FIVB Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup

The FIVB Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup was 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 Challenger Cup served as a qualifying tournament for the Volleyball Nations League (VNL), with the winner earning the right to participate in the following year's VNL.^[1][2]

FIVB Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup

Most recent season or competition: 2024 FIVB Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup
Sport	Volleyball
Founded	2017; 8 years ago (2017)
First season	2018
Ceased	2024
CEO	Ary Graça
No. of teams	8
Continent	International (FIVB)
Last champion(s)	China (1st title)
Most titles	China  Cuba  Portugal  Slovenia  Turkey (1 title each)
Streaming partner(s)	Volleyball TV
Promotion to	Nations League
Official website	Volleyball Challenger Cup

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

History

The Challenger Cup was first announced in October 2017 (alongside the announcement of the Nations League) as a joint project between the FIVB, the IMG and 21 national federations.^[3] The inaugural tournament was played between 20 and 24 June 2018 in Matosinhos, Portugal. The Portugal team won the tournament, defeating Czech Republic counterpart in the final and qualified for the 2019 Nations League.

The 2020 and 2021 editions of the Challenger Cup were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the tournament returned in 2022, it had a new knockout formula and the number of participating teams had increased from six to eight.^[2]

In 2024, FIVB announced that the world ranking would replace the Challenger Cup as the qualifier for the 2026 Nations League and the tournament was discontinued.^[4]

Format

2018–2019

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.^[1][5]

2022–2024

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.^[6]

Qualification

Confederation	Slots
AVC (Asia)	1
CAVB (Africa)	1
CSV (South America)	1
CEV (Europe)	2
NORCECA (North America)	1
Total	8 (6+H+VNL)

Hosts

List of hosts by number of final cups hosted.

Times hosted	Hosts	Year(s)
1	Portugal	2018
	Slovenia	2019
	South Korea	2022
	Qatar	2023
	China	2024

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

Team	2018 (6)	2019 (6)	2022 (8)	2023 (8)	2024 (8)	Total
Australia	•	•	5th	•	•	1
Belarus	•	3rd	•	•	•	1
Belgium	•	•	•	•	2nd	1
Chile	5th	6th	8th	4th	7th	5
China	•	•	•	5th	1st	2
Croatia	•	•	•	•	5th	1
Cuba	4th	2nd	1st	•	•	3
Czech Republic	2nd	•	4th	•	•	2
Dominican Republic	•	•	•	6th	•	1
Egypt	•	5th	•	•	3rd	2
Estonia	3rd	•	•	•	•	1
Kazakhstan	5th	•	•	•	•	1
Mexico	•	•	•	•	8th	1
Portugal	1st	•	•	•	•	1
Qatar	•	•	7th	2nd	6th	3
Slovenia	•	1st	•	•	•	1
South Korea	•	•	3rd	•	•	1
Thailand	•	•	•	7th	•	1
Tunisia	•	•	6th	8th	•	2
Turkey	•	4th	2nd	1st	•	3
Ukraine	•	•	•	3rd	4th	2

Results summary

Year	Host		Final				3rd place match				Teams
			Champions	Score	Runners-up		3rd place	Score	4th place
2018 Details	Matosinhos		Portugal	3–1	Czech Republic		Estonia	3–0	Cuba		6
2019 Details	Ljubljana		Slovenia	3–0	Cuba		Belarus	3–1	Turkey		6
2020	Gondomar		Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022 Details	Seoul		Cuba	3–1	Turkey		South Korea	3–2	Czech Republic		8
2023 Details	Doha		Turkey	3–2	Qatar		Ukraine	3–0	Chile		8
2024 Details	Linyi		China	3–1	Belgium		Egypt	3–2	Ukraine		8

Medals summary

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Cuba	1	1	0	2
	Turkey	1	1	0	2
3	China	1	0	0	1
	Portugal	1	0	0	1
	Slovenia	1	0	0	1
6	Belgium	0	1	0	1
	Czech Republic	0	1	0	1
	Qatar	0	1	0	1
9	Belarus	0	0	1	1
	Egypt	0	0	1	1
	Estonia	0	0	1	1
	South Korea	0	0	1	1
	Ukraine	0	0	1	1
Totals (13 entries)		5	5	5	15

Nations League qualifier

Year		Relegated Challenger Team	Remaining Challenger Teams						Challenger Cup Winner
2018		South Korea	Australia	Bulgaria	Canada	Only 4 challenger teams in the tournament			Portugal
2019		Portugal							Slovenia
2021		None[7][8]				Netherlands[a]	Slovenia		Cancelled[9]
2022		Australia	China[b]						Cuba
2023		China	Cuba						Turkey
2024		None[4]							China

See also

• FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League
• FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup
• FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League

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.^[8]
2. China replaced Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. As a result, Russia was out of the Nations League.^[10]