The qualifications for the 13th Men’s WFC will be played in January – March 2020. The teams will be competing for places in the WFC final round to be played in Helsinki, Finland from 4th – 12th December, 2020. In total, 35 teams registered for the event, among them was the first ever registration from Africa – Côte d’Ivoire – who will compete in the European qualifications.
In Europe there are three qualification groups – EUR1 in Frederikshavn, Denmark; EUR2 in Poprad, Slovakia; and EUR3 in Liepaja, Latvia – while in Asia-Oceania the qualification will be played in Bangkok, Thailand.
Finland, as the host country, receives direct qualification to the final round, and the IFF Central Board decided that due to The World Games being held in Birmingham, USA in 2021, it was important that North America was fully represented in the final round, so both Americas teams – USA & Canada also received direct qualification. The further 13 places will be filled with four teams from AOFC and nine from Europe, decided by the qualification tournaments.
For more information on the WFC visit the official WFC 2020 website
For the first time, a new playing system will be introduced in the qualifications. In Europe, there will be four days of play (reduced from five) and 3 teams will qualify from each qualification event. In each event, there are 2 groups of four teams, and the teams will play once against the others in their group. On the final day will be a play-off round of cross-over matches, as follows:
Final – 1st Group A v 1st Group B (both teams qualify)
3rd place – 2nd Group A v 2nd Group B (winner qualifies)
5th place – 3rd v 3rd
7th place – 4th v 4th
For the AOFC event, there are six days of play and 4 teams will qualify. There are 2 groups of four teams, and the teams will play once against the others in their group. The winners of each group will qualify directly, while the second and third placed teams will play-off for the other qualification places. A final round of matches will determine final placings, as follows:
Final – 1st Group A v 1st Group B
3rd – Winners of the 2nd v 3rd play-off games
5th place – Losers of the 2nd v 3rd play-off games
7th place – 4th Group A v 4th Group B
Follow the group name links below to see each of the qualification event information, including the match schedule.
| Frederikshavn, Denmark / 30 Jan - 2 Feb 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group A | Group B | |||
 | Sweden (2) |  | Denmark (7) | |
 | Poland (12) |  | Estonia (10) | |
 | Slovenia (20) |  | Great Britain (28) | |
 | Ukraine (44) |  | Iceland (29) | |
| Poprad, Slovakia / 30 Jan - 2 Feb 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group C | Group D | |||
 | Switzerland (3) |  | Norway (6) | |
 | Russia (18) |  | Slovakia (9) | |
 | Belgium (22) |  | Hungary (27) | |
 | Cote d'Ivoire (40) |  | Italy (30) | |
| Liepaja, Latvia / 29 Jan - 1 Feb 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group E | Group F | |||
 | Czech Republic (4) |  | Germany (5) | |
 | Spain (19) |  | Latvia (8) | |
 | Netherlands (23) |  | Austria (24) | |
 | Liechtenstein (33) |  | France (32) | |
| Bangkok, Thailand / 2 - 6 March 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group G | Group H | |||
 | Australia (13) |  | Thailand (14) | |
 | Japan (17) |  | Singapore (16) | |
 | Korea (21) |  | Malaysia (25) | |
 | Philippines (32) |  | New Zealand (26) | |
*Number in brackets indicates current world ranking based on results from the last two WFCs or other IFF events if not past WFC participation
