First round In the first round, the 24 teams were spread across four pools of six teams playing in a
round-robin system. The top four teams from each pool advanced to the second round.
Second round In the second round, the 16 teams were allocated in two pools of eight teams (top teams from first round pools A and D in one and top teams from pools B and C in the other). Once again a round-robin system was used in each pool, teams coming from the same first round pool (therefore already played each other) only played against opponents from a different first round pool. The second round standings took the results in the first and second rounds into account. The top four teams of each group advanced to the final round.
Final round The top four teams of each pool played in quarterfinals. The winners advanced to semifinals. The semifinals winners advanced to compete for the World Championship title. The losers faced each other in the third place match. ==Pools composition==