2018 Men’s World Championships
- September 10-30, 2018
- Italy & Bulgaria
- Tournament Central
The Bulgarian government announced that it was lending $500,000 to the group organizing the country’s hosting duties for the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in September.
The 24-team event will be contested in Ruse, Sofia and Varna in Bulgaria as well as six cities in Italy: Bari, Bologna, Florence, Milan, Rome and Turin.
The dual hosting duties mark the first time in the 70-year history of the World Championships that two countries jointly hosted the event. Bulgaria last hosted the men’s event in 1970, while Italy did so in 1978. The Italians also hosted the 2014 Women’s World Championship.
Both host countries are a part of the field, which also includes defending champion Poland (2014), 2016 Olympic champions Brazil and 2017 World League champions France.
In total, the Bulgarian government has reportedly contributed $5 million from 2016 to 2018.
Tickets are on sale now for the Sept. 9-30 event, which features an opening stage of pool play with four groups of six. The top four teams in each pool move on to Round 2, which breaks the remaining 16 teams in four team pools. Round 3 will see the four pool winners and two additional teams compete in two three-team groups. In the end, a semifinal round and podium matches will decide the 2018 champion.
Pool B in the opening round could be deemed the group of death with world #1 Brazil, #6 Canada and #9 France joining Egypt, China and The Netherlands. The United States is in Pool C, alongside Russia, Serbia, Australia, Tunisia and Cameroon.
Brazil won three straight World Championships (2002, 2006 and 2010), while Poland became the first European winners since 1998 with their 2014 title as the host country. The 1998 championship marked the third straight title for Italy (1990, 1994 and 1998).
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