The tournament was a multi-stage competition, consisting of a first group stage, second group stage, knockout stage and placement matches.
Russia were the defending champions but did not enter this year's competition, having already qualified for the World Cup as hosts.[1] The tournament was won by Spain, who, along with Ukraine, Portugal and Belarus earned qualification to the World Cup by finishing in the top four positions; Ukraine subsequently withdrew from the World Cup before it began and were replaced by Switzerland.[a]
The tournament started with a round-robin group stage; the lowest ranked ten teams entered at this point. Five nations, the group winners and best runners-up, advanced to the next round.
There was then a second round-robin group stage; the highest ranked 11 teams entered at this point. Plus the five qualifiers from the first group stage, a total of 16 teams competed during this round. The top two teams of each group (total of eight nations), advanced to the knockout stage.
The knockout stage began with the quarter-finals and ended with the final. The four winners of the quarter-final ties secured qualification to the World Cup;[a] they also progressed to the semi-finals to continue to contest the tournament title.
The nations not advancing from the second group stage played in consolation matches to decide ninth through sixteenth place; the nations not advancing from the quarter-finals played in consolation matches to decide fifth through eighth place.
The ten teams entering the first group stage were drawn into two groups of three and one group of four. Firstly, the three highest ranked teams were seeded and one each automatically assigned to the head of one of the groups. The remaining seven teams were split into two pots of three and one pot of one, with the highest ranked teams placed in Pot 1 through to the lowest ranked placed in Pot 3.
From Pot 1, the first team drawn out was placed into Group A, second into B and third into C; they were allocated to position 2 in their respective groups. The teams from Pot 2 were drawn in the same manner; they were allocated to position 3 in their respective groups. The solo team in Pot 3 was drawn alongside a lot from an additional pot containing three lots marked with one of the names of the three groups, to determine which group it would be randomly placed in; it was allocated to position 4 in that group.
The composition of the seeds and pots is shown below:[5]
The sixteen teams competing in the second group stage were drawn into four groups of four. Firstly, the four highest ranked teams of the 11 entering at this stage were seeded and one each automatically assigned to the head of one of the groups. The remaining seven teams entering at this stage plus the then unknown best qualifier from the first group stage were split into two pots of four, with the highest ranked teams placed in Pot 1 and the lowest ranked placed in Pot 2.
From Pot 1, the first team drawn out was placed into Group A, second into B and so on; they were allocated to position 2 in their respective groups. The teams from Pot 2 were drawn in the same manner; they were allocated to position 3 in their respective groups.
The composition of the seeds and pots is shown below:[5]
Seeds
Pot 1
Pot 2
Portugal (1) (assigned to A1) Italy (3) (assigned to B1) Spain (5) (assigned to C1) Switzerland (8) (assigned to D1)
The numbers in parentheses show the BSWW World Ranking of the teams as of December 2020, out of 120 nations.[6]
First group stage
Each team earns three points for a win in regulation time, two points for a win in extra time, one point for a win in a penalty shoot-out, and no points for a defeat.[7]
All times are local, WEST (UTC+1). Kickoff times shown were those scheduled; actual times may have differed slightly.
Since Groups A and C consisted of just three teams, for the third placed team from Group B, their result against the team finishing in fourth place in their group was discounted for this ranking.
As per the regulations of the second group stage draw, the statistically best qualifier from the first group stage was automatically allocated to position B3; this was Denmark.[8]
The other four qualifiers (Estonia, Kazakhstan, Norway and Romania) were placed into the groups via a draw, made after the conclusion of the first group stage. All four teams were placed in one pot. The first team drawn out was placed into Group A, second into B and so on; they were allocated to position 4 in their respective groups.[8] 20 June was allocated as a rest day.
The teams finishing in fourth place in the groups of the second group stage faced each other in consolation matches to determine 13th through 16th place in the final standings.
The teams finishing in third place in the groups of the second group stage faced each other in consolation matches to determine 9th through 12th place in the final standings.
June 24 is allocated as a rest day for the teams progressing to the knockout stage.
The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 19 June, before the second group stage commenced. Placeholders for the eight teams were split into two pots: Pot 1, containing placeholders for the group winners, and Pot 2, containing placeholders for the runners-up. For each tie, a team from Pot 1 was drawn against a team from Pot 2. The fixtures were allocated to the bracket from top to bottom in the order they were drawn.[8]
1Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
Notes
^ abcdeAs the runners-up and a quarter-final winner, Ukraine originally qualified for the World Cup. However, on 6 July, it was announced that the Ukrainian Association of Football had refused to sanction the participation of the team at the World Cup.[10] It was reported that the decision was made as part of a wider sporting boycott of Russia by Ukrainian authorities due to ongoing war between the two states.[11] As the next best-placed team in the qualifiers, Switzerland were chosen to replace Ukraine at the World Cup.[10]
1 No qualifiers took place as the representatives were selected by the confederation. 2 CONCACAF and CONMEBOL held a joint championship for qualification. 3 Qualification was achieved through the Euro Beach Soccer League. (p) This indicates an additional play-off round, supplement to the main qualification event.
Spain (4th title)
Ukraine
Portugal
Belarus
