FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup

FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup
Most recent season or competition:
2024 FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup
SportVolleyball
Founded2017; 7 years ago (2017)
First season2018
CEOBrazil Ary Graça
No. of teams8
ContinentInternational (FIVB)
Most recent
champion(s)
 Czech Republic
(1st title)
Most titles Bulgaria
 Canada
 Croatia
 Czech Republic
 France
(1 title each)
Streaming partner(s)Volleyball TV
Promotion toNations League
Official websiteVolleyball Challenger Cup

The FIVB Women's Volleyball 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.

The creation of the tournament was announced in October 2017 (alongside 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 Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup.

Format

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Previous format

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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

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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

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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

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List of hosts by number of final cups hosted.

Times hosted Hosts Year(s)
2  Peru 2018, 2019
1  Croatia 2022
 France 2023
 Philippines 2024

Appearance

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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 Peru
2018
(6)
Peru
2019
(6)
Croatia
2022
(8)
France
2023
(8)
Philippines
2024
(8)

Total

 Argentina 3rd 8th 2
 Australia 5th 1
 Belgium 2nd 4th 2
 Bulgaria 1st 1
 Cameroon 8th 1
 Canada 1st 1
 Chinese Taipei 6th 1
 Colombia 2nd 4th 3rd 3
 Croatia 4th 1st 7th 3
 Czech Republic 2nd 6th 1st 3
 France 5th 1st 2
 Hungary 5th 1
 Kazakhstan 7th 1
 Kenya 6th 5th 2
 Mexico 5th 1
 Peru 4th 5th 2
 Philippines 7th 1
 Puerto Rico 3rd 3rd 2nd 3
 Sweden 2nd 6th 2
 Ukraine 4th 1
 Vietnam 8th 3rd 2

Results summary

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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
2024
Details
Philippines
Manila

Czech Republic
3–1
Puerto Rico

Vietnam
3–1
Belgium
8

Medals summary

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Czech Republic1102
2 Bulgaria1001
 Canada1001
 Croatia1001
 France1001
6 Puerto Rico0123
7 Colombia0112
8 Belgium0101
 Sweden0101
10 Argentina0011
 Vietnam0011
Totals (11 entries)55515

Nations League qualifier

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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[a] Same position  Croatia Rise
2023  Croatia Fall  France Rise
2024 None[10]  Czech Republic Rise

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Bulgaria replaced Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. As a result, Russia was out of the Nations League.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "FIVB announces the Volleyball Nations League". FIVB.org. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b "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.
  10. ^ "VNL to expand to 18 teams in 2025". Volleyball World. 13 February 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
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