspondent with interest in development journalism, which tells stories that connect the people, brands, and the government. SeyiJohn is also a media professional with BSc, Mass Communition (ACU); Masters of School Media (MSM, Ibadan) & MSc, Mass Communication (Caleb).

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