Schedule

  • Thursday

    29th August 2024

    Group Stage Individual

    Bracket Stage Individual

    Mixed Individual Final

  • Friday

    30th August 2024

    Group Stage Squad

    Women Individual Final

    Men Individual Final

  • Saturday

    31st August 2024

    Group Stage Squad (cont.)

    Bracket Stage Squad

  • Sunday

    1st September 2024

    Squad Men Final

    Squad Women Final

Format

Individual Championship (Mens, Womens, Mixed) 

Format Overview 

The individual competition will feature two rounds of pool play. In the first round, pools will be made by snaking the initial seeds determined by the World Ranking Committee. After the first round, teams will be regrouped based on their performance into tiers of Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The results of the second round of pool play determine what bracket each team qualifies for (i.e. Gold 1, Gold 2, etc.). In turn, each bracket determines where a team can finish in the overall ranking (note - this is different in the squad competition).  

This format helps ensure that more evenly matched games are played throughout each stage and that the final seeding is based more heavily on results against teams of a similar caliber than on point differential of mismatches. 

Additionally, this format minimizes the potential difference in number of games played between teams, while guaranteeing more games overall. Further, it reduces ties in the final ranks as smaller brackets mean that almost every position can be played out for.  We recognize that this format means pool play performance matters more because there is less mobility within bracket play. Based on the learning for the 2022 World Championship, we believe this format will provide better competition at all levels, creating an elevated experience for both players and spectators. Please keep in mind that this is just high-level and this point and more specifics will follow later on.

Example 

Team A performs well in the first round of pool play. They qualify for the Gold grouping. In the second round of pool play, they lose the majority of their games. These results place them in the Gold 3 bracket. They win the Gold 3 bracket which earns them an overall individual finish of 17th place.

Squad Championship (Mens, Womens) 

Format Overview 

Like individual, the squad competition will feature two rounds of pool play. In the first round, pools will be made by snaking the initial seeds determined by the World Ranking Committee. After the first round, teams will be regrouped based on their performance into tiers of Gold, Silver, and Bronze. However, unlike the individual competition, the results of the second round of squad pool play do not determine different elimination brackets. Instead, the pool tier determines the highest overall seed that a squad can earn. For example, the top seeds will be earned by the teams that qualify for the Gold tier.  

Again, this format helps ensure that more evenly matched games are played throughout each stage and that the final seeding is based more heavily on results against squads of a similar caliber than on point differential of mismatches. Since squad competition is the focal point of the World Championship and we have three days dedicated to it, we are able to use the multi-stage pool play format while having just one bracket. Pool play will still be a very important factor in seeding, but all countries will have the ability to compete for first place in the bracket. We believe that the variations in the multi-stage pool play structure between individual and squad competition provides the right balance based on the objectives and constraints of the event. Please keep in mind that this is just high-level and this point and more specifics will follow later on.

Example 

Squad B performs poorly in the first round of pool play. They qualify for the Bronze grouping. In the second round of pool play, they perform much better, but still are seeded within the bottom third overall. They enter the bracket with a tough seed, but upset many squads and end up landing on the podium.

National Team Events

Individual Championship

Number of teams per country: 2 for each division* (Men, Women, Mixed)

The first portion of the event is an individual championship for the Men, Women, and Mixed divisions. It will have a group stage and bracket stage. In the group stage, teams are seeded into pools. They will play each team in their pool once and the results then seed a single-elimination bracket. In the individual tournament, it is possible (and likely) for teams representing the same country to play against each other.

All individual competitions will be played simultaneously, so there can be no overlap in players for a country's men's, women's or mixed teams. Individual teams do not need to be the same composition as squad teams (pairings or players).

Pools will be created with the goal of evenly distributing skill and avoiding countries playing each other as much as possible. In order to construct the initial pools, the IRF will be putting together a World Ranking Committee made up of representatives from different countries with insight into teams’ performance. In lieu of robust international rankings, this committee aims to ensure that fair processes are in place for all competitors.

*can be more if a country has a Strength Bid, see below

Squad Championship

Number of teams per country: 5 for each squad (Men, Women)

The Squad Championship has the best teams from each country compete together and face off against other nations. There is a separate squad competition for the Men’s and Women’s divisions. Each will have a group stage and bracket stage. In the group stage, squads are seeded into pools and corresponding ranked teams play each other (ie A plays A, B plays B, and so on). They will play each country in their pool once and the results then seed a single-elimination bracket. A squad has to have at least 3 teams to be eligible to compete.

How bracket play works:

  1. Countries face off against each other. Before the event, NGBs rank the strength of their teams upon finalizing the roster. Teams of the same rank match up against each other. For example, if France and Belgium were playing each other, the A team from France would play the A team from Belgium, the B team from France would play the B team from Belgium, and so on.

  2. In order to move on to the next round, a country must win the majority of its matchups. (i.e. 3 matchups)

Strength Bids

In order to help get more accurate results, enable better competition, and ensure that the top countries get more proportional representation, the men's and women's individual competition will include strength bids.

How Strength Bids Work

The World Ranking Committee will rank countries for both the men's and women's divisions based on past high-level international results.

  • There are two sets of country rankings, one for the men's division and one for the women's division.

  • Countries ranked 1 - 4 by the committee receive two extra bids to the individual competition of that division.

    • For example, a country whose women's teams were ranked 1 - 4 would get 4 bids to the women's individual competition instead of 2.

  • Countries ranked 5 - 8 by the committee receive one extra bid to the individual competition of that division.

    • For example, a country whose women's teams were ranked 5 - 8 would get 3 bids to the women's individual competition instead of 2.

  • All countries ranked 9+ have 2 bids for the individual men's and women's competition.

  • Every country has 2 bids to the mixed division (i.e. strength bids are not awarded for mixed).

The goal is for the allocation of strength bids to be announced before the end of the year. We believe this system rewards performance in between World Championships and helps the Worlds podium be more representative of the best individual men's and women's teams in the world.

Based on historical data (such as Worlds 22 and other international tournament results), an NGB survey, NGB feedback and discussions with Continental Bodies such as EURA, the IRF has compiled the following strength bids:

1 - 4: US, Canada, Germany, France
5 - 8: Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy

Equipment

Spikeball has been selected as the presenting sponsor and the official equipment provider! Spikeball has been pioneering the sport of roundnet for the past fifteen years and has been committed to building a global community - one they're excited to see competing at Worlds. We are thrilled to have their continued support of our organization and the sport as a whole. With this partnership, Worlds will be played on Spikeball Pro Sets and Spikeball Pro Balls.

Building off of learnings from 2022, we will be collaborating with Spikeball and British Roundnet to establish processes for thorough quality assurance of all the equipment used at Worlds.

 FAQs

  • Not necessarily. We’ve put together a world rankings committee to determine the seeding structures. Worlds ’24 individual results are one factor they could chose to consider (or not), but that has yet to be determined. Other possible factors could be Worlds '22 results, continental championships results,…

  • No, there will be 1 day of squad groups and 1 day of squad brackets, so this will guarantee a minimum of 2 days of playing. This is in line with Worlds '22 where there was 1 day of individuals and 1 day of squad brackets, totaling in a minimum of 2 days of playing.

    In fact, there is more guaranteed play for countries. In 2022, 1 team per country played on Thursday. In 2024, 6 teams per country can play on Thursday. Then, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are dedicated to squad play. With the introduction of group stage for squads, teams will get the same amount of matches just competing more as a squad than as individual teams.

  • No, individual teams do not need to be the same composition as squad teams. This means it can be different team combinations or different players altogether. Within a single tournament (Individual or Squad) teams and players have to stay the same.