The 2018 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship was the 19th staging of the

FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship The FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The initial gap between championships was variab ...

, contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The final tournament was held in Italy and Bulgaria from 9 to 30 September 2018. For the first time, the tournament was jointly-hosted by more than one country. The final six was hosted by Italy at the

Pala Alpitour Palasport Olimpico, officially operating with the sponsored name Inalpi Arena except during events prohibiting sponsorship names when it is usually known as simply PalaOlimpico, or occasionally PalaIsozaki after its architect, is a multi-purpose ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

defended their world title, defeating the reigning Olympic champions

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in straight sets at a repeat of the 2014 final. This was Poland's third title overall, and the third time in the last four editions of the World Championship that Brazil and Poland contested the final. This was also the fifth straight World Championship with Brazil reaching at least the final.

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

won the 3rd place match, defeating

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in four sets.

Bartosz Kurek Bartosz Kamil Kurek (born 29 August 1988) is a Polish professional volleyball player who plays as an opposite spiker for ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle and captains the Poland national team. Kurek took part in 4 Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016 ...

from Poland was elected the MVP. The first round match between

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

set the new all-time lowest-scoring record in a World Championship set since the new volleyball scoring rules were adopted, with Russia winning the second set by 25–6. The previous record was a 25–8 achieved by United States against

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

during the 2014 World Championship.

Host selection

On 9 December 2015, FIVB announced that the tournament would be held in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. For the first time the championship will take place in more than one country. The tournament will take place in six Italian cities (

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Assago Assago ( sˈsaːɡo Milanese: ''Assagh'' ˈsɑːk ''Sagh'' ɑːk is a town and ''comune'' of 9 326 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is home of the headquarters of Nestlé's Italian ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

) and three Bulgarian cities ( Ruse,

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

and

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

). Both Italy and Bulgaria have previously hosted the Men's World Championship. Italy last organised the 2010 edition, when

claimed the title their third straight title. Italy also hosted the men's event in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

as well as the 2014 Women's World Championship. Moreover, Italy hosted the 1985 Men's U21 World Championship, the 1985 Women's U20 World Championship and the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Boys' U19 World Championship. Bulgaria, on the other hand, hosted both the men's and women's senior editions in 1970. Both countries have also played hosts to other important volleyball competitions, including the

Men's European Volleyball Championship The Men's European Volleyball Championship (''EuroVolley'') is the official competition for senior men's national volleyball teams of Europe, organized by the European Volleyball Confederation ( CEV). The initial gap between championships was va ...

and the World League final round.

Qualification

The qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the five FIVB confederations to decide 21 of the 24 teams which would play in the final tournament, with

and

qualifying automatically as hosts and

also qualifying automatically as the defending champions. All remaining FIVB member associations were eligible to enter the qualifying process. At first, 150 associations registered teams to compete in the qualification process, but 19 associations withdrew from the qualifying process after they registered and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

were suspended and then expelled from taking part in the process as a punishment for internal problems in the India Volleyball Federation. The five regional governing bodies were allocated the remaining 21 spots; CAVB (Africa) was granted three, AVC (Asia and Oceania) four, NORCECA (North America) five, CSV (South America) two, and CEV (Europe) seven spots. Of the 24 nations qualified to play at the 2018 World Championship, 20 countries competed at the previous tournament in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

qualified for the first time. Other teams returning after absences of the last tournament(s) include:

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

, returning to the finals after their only previous appearance in 1974,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, who last competed in 2002, and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, who missed the 2014 edition. Notable countries that failed to qualify include the 2014 third placed

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

(for the first time since 1998),

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Qualified teams

Format

;First round In the first round, the 24 teams were spread across four pools of six teams playing in a single round-robin format. The top four teams in each pool qualified for the second round, featuring four pools of four teams playing in four cities. ;Second round The second round featured four pools of four teams playing once again in a single round-robin format. At the end of the second round matches, the rankings of the four pools were drawn up taking into account the points scored by each team in the first and second rounds. The four pool-winning teams of the second round qualified for the third round, together with the top two of the second placed teams. ;Third round The six teams competing in the third round were divided into two three-team pools by a draw. After the matches played once again in a single round-robin format, the top two teams in each pool qualified for the semifinals and finals. ;Final round The third round pool winners played against the runners-up in this round. The semifinals winners advanced to compete for the World Championship title. The losers faced each other in the 3rd place match.

Pools composition

First round

Teams were seeded in the first two positions of each pool following the

serpentine system The serpentine system, also known as snake seeding, is a method of organization used in competitions to define the seeded teams and arrange them into pools. The ''n'' ranked teams that will be involved in the tournament are distributed in ''m'' ...

according to their

FIVB World Ranking The FIVB Senior World Rankings is a ranking system for men's and women's national teams in volleyball. The teams of the member nations of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), volleyball's world governing body, are ranked based on their ...

as of 7 July 2017. FIVB reserved the right to seed the hosts as head of pools A and D regardless of the World Ranking. All teams not seeded were drawn to take other available positions in the remaining lines, following the World Ranking. Each pool had no more than three teams from the same confederation. The draw was held in

, Italy on 30 November 2017. Rankings are shown in brackets except the hosts Italy and Bulgaria who ranked 4th and 14th respectively. ;Draw

Second round

Third round

The third round draw was held in

on 24 September 2018. The 1st ranked teams of pools E and F were drawn in pools I and J consecutively and the 1st ranked teams of pools G and H were also drawn in pools I and J consecutively. The 1st best second team among the four pools was placed in pool I, while the 2nd best second team among the four pools was placed in pool J.

Squads

Venues

Pool standing procedure

# Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost) # In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker will apply: The teams will be ranked by the most points gained per match as follows: #*Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser #*Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser #*Match forfeited: 3 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser # If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, then the FIVB will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order: #*Sets quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all sets won by the number of all sets lost. #*Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the sets quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets. #*If the tie persists based on the points quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. When the tie in points quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.

Opening matches

The opening matches of the 2018 World Championship, jointly hosted by Italy and Bulgaria held With the presence of the president

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician and jurist who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 20 ...

and

Rumen Radev Rumen Georgiev Radev (, born 18 June 1963) is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who has been the President of Bulgaria since 2017. Radev previously served as higher commander of the Bulgarian Air Force. He won the 2016 Bulgarian p ...

President of Italy The president of Italy, officially titled President of the Italian Republic (), is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity and guarantees that Politics of Italy, Italian politics comply with the Consti ...

Mattarella was guest of honour as co-hosts Italy got their 2018 campaign off to the perfect start with a 3–0 victory over Japan. Alongside FIVB President Ary Graça,

Italian National Olympic Committee The Italian National Olympic Committee (, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in ItalyWithin Italy, CONI recognizes 48 national ...

President Giovanni Malago, President of the

Italian Volleyball Federation The Italian Volleyball Federation (, FIPAV) is the governing body for volleyball in Italy since 1946. The FIPAV has reported a significant increase in its membership numbers, with over 300,000 registered members as of 2022. This is a notable inc ...

Pietro Bruno Cattaneo and many more national and international dignitaries, President Mattarella joined the 11,170-strong partisan crowd at Foro Italico Tennis Center Court,

and in

, the home side Bulgaria fared just as successfully as their co-hosts, sweeping aside Finland 3–0 to take a commanding lead in Pool D, were present

President of Bulgaria The president of the Republic of Bulgaria (, romanised: ''Prezident na Republika Bŭlgariya'') is the head of state of Bulgaria and the commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian Army. The official residence of the president is at Boyana Residence, S ...

Radev was joined by his Minister for Sport,

Krasen Kralev Krassen Kirilov Kralev (), born 2 January 1967 in Varna, is a Bulgarian businessman and politician, who was the Minister of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria as part of the Second Borisov Government and Third Borisov Government. Biography Born in V ...

, at Palace of Culture and Sports.

First round

*The top four teams in each pool qualified for the second round.

Pool A

*All times are

Central European Summer Time Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+02:00), sometimes referred to as Central European Daylight Time (CEDT), is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central E ...

( UTC+02:00).

Pool B

*All times are

Eastern European Summer Time Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) is one of the names of the UTC+03:00 time zone, which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries, which makes ...

( UTC+03:00).

Pool C

*All times are

( UTC+02:00).

Pool D

*All times are

( UTC+03:00).

Second round

*The standings of the four pools were drawn up taking into account the wins and points scored by each team in the first and second round. *The winners in each pool and the top two of the second placed teams qualified for the third round.

Pool E

*All times are

( UTC+02:00).

Pool F

*All times are

( UTC+02:00).

Pool G

*All times are

( UTC+03:00).

Pool H

*All times are

( UTC+03:00).

Ranking of the second placed teams

*The top two of the second placed teams qualified for the third round.

Third round

*All times are

( UTC+02:00). *The top two teams in each pool qualified for the semifinals.

Pool I

Pool J

Final round

*All times are

( UTC+02:00).

Semifinals

3rd place match

Final

Final standing

Awards

*Most valuable player *:

*Best setter *: Micah Christenson *Best outside spikers *:

Michał Kubiak Michał Jarosław Kubiak (born 23 February 1988) is a Polish professional volleyball player who plays as an outside hitter for Shanghai Bright. He is a former member of the Poland national team, a participant in the Olympic Games (London 2012, ...

Douglas Souza Douglas Correia de Souza (born 20 August 1995) is a Brazilian volleyball player, former member of the Brazil men's national volleyball team, 2016 Olympic Champion, silver medallist of the 2014 World Championship, gold medallist of the 2019 W ...

*Best middle blockers *:

Lucas Saatkamp Lucas Saatkamp (born 6 March 1986) is a Brazilian volleyball player and a two-time Olympian. As a member of the Brazilian national volleyball team, he won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, and a gold medal at ...

Piotr Nowakowski Piotr Nowakowski (born 18 December 1987) is a Polish professional volleyball player. He is a former member of the Poland national team, a participant in 3 Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020), two–time World Champion (2014, 2018) ...

*Best opposite spiker *: Matt Anderson *Best libero *:

Paweł Zatorski Paweł Zatorski (born 21 June 1990) is a Polish professional volleyball player who plays as a libero for Asseco Resovia and the Poland national team. Zatorski took part in 3 Olympic Games (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, winning a silver ...

Statistics leaders

The statistics of each group follows the vis reports P2 and P3. The statistics include 6 volleyball skills; serve, reception, set, spike, block, and dig. The table below shows the top 5 ranked players in each skill plus top scorers at the completion of the tournament. Only players whose teams advanced to the final round are taken in consideration.

Marketing

Trophy

Comparable 2014 year the FIVB then mandated two young product designers from

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, Thilo Alex Brunner and Jörg Mettler to create the new World Championship trophy. With its unique contemporary design, the trophy has set itself apart from other awards in international competitions across the sporting world. Eichenberger LTD and their mastermind, Juan Franco, have been responsible for its production. The company specialises in complex metal works mainly for the Swiss watchmaking and jewellery industry. The trophy was constructed using 12 individual pieces, representing each member of a volleyball team. The pieces are brought together in a seamless cylindrical design, symbolising the coming together of the 12 players using the rotation system on the court.

Broadcasting rights

FIVB, through several companies, sold the

broadcasting rights Broadcasting rights (often also called media rights) are rights which a broadcasting organization negotiates with a commercial concern - such as a sports governing body or film distributor - in order to show that company's products on television o ...

for the 2018 World Championship to the following broadcasters.

References

External links

Fédération Internationale de Volleyball
– official website
2018 Men's World Championship
– official website
Competition Formula
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volleyball, World Championship, Men, 2018

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

FIVB World Championship World Championship, Men, 2018 World Championship, Men, 2018 2018 in Bulgarian sport 2018 in Italian sport September 2018 sports events in Italy September 2018 sports events in Europe VWCH 2018 Men VWCH 2018 Men VWCH 2018 Men VWCH 2018 Men VWCH 2018 Men VWCH 2018 Men VWCH 2018 Men VWCH 2018 Men VWCH 2018 Men

Host selection

Qualification

Qualified teams

Format

Pools composition

First round

Second round

Third round

Squads

Venues

Pool standing procedure

Opening matches

First round

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

Pool D

Second round

Pool E

Pool F

Pool G

Pool H

Ranking of the second placed teams

Third round

Pool I

Pool J

Final round

Semifinals

3rd place match

Final

Final standing

Awards

Statistics leaders

Marketing

Sponsors

Trophy

Broadcasting rights

See also

References

External links