This meant increasing the number of participants back up to twelve teams and splitting them up into four groups of three nations contested in a round robin format.

The top two teams from each group progressed into the quarter-finals from which point on the championship proceeded as a knock-out tournament until the winner was crowned, with an additional third place deciding match.

European teams gained qualification by finishing in the top four spots of the 2003 Euro Beach Soccer League.

The draw to assign one nation from each pot into the four groups took place on January 29 in São Paulo and was conducted by BSWW.

[4] Matches are listed as local time in Rio de Janeiro, (UTC-3) March 3 and 5 were allocated as rest days.