The event, organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), took place in Nazaré, Portugal from 17–27 June 2021.

Russia were the defending champions but did not enter this year's competition, having already qualified for the World Cup as hosts.

[a] The competition format was as follows:[1] The tournament started with a round-robin group stage; the lowest ranked ten teams entered at this point.

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.

21 teams entered the competition:[2] The draws for both the first and second group stages took place at 12:00 CEST on 4 June,[2][3] at Beach Soccer Worldwide's headquarters in Barcelona, Spain.

Firstly, the three highest ranked teams were seeded and one each automatically assigned to the head of one of the groups.

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.