FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup

The FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The first tournament was played between 20 and 24 June 2018 in Matosinhos, Portugal. The Portugal team won the inaugural edition, defeating Czech Republic counterpart in the final and qualified for the 2019 Nations League.

FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup
SportVolleyball
Founded2017 (2017)
Inaugural season2018
CEOBrazil Ary Graça
No. of teams8
ContinentInternational (FIVB)
Most recent
champion(s)		 Turkey
(1st title)
Most titles Cuba
 Portugal
 Slovenia
 Turkey
(1 title each)
Streaming partner(s)Volleyball TV
Promotion toNations League
Official websiteVolleyball Challenger Cup

History

The tournament was first announced in October 2017 (alongside with the announcement of the Nations League) as a joint project between the FIVB, the IMG and 21 national federations.[1] The Challenger Cup serves as a qualifying tournament for the aforementioned Nations League. The FIVB Challenger Cup is held before the Nations League's Final Round (in 2018 and 2019 editions) but changed it in 2022 edition and the winner earns the right to participate in the next year's Nations League.[2][3]

A corresponding tournament for women's national teams is the FIVB Volleyball Women's Challenger Cup.

Format

Previous format

The six qualified teams play in 2 pools of 3 teams in a round-robin format. The top 2 teams of each pool qualify for the semifinals. The first ranked teams play against the second ranked teams in this round. The winners of the semifinals advance to compete for the Challenger Cup title. The champion team will qualify for the next year's Nations League as a challenger team.[2][4]

New format

The eight qualified teams play in a knockout stage format. The top four teams in the quarterfinals will qualify for the semifinals. The winner of the quarterfinal 1 will play a semifinal match against the winner of the quarterfinal 4 and the winner of the quarterfinal 2 will play a semifinal match against the winner of the quarterfinal 3. The winners of the semifinals will advance to compete for the Challenger Cup title. The champion team will qualify for the next year's Nations league as a challenger team.[5]

Qualification
ConfederationSlots
AVC (Asia)1
CAVB (Africa)1
CSV (South America)1
CEV (Europe)2
NORCECA (North America)1
Total8 (6+H+VNL)

Hosts

List of hosts by number of final championships hosted.

Times hostedHostsYear(s)
1 Portugal2018
 Slovenia2019
 South Korea2022
 Qatar2023

Appearance
Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  •  •  – Did not enter / Did not qualify
  •    – Hosts
  • Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
TeamPortugal
2018
(6)		Slovenia
2019
(6)		South Korea
2022
(8)		Qatar
2023
(8)		N/A
2024
(8)		Total
 Australia••5th•1
 Belarus•3rd••1
 Chile5th6th8th4th4
 China•••5th1
 Cuba4th2nd1st•3
 Czech Republic2nd•4th•2
 Dominican Republic•••6th1
 Egypt•5th••1
 Estonia3rd•••1
 Kazakhstan5th•••1
 Mexico••••Q1
 Portugal1st•••1
 Qatar••7th2nd2
 Slovenia•1st••1
 South Korea••3rd•1
 Thailand•••7th1
 Tunisia••6th8th2
 Turkey•4th2nd1st3
 Ukraine•••3rd1

Results summary
Year Host Final 3rd place match Teams
Champions Score Runners-up 3rd place Score 4th place
2018
Details		 Portugal
Matosinhos
Portugal		 3–1
Czech Republic
Estonia		 3–0
Cuba		 6
2019
Details		 Slovenia
Ljubljana
Slovenia		 3–0
Cuba
Belarus		 3–1
Turkey		 6
2020 Portugal
Gondomar		 Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022
Details		 South Korea
Seoul
Cuba		 3–1
Turkey
South Korea		 3–2
Czech Republic		 8
2023
Details		 Qatar
Doha
Turkey		 3–2
Qatar
Ukraine		 3–0
Chile		 8

Medals summary
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Cuba1102
 Turkey1102
3 Portugal1001
 Slovenia1001
5 Czech Republic0101
 Qatar0101
7 Belarus0011
 Estonia0011
 South Korea0011
 Ukraine0011
Totals (10 entries)44412

Nations League qualifier
Year Relegated Challenger Team Remaining Challenger Teams Challenger Cup Winner
2018  South Korea Fall  Australia Same position  Bulgaria Same position  Canada Same position Only 4 challenger teams in the tournament  Portugal Rise
2019  Portugal Fall  Slovenia Rise
2021 None[6][7]  Netherlands[lower-alpha 1] Same position  Slovenia Same position Cancelled[8]
2022  Australia Fall  China[lower-alpha 2] Same position  Cuba Rise
2023  China Fall  Cuba Same position  Turkey Rise

See also

Notes
  1. Netherlands replaced China after the decision of the Chinese Volleyball Association to withdraw its national men's team due to financial limitations and travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
  2. China replaced Russia due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. As a result, Russia was out of the Nations League.[9]

References
  1. "FIVB announces the Volleyball Nations League". FIVB.org. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  2. "FIVB Executive Committee embraces digital transformation". FIVB.org. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  3. "Volleyball Challenger Cup battles coming up in Croatia and Korea". volleyballworld. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  4. "Six teams line up for Volleyball Challenger Cup and one open berth in 2019 Men's and Women's VNL". FIVB.org. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  5. "Competition Formula". Volleyball World.
  6. "Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2021 – Everything you need to know". IOC. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  7. "FIVB statement on participating teams at VNL 2021". FIVB. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  8. "FIVB announces cancellation of Volleyball Challenger Cup 2021". Volleyball World. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  9. "FIVB Declares Russia And Belarus Not Eligible For International And Continental Competitions". FIVB. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
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