The Hague, Amsterdam, Apeldoorn and Rotterdam will host the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships The Netherlands 2015, which will be the first edition of the competition to take place in four cities.
The World Championships will take place from June 26 to July 5 and feature a total of 208 matches. The four host cities will welcome pool matches, as well as matches in the round of 32, round of 16 and the quarterfinals. The opening match and all semifinals and finals will be played in The Hague.
Ninety-six teams will compete for the world title in the men’s and women’s competitions. The 48 teams per gender will be split equally into 12 pools of four teams, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the first knockout round, along with the eight best third-ranked teams (based on match points, sets ratio and points ratio).
All teams finishing top of their pool in the Preliminary Phase will be kept apart in the round of 32. A draw will determine pairings. Teams from the same Preliminary Phase pool will not be drawn together in the round of 32.
From the round of 32 onwards, the tournament will be played in a single-elimination format.