The competition exists out of three groups of four, with each team playing another once. Standings are primarily based on win/loss-record, with the team with the most points after a certain time limit winning a match. The top two ranked teams advance to the quarterfinals, together with the two best third-placed teams. After this, a single knockout phase is played, with the winners of the quarterfinals advancing to the semifinals, and the winners of the final winning the event.
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Twelve teams qualified for the event with the United States as the top favorite for the title and as ten-time Olympic champion and eleven-time world champion. Behind the Americans, most teams were ready to claim the medals, including France and Japan as the defending Olympic medalists.
A draw after the preliminary round will decide the pairings, where a seeded team played an unseeded team. Teams qualified will be divided into four pots. Pot D comprises the top two-ranked first-placed teams from the group phase. Pot E comprises the lowest ranked first-placed team and the best-ranked second-placed team from the group phase. Pot F comprises the remaining second-placed teams from the group phase. Pot G comprises the two best third-placed teams.
Spain
China
Serbia
Puerto Rico
Nigeria
Australia
Canada
France
Germany
Belgium
United States
Japan
