A total of 35 teams have registered for the 13th Men’s WFC which will be hosted by Helsinki, Finland from 4th – 12th December 2020.
Finland, as the host country, received a direct qualification. WFC in Helsinki acts as the qualifying event for The World Games which will be hosted by the USA in 2021, therefore the teams from Canada and the USA are directly qualified for the final round of WFC 2020, while all other 32 countries will compete for the remaining 13 places via regional qualification events.
In Europe, there will be six qualification groups with three event locations – Frederikshavn (Denmark), Poprad (Slovakia) and Liepaja (Latvia). The Asia-Oceania qualification will be held in Bangkok (Thailand).
A new playing system will be introduced in the European 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 v 1st Group (both teams qualify)
3rd place – 2nd v 2nd (winner qualifies)
5th place – 3rd v 3rd
7th place – 4th v 4th
EUR1: Frederikshavn, Denmark, 30th January – 2nd February 2020
Group A | Group B | |||
Sweden (2) | Denmark (7) | |||
Poland (12) | Estonia (10) | |||
Slovenia (20) | Great Britain (28) | |||
Ukraine (44) | Iceland (29) |
EUR2: Poprad, Slovakia, 30th January – 2nd February 2020
Group C | Group D | |||
Switzerland (3) | Norway (6) | |||
Russia (18) | Slovakia (9) | |||
Belgium (22) | Hungary (27) | |||
Cote d’Ivoire (40) | Italy (30) |
EUR3: Liepaja, Latvia, 29th January – 1st February 2020
Group E | Group F | |||
Czech Republic (4) | Germany (5) | |||
Spain (19) | Latvia (8) | |||
Netherlands (23) | Austria (24) | |||
Liechtenstein (33) | France (32) |
AOFC: Bangkok, Thailand, 2nd – 6th March 2020
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 G v 1st Group H
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 G v 4th Group H
Group G | Group H | |||
Australia (13) | Thailand (14) | |||
Japan (17) | Singapore (16) | |||
Korea (21) | Malaysia (25) | |||
New Zealand (26) |