Marten van Riel will be hoping to secure Belgium a place in the mixed relay event at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images

Portuguese capital Lisbon is set to stage the first-ever World Triathlon Mixed Relay Olympic Qualification Event with 15 countries poised to battle it out for just three Tokyo 2020 places.

A top three placing will see teams qualify for the Games in Tokyo where the triathlon mixed relay event is set to make its Olympic debut.

Athletes will compete in teams comprising of two men and two women over a super-sprint course which features a 300-metre swim, a 7.2-kilometre bike and 1.8km run.

France, Australia, Britain, New Zealand, Germany, The Netherlands, the United States and hosts Japan have already qualified for the Games.

The European contingents look strong going into tomorrow's race with Valerie Barthelemy, Jelle Geens, Claire Michel and Marten van Riel set to line up for Belgium.

All four were in great form in the World Triathlon Championship Series season-opener in Yokohama and their experience racing together makes them among the favourites to secure an all-important podium place.

Italy have Alice Betto and Angelica Olmo, Delian Stateff and Gianluca Pozzatti among the names to call upon from the individual race start lists.

But they also finished in the top 10 at the 2020 Mixed Relay World Championships with Alessandro Fabian and 2019 junior world champion Beatrice Mallozzi, underlining the depth of the Azzurri squad.

Canada have Joanna Brown nursing a broken nose sustained in the warm up in Yokohama and will be calling upon Emy Legault and Dominika Jamnicky as part of a new-look line-up.

The Brazilian team are expected to challenge with the likes of Manoel Messias, Vittoria Lopes and Djenyfer Arnold able to impact the race.

Mexico’s Michelle Flipo, Lizeth Rueda Santos and Claudia Rivas also head to Portugal full of confidence after good displays in Japan last weekend.

Spain are poised to field an experienced team including Fernando Alarza and Antonio Serrat Seoane alongside Miriam Casillas Garcia and Anna Godoy Contreras.

Nicola Spirig spearheads the Swiss team, while the Hungarians may threaten with Bence Bicsák, Zsanett Bragmayer and Csongor Lehmann capable of producing an explosive super-sprint performance on the big occasion.

Other teams competing include hosts Portugal, ROC, Czech Republic, Denmark, Austria, Ireland and Norway.

Should a team finish in the top three in Lisbon, they must have two men and two women in the top 140 of the Olympic ranking in order to take up that spot.

The mixed relay qualifier is due to take place tomorrow before Lisbon stages the men’s and women’s World Triathlon Cup races on May 22 and 23 respectively.