16 national teams (12 core teams and 4 challenger teams) will compete in a 5-week preliminary round in 20 cities around the world. There will be 4 legs in the preliminary round each week and 3 days of matches among 4 national teams will be held at each leg, equaling a total of 120 matches in the 5-week preliminary round. Macao will host one of the preliminary legs.

After the preliminary round, the top 5 national teams and the team of the host country (disregarding its total score in the preliminary round) will compete in the finals in 2 groups of 3 teams. The 3 teams will play in a round match and the top 2 teams in each group will enter the semi-finals. The winning teams of the semi-finals will then compete in the finals for the champion title of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League.