Teams already qualified for the event are not eligible to play in the following qualification tournaments.
FIVB reserved a berth for the 2020 Summer Olympics host country to participate in the tournament.
[4][5] Teams were seeded following the serpentine system according to their FIVB World Ranking as of 1 October 2018.
The hosts Germany and the top seven ranked teams from the CEV European Ranking as of 30 September 2019 which had not yet qualified to the 2020 Summer Olympics competed in the 2020 European Olympic Qualification Tournament.
The 2019 NORCECA Champions Cup champions and the top three teams from the 2019 NORCECA Championship which had not yet qualified to the 2020 Summer Olympics competed in the 2020 North American Olympic Qualification Tournament.