FIVB Volleyball Women's Challenger Cup

The FIVB Volleyball Women's Challenger Cup is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The inaugural tournament was played between 20 and 24 June 2018 in Lima, Peru. Bulgaria won the inaugural edition, defeating Colombia in the final and qualified for the 2019 Nations League.

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

The creation of the tournament was 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 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 men's national teams is the FIVB Volleyball Men'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 hosted Hosts Year(s)
2 Peru2018, 2019
1 Croatia2022
 France2023

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
TeamPeru
2018
(6)		Peru
2019
(6)		Croatia
2022
(8)		France
2023
(8)		N/A
2024
(8)

Total

 Argentina•3rd••1
 Australia5th•••1
 Belgium••2nd•1
 Bulgaria1st•••1
 Cameroon••8th• 1
 Canada•1st••1
 Chinese Taipei•6th••1
 Colombia2nd•4th3rd3
 Croatia•4th1st7th3
 Czech Republic•2nd6th•2
 France••5th1st2
 Hungary6th•••1
 Kazakhstan••7th•1
 Kenya•••6th1
 Mexico•••5th1
 Peru4th5th••2
 Puerto Rico3rd•3rd•Q3
 Sweden•••2nd1
 Ukraine•••4th1
 Vietnam•••8th1

Results summary
Year Host Final 3rd place match Teams
Champions Score Runners-up 3rd place Score 4th place
2018
Details		 Peru
Lima
Bulgaria		 3–1
Colombia
Puerto Rico		 3–2
Peru		 6
2019
Details		 Peru
Lima
Canada		 3–2
Czech Republic
Argentina		 3–0
Croatia		 6
2020 Croatia
Zadar		 Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022
Details		 Croatia
Zadar
Croatia		 3–1
Belgium
Puerto Rico		 3–1
Colombia		 8
2023
Details		 France
Laval
France		 3–1
Sweden
Colombia		 3–1
Ukraine		 8

Medals summary
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Bulgaria1001
 Canada1001
 Croatia1001
 France1001
5 Colombia0112
6 Belgium0101
 Czech Republic0101
 Sweden0101
9 Puerto Rico0022
10 Argentina0011
Totals (10 entries)44412

Nations League qualifier
Year Relegated Challenger Team Remaining Challenger Teams Challenger Cup Winner
2018  Argentina Fall  Belgium Same position  Dominican Republic Same position  Poland Same position Only 4 challenger teams in the tournament  Bulgaria Rise
2019  Bulgaria Fall  Canada Rise
2021 None[6][7]  Canada Same position Cancelled[8]
2022  Belgium Fall  Bulgaria[lower-alpha 1] Same position  Croatia Rise
2023  Croatia Fall  France Rise

See also

Notes
  1. Bulgaria 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. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. 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. 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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