 European teams gained qualification by finishing in the top three spots of the 2001 Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL).The winners, runners up and third placed nations in the previous World Cup also gained automatic qualification for their performances a year earlier; reigning champions Portugal had already gained their spot through being runners-up in the EBSL, however runners-up of last years World Cup France, who did not finish in the top three of the ESBL, and third placed Argentina, gained their spots this way.The other entries received invites.