As a secondary tournament to the Euro Hockey League, the Ranking Cup was created to determine the placings of the lower ranked teams for the 2020–21 EHL Season.
The tournament comprised 16 teams, competing in a round of 16 format. The victorious teams from the first knockout games went on to compete in the placement matches for fifth to twelfth place. The losing teams contested ranking matches to determine thirteenth to twentieth places.
The tournament was originally scheduled to comprise eight teams in a knockout format, with the remaining 12 to appear at the Euro Hockey League. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic however, the EHL was rescheduled and reduced to four teams, with the remaining eight teams being added to the Ranking Cup.[3]