It’s a global game in Poreč

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Nivaldo/Gonzalez - Cuba's first representatives on the Swatch Major Series. Photocredit: FIVB.

The Poreč Major will be an international celebration of beach volleyball when it kicks off on Tuesday.

Across the week on the stunning Istrian coast, 96 teams from 29 different nations from around the world will take part, all eyeing the Poreč Major title and a piece of the USD 600,000 prize fund.

Host nation Croatia and beach volleyball-renowned Brazil each have nine teams in action across the week – more than any other country.

Teams from Asia, Australasia, Europe and North, Central and South America will go toe-to-toe for glory with a number of nations making their debuts in a Swatch Major Series tournament.

Highly-rated Cuban duo Gonzalez/Nivaldo, who wowed crowds at last year’s Rio Olympics with a fifth place finish on the Copacabana, will take to the sand for the first time in the Swatch Major Series – as will two Qatari pairs Jefferson/Cherif and Julio/Ahmed Tijan.

Teams have come from far and wide to make it to Poreč, including teams from China and Lithuania who have flown in from the Nantong two-star event that only finished on Sunday.

The furthest travellers are three teams from Australia, while behind Croatia and Brazil in the most-represented are tandems from the United States and Austria who each have eight teams each in town this week.

Of the remaining nations we've not mentioned, we have teams from these countries in action in Poreč: Latvia, Holland, Poland, Spain, Canada, Russia, Mexico, Italy, Chile, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, Ukraine, Argentina, England, Czech Republic, Finland, Venezuela and France.

Remember to find out if your favorite team is competing by checking out the full entry list for the tournament right here. Qualification begins tomorrow, so return to www.swatchmajorseries.com for the full line-up and court schedule.