The AVC Men's Volleyball Nations Cup (previously known as the AVC Men's Challenge Cup), is an annual international volleyball competition in Asia and Oceania contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC), one of the sport's continent governing body.
Upcoming season or competition: 2026 AVC Men's Volleyball Cup | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Sport | Volleyball |
| Founded | 2018 |
| First season | 2018 |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Continent | Asia and Oceania (AVC) |
Most recent champions |  Bahrain(1st title) |
| Most titles | Bahrain Iraq Kyrgyzstan Qatar Thailand(1 title each) |
| Broadcaster | Volleyball TV (Global) |
| Website | asianvolleyball |
From 2023 to 2024, the winner will qualify for the FIVB Challenger Cup.
This event should not be confused with the other, more prestigious continental competition for Asian national volleyball teams, the Asian Volleyball Championship and the Asian Volleyball Cup (2008–2022).
The five AVC Men's Nations Cup tournaments has been won by five different national teams. Bahrain, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar and Thailand have won once each.
History
editOriginally, the tournament was awarded every two years beginning 2018. This tournament was initially set up to serve as a qualifier to the Men's Asian Volleyball Cup, which served as the tournament for the top teams of the AVC. The champions were Iraq in the 2018 edition[1] and Kyrgyzstan in the 2022 edition.[2] Both teams defeated Saudi Arabia in a tie-break final.
From 2023 to 2024, the AVC Challenge Cup has reformed from being held biennially to annually as it serve as a qualifier for the FIVB Challenger Cup.[3] Thailand were the champions in the 2023 edition after defeating Bahrain in the straight-sets final.[4] Qatar won the 2024 edition after a straight-sets victory over Pakistan in the final.[5]
Starting in 2025, the tournament is rebranded and will be known as the AVC Men's Volleyball Nations Cup. With the new format of the Nations League and the abolishment of the Challenger Cup, this tournament will be served as an annual competition for teams not participating in the VNL to earn world ranking points to increase their place in the FIVB Senior World Rankings, and possibly qualify to the future editions of the VNL. Furthermore, the champions of this tournament will qualify for the Asian Men's Volleyball Championship, starting on the 2026 edition.[6]
Results summary
edit| Year | Hosts | Final | 3rd place match | Teams | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | 3rd place | Score | 4th place | ||||||
| 2018 Details |
 Colombo |
Iraq |
3–2 |  Saudi Arabia |
Sri Lanka |
3–0 |  Bangladesh |
8 | |||
| 2020 | Cholpon-Ata |
Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||||
| 2022 Details |
Cholpon-Ata |
Kyrgyzstan |
3–2 | Saudi Arabia |
 Uzbekistan |
3–2 |  Mongolia |
4 | |||
| 2023 Details |
 Taipei |
Thailand |
3–0 | Bahrain |
 South Korea |
3–1 |  Vietnam |
15 | |||
| 2024 Details |
Isa Town |
Qatar |
3–0 |  Pakistan |
South Korea |
3–1 |  Kazakhstan |
12 | |||
| 2025 Details |
Manama |
Bahrain |
3–1 | Pakistan |
Qatar |
3–0 | South Korea |
11 | |||
| 2026 Details |
 Ahmedabad |
– | – | 11 | |||||||
Teams reaching the top four
edit| Team | Champions | Runners-up | 3rd place | 4th place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahrain |
1 (2025) | 1 (2023) | ||
| Qatar |
1 (2024) | 1 (2025) | ||
| Iraq |
1 (2018) | |||
| Kyrgyzstan |
1 (2022) | |||
| Thailand |
1 (2023) | |||
| Saudi Arabia |
2 (2018, 2022) | |||
| Pakistan |
2 (2024, 2025) | |||
| South Korea |
2 (2023, 2024) | 1 (2025) | ||
| Sri Lanka |
1 (2018) | |||
| Uzbekistan |
1 (2022) | |||
| Bangladesh |
1 (2018) | |||
| Mongolia |
1 (2022) | |||
| Vietnam |
1 (2023) | |||
| Kazakhstan |
1 (2024) |
Champions by region
edit| Federation (region) | Champions | Number |
|---|---|---|
| WAVA (West Asia) | Bahrain (1), Iraq (1), Qatar (1) |
3 titles |
| CAVA (Central Asia) | Kyrgyzstan (1) |
1 title |
| SAVA (Southeast Asia) | Thailand (1) |
1 title |
Hosts
editList of hosts by number of times hosted.
| Number | Nations | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Bahrain | 2024, 2025 |
| 1 | Sri Lanka | 2018 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 2022 | |
| Taiwan | 2023 | |
| India | 2026 |
Medal summary
edit| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bahrain | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Qatar | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Iraq | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Thailand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 6 | Pakistan | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 8 | South Korea | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Sri Lanka | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Uzbekistan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (10 entries) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 | |
Participating nations
edit- Legend
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- 4th – Fourth place
- • – Did not enter / Did not qualify
- – Hosts
- Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
Year Team |
2018 (8) |
2022 (4) |
2023 (15) |
2024 (12) |
2025 (11) |
2026 (11) |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Australia |
• | • | 5th | 8th | 5th | Q | 4 |
| Bahrain |
• | • | 2nd | 7th | 1st | Q | 4 |
| Bangladesh |
4th | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
 China |
• | • | • | 5th | • | • | 1 |
 Chinese Taipei |
• | • | 9th | 12th | 7th | Q | 4 |
 Hong Kong |
6th | • | 11th | • | • | • | 2 |
| India |
• | • | 15th | • | • | Q | 2 |
 Indonesia |
• | • | 6th | 11th | 6th | Q | 4 |
| Iraq |
1st | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| Kazakhstan |
• | • | 7th | 4th | • | Q | 3 |
| Kyrgyzstan |
• | 1st | • | • | • | • | 1 |
 Macau |
• | • | 12th | • | • | • | 1 |
 Malaysia |
7th | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| Mongolia |
8th | 4th | 8th | • | • | • | 3 |
 New Zealand |
• | • | • | • | 11th | Q | 2 |
 Oman |
• | • | • | • | • | Q | 1 |
| Pakistan |
• | • | • | 2nd | 2nd | • | 2 |
 Philippines |
• | • | 10th | 10th | 10th | • | 3 |
| Qatar |
• | • | • | 1st | 3rd | Q | 3 |
| Saudi Arabia |
2nd | 2nd | 14th | • | • | • | 3 |
| South Korea |
• | • | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | Q | 4 |
| Sri Lanka |
3rd | • | 13th | • | • | • | 2 |
| Thailand |
• | • | 1st | 9th | 9th | Q | 4 |
 United Arab Emirates |
5th | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| Uzbekistan |
• | 3rd | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| Vietnam |
• | • | 4th | 6th | 8th | • | 3 |
Debut of teams
edit| Year | Debutants | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Bangladesh |
8 |
| Hong Kong | ||
| Iraq | ||
| Malaysia | ||
| Mongolia | ||
| Saudi Arabia | ||
| Sri Lanka | ||
| United Arab Emirates | ||
| 2022 | Kyrgyzstan |
2 |
| Uzbekistan | ||
| 2023 | Australia |
11 |
| Bahrain | ||
| Chinese Taipei | ||
| India | ||
| Indonesia | ||
| Kazakhstan | ||
| Macau | ||
| Philippines | ||
| South Korea | ||
| Thailand | ||
| Vietnam | ||
| 2024 | China |
3 |
| Pakistan | ||
| Qatar | ||
| 2025 | New Zealand |
1 |
| 2026 | Oman |
1 |
Awards
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See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "Iraq Reign Supreme in 1st AVC Men's Challenge Cup". AVC. 22 September 2018. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
- ↑ Preechachan (3 September 2022). "Kyrgyzstan Capture Maiden AVC Men's Challenge Cup Title on Home Soil after Comeback 3-2 Win against Saudi Arabia". AVC. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
- ↑ Edria Liang (16 June 2023). 中華女排出戰亞洲挑戰盃 賽程、名單一次看 [Chinese women's volleyball team Asian Challenge Cup schedule and list]. VOL Sports (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 17 June 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ↑ Preechachan (16 July 2023). "Thailand capture AVC Challenge Cup and final berth in FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup in Qatar". AVC. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ↑ Preechachan (10 June 2024). "Qatar crowned 2024 AVC Challenge Cup champions, secure FIVB Challenger Cup berth". AVC. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- ↑ Preechachan (15 April 2025). "Vietnam and Bahrain confirmed to host respective AVC Women's and Men's Nations Cup in June". AVC. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
External links
edit- Asian Volleyball Confederation – official website
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