There were two qualifying rounds for this tournament. Twenty-three national teams entered the qualifying round. Fifteen teams advanced to the Challenge Round, where they joined Greece, Macedonia and Italy. The remaining eighteen teams were allocated in three groups of six teams each. The three top teams of each group joined Croatia (title holder), Spain (runner-up) and Belgium (host) in the final tournament.
Preliminary round
The twelve teams were allocated in two groups of six teams each.
