Which country won the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship?

The 2022 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Volleyball Men’s World Championship will commence within a couple of days. The prestigious volleyball competition will be held in Poland and Slovenia and will conclude on September 11, 2022.

The FIVB Volleyball Men's Championship takes place once every four years and this year marks the 20th staging of the tournament. Before delving into the details of this year’s finalists, here’s more information about the reigning champions of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Championship.

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Winner of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship

The winner of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Championship is none other than the host nation this year, Poland. The same country was the winner in the 2014 edition of the tournament as well, making them the defending champions of the 19th staging of the tournament.

Poland's team were at the top of their form in 2018 when they obliterated Brazil in the final in straight sets. History repeated itself as the same scenario took place in the final match of the 2014 Volleyball Men’s World Championship. The Most Valued Player (MVP) award of the tournament was won by revered Polish volleyball player Bartosz Kurek. Now that Poland is the host country, it remains to be seen if the nation will be able to defend their title as champions this year.

In 2018, Brazil’s loss to Poland was even more prominent as the former was the reigning Olympic champion. The win in 2018 was Poland's third FIVB Volleyball Men's Championship title. The third and fourth places were occupied by the United States of America and Serbia, respectively.

In 2018, for the first time ever, the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship was held in two countries, Italy and Bulgaria. The trend has been followed this year as well, with the 2022 Volleyball Men’s World Championship being held in Poland and Slovenia this time.

However, this was not supposed to be the case as Russia was originally chosen as the host nation. However, due to the country’s aggression towards Ukraine, it was stripped of organizational rights.

Here are all the countries that are taking part in the final tournament of the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship:

• Poland – Defending champion and host nation
• Ukraine – Reallocation (in place of Russia)
• Puerto Rico – 2021 Men’s North, Central America and Caribbean (NORCECA) Volleyball Champion
• Canada – 2021 Men’s North, Central America and Caribbean (NORCECA) Volleyball Runner-Up
• Brazil – 2021 Men’s South American Volleyball Champion
• Argentina – 2021 Men’s South American Volleyball Runner-Up
• Cameroon – 2021 Men’s African Nations Volleyball Champion
• Tunisia – 2021 Men’s African Nations Volleyball Runner-Up
• Iran – 2021 Men’s Asian Volleyball Champion
• Japan – 2021 Men’s Asian Volleyball Runner-Up
• Slovenia – 2021 Men’s European Volleyball Champion
• Italy – 2021 Men’s European Volleyball Runner-Up

Note: The above includes teams from the 2021 Continental Championships, along with the default host nation.

World Rankings

• France – First
• United States of America – Second
• Serbia – Third
• Cuba – Fourth
• Netherlands – Fifth
• Germany – Sixth
• Mexico – Seventh
• Turkey – Eighth
• Egypt – Ninth
• Qatar – Tenth
• Bulgaria – Eleventh
• China – Twelfth

Note: The next twelve spots have been assigned based on the country’s ranking as per FIVB World Ranking.