The International Kabaddi Union (IKU) World Cup tournament has 16 teams seeded from 1 to 16, taking part in the first stage called the pool stage. They are divided into four pools such that:

• Seeds 1, 2, 3, and 4 are in Pools 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively
• Seeds 5, 6, 7, and 8 are in Pools 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively
• Seeds 9, 10, 11, and 12 are in Pools 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively
• Seeds 13, 14, 15, and 16 are in Pools 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively

Each team in a pool plays all the other teams in the pool exactly once.

For the next stage, called the Super Eight stage, the top two teams from each pool (based on points) qualify. If two or more teams have the same number of points, complex rules are used to decide their ranking.

In the Super Eight stage:

• Each team plays all other qualified teams except the team from its own pool
• Only points earned against the other qualifier from the same pool are carried forward
• The top four teams based on total points qualify for the semi-finals

The semi-final losers play for third place and the winners play the final.

For any match:

• Win = 2 points
• Loss = 0 points
• An upset occurs when a lower seeded team beats a higher seeded team
• If scores are equal at full time, extra time is played until a winner emerges