WORLD VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ( MEN )
The senior men’s national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport’s worldwide governing body, compete in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship. Although the original time between championships was erratic, they are now given out every four years as of 1962. Poland is the reigning champion after winning its third title at the 2018 competition and successfully defending it. Slovenia and Poland will host the 2022 World Championship. Originally, Russia was going to host it, but after their invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia lost its organization rights. The next-highest-ranked team in the World Ranking, Ukraine, was invited to the competition in place of Russia, which was also disallowed.
In accordance with the competition’s current format, teams must first compete in a qualification phase over the course of the previous three years in order to advance to the tournament phase, also known as the World Championship Finals. In the tournament phase, 24 teams—including the host nation(s), which automatically qualify—compete for the championship over the course of about a month at venues in the host nation(s).
Seven different national teams have won the 19 World Championship competitions. Russia (formerly known as the Soviet Union) is the only team to have participated in every event and has won six times. Brazil, Italy, and Poland are the other World Championship champions, each with three championships; the Czech Republic (as Czechoslovakia), with two titles; Germany (as East Germany), and the United States, each with one title.
HISTORY
The World Championship has a long history that dates back to when volleyball first emerged as a competitive, elite sport. The creation of an international competition with teams from multiple continents was one of the first tangible actions the FIVB took after its founding in 1947. The inaugural game was played in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1949. The competition was still limited to Europe at that time.
Three years later, countries from Asia were added, and the event started to take place in 4-year cycles. There were additional teams from South, Central, and North America by the edition after that. The four-cycles were moved up two years after the fourth edition (1960) because volleyball will be introduced to the Olympic program in 1964, allowing the World Championship to alternate with the Summer Olympic Games. The initial aim of having participants from all five continental confederations in the games was fulfilled in 1970 when teams from Africa also participated in the competition.
Over the years, there have been considerable changes in the number of teams playing in the games. Following the rise in popularity of volleyball, they gradually increased to over 20 in the 1970s and early 1980s, were reduced to 16 in the 1990s, and were eventually set up at 24 after 2002. In comparison to other FIVB-organized events, the World Championship is currently the most extensive and, next to the Olympic Games, probably the most significant.
With the sole exception of the 1966/1967 games, which were held in different years, the host nation of the competition coordinated both the men’s and women’s events up until 1974. Since 1978, this practice has only seldom been seen, such in 1998 and the 2006 edition, which was again hosted in Japan like the previous one.
2022 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League
The fourth iteration of the annual men’s international volleyball competition known as the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League took place in 2022. The competition took place between June 7 and July 24, 2022, with the championship match taking place in Bologna, Italy’s Unipol Arena.
Australia finished last among the challenger teams following the preliminary round, and the 2022 Challenger Cup champion will take their spot for the 2023 tournament.
After outlasting the United States in a tough five-set thriller, France earned their first VNL title. It was the second silver medal won by the US. By defeating the hosts of the finals, Italy, in three straight sets, Poland won their second bronze medal. France’s Earvin N’Gapeth was hailed as the competition’s MVP.