It was originally scheduled to be held from 25 July to 7 August 2020, but on 24 March 2020, the Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the completion of the round-robin stage, the top four teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

On 26 July 2021, during the last five minutes of the preliminary match between Argentina and Spain, a cockroach was recorded on the field.

[10] While switching between cameras, the Argentinian sports channel Torneos y Competencias spent several seconds with one cameraperson that was focused on a cockroach walking atop a fence, leading the TyC Sports commentator to acknowledge the presence of "la cucaracha".

[11] A clip of the cockroach uploaded to Twitter by user @s6antispam went viral, receiving 8.2 million views worldwide over the weekend.