The 19th edition of the the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship will he held in Italy and Bulgaria from 9 – 30 September 2018, the first time it is done in a jointly-hosted manner. 24 national teams will be competing for gold:
- Defending Champions: Poland
- Host Countries: Italy, Bulgaria
- European Qualifiers: Serbia, Netherlands, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, France, Belgium
- Asian Qualifiers: Japan, Australia, China, Iran, Puerto Rico, Cuba
- South American Qualifiers: Brazil, Argentina
- NORCECA Qualifiers: Dominican Republic United States Canada
- African Qualifiers: Tunisia, Egypt, Cameroon
For roster information, click HERE. To access VolleyMob’s Power Rankings instead, click HERE
Format
First round
In the first round, the 24 teams will be spread across four pools of six teams playing in a round-robin system. The top four teams from each pool will advance to the second round. featuring four pools of four teams playing in four cities.
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
|---|---|---|---|
 Italy |
 Brazil |
 United States |
 Bulgaria |
 Argentina |
 Canada |
 Russia |
 Poland |
 Japan |
 France |
 Serbia |
 Iran |
 Belgium |
 Egypt |
 Australia |
 Cuba |
 Slovenia |
 China |
 Tunisia |
 Finland |
 Dominican Republic |
 Netherlands |
 Cameroon |
 Puerto Rico |
Second round
The second round will feature four pools of four teams paying once again in a round-robin system. At the end of the second round matches, the rankings of the four pools will be 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 stage will access the third stage, together with the top two of the second ranked teams.
| Pool E | Pool F | Pool G | Pool H |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pool A 1st | Pool B 1st | Pool C 1st | Pool D 1st |
| Pool B 2nd | Pool A 2nd | Pool D 2nd | Pool C 2nd |
| Pool C 3rd | Pool A 3rd | Pool D 3rd | Pool B 3rd |
| Pool D 4th | Pool C 4th | Pool B 4th | Pool A 4th |
Third round
The six teams competing in the third round will be divided into two three-team pools by a draw. After the matches played once again in a round-robin system, the top two in each pool will qualify for the semifinals and finals.
Final round
The third round pool winners play against the runners-up in this round. The semifinals winners advance to compete for the World Championship title. The losers face each other in the third place match.
Schedule
The full schedule for the tournament can be found on FIVB’s Hot Site HERE. Team USA’s preliminary schedule will be as follows
- 12 Sep – 20:30 – United States x Serbia
- 13 Sep – 17:00 – Australia x United States
- 15 Sep – 20:30 – United States x Russia
- 16 Sep – 17:00 – Cameroon x United States
- 18 Sep – 17:00 United States x Tunisia
All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00)
Results
Full results and stats can be found on FIVB’s Hot Site HERE. VolleyMob will also offer daily coverage of the tournament.
TV Coverage
Most countries will be able to view the game’s through FIVB’s subscription platform, Volleyball TV. Some countries will also have network providing the games:
- Brazil – TV Globo
- Bulgaria – MTEL
- China – CCTV
- Germany – Sky Deutschland
- Japan – TBS
- Poland – Polsat
- Russia – Match TV
- USA – Flosports
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