FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup

FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup
Most recent season or competition:; 2024 FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup
Sport	Volleyball
Founded	2017; 9 years ago
First season	2018
Ceased	2024
CEO	Ary Graça
No. of teams	8
Continent	International (FIVB)
Last; champions	Czech Republic; (1st title)
Most titles	Bulgaria; Canada; Croatia; Czech Republic; France; (1 title each)
Streaming partner	Volleyball TV
Promotion to	Nations League
Official website	Volleyball Challenger Cup

The FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup was 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 Challenger Cup served as a qualifying tournament for the Volleyball Nations League (VNL), with the winner earning the right to participate in the following year's VNL.^[1]^[2]

A corresponding tournament for men's national teams was the FIVB Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup.

History

The Challenger Cup was first announced in October 2017 (alongside the announcement of the Nations League) as a joint project between the FIVB, the IMG and 21 national federations.^[3] The inaugural tournament was played between 20 and 24 June 2018 in Lima, Peru. Bulgaria won the tournament, defeating Colombia in the final and qualified for the 2019 Nations League.

The 2020 and 2021 editions of the Challenger Cup were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the tournament returned in 2022, it had a new knockout formula and the number of participating teams had increased from six to eight.^[2]

In 2024, FIVB announced that the world ranking would replace the Challenger Cup as the qualifier for the 2026 Nations League and the tournament was discontinued.^[4]

Format

2018–2019

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.^[1]^[5]

2022–2024

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.^[6]

Qualification

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

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

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	2018 (6)	2019 (6)	2022 (8)	2023 (8)	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

Year	Host	Final			3rd place match			Teams
Year	Host	Champions	Score	Runners-up	3rd place	Score	4th place	Teams
2018 Details	Lima	Bulgaria	3–1	Colombia	Puerto Rico	3–2	Peru	6
2019 Details	Lima	Canada	3–2	Czech Republic	Argentina	3–0	Croatia	6
2020	Zadar	Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Zadar	Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 Details	Zadar	Croatia	3–1	Belgium	Puerto Rico	3–1	Colombia	8
2023 Details	Laval	France	3–1	Sweden	Colombia	3–1	Ukraine	8
2024 Details	Manila	Czech Republic	3–1	Puerto Rico	Vietnam	3–1	Belgium	8

Medals summary


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Czech Republic	1	1	0	2
2	Bulgaria	1	0	0	1
	Canada	1	0	0	1
	Croatia	1	0	0	1
	France	1	0	0	1
6	Puerto Rico	0	1	2	3
7	Colombia	0	1	1	2
8	Belgium	0	1	0	1
8	Sweden	0	1	0	1
10	Argentina	0	0	1	1
10	Vietnam	0	0	1	1
Totals (11 entries)		5	5	5	15

Nations League qualifier

Year	Relegated Challenger Team	Remaining Challenger Teams				Challenger Cup Winner
2018	Argentina	Belgium	Dominican Republic	Poland	Only 4 challenger teams in the tournament	Bulgaria
2019	Bulgaria				Only 4 challenger teams in the tournament	Canada
2021	None^[7]^[8]				Canada	Cancelled^[9]
2022	Belgium	Bulgaria^[a]				Croatia
2023	Croatia	Bulgaria^[a]				France
2024	None^[4]					Czech Republic

Notes

↑ Bulgaria replaced Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. As a result, Russia was out of the Nations League.^[10]

References

1 2 "FIVB Executive Committee embraces digital transformation". FIVB.org. 7 December 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
1 2 "Volleyball Challenger Cup battles coming up in Croatia and Korea". Volleyball World. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
↑ "FIVB announces the Volleyball Nations League". FIVB.org. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
1 2 "VNL to expand to 18 teams in 2025". Volleyball World. 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
↑ "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.
↑ "Competition Formula". Volleyball World. Archived from the original on 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
↑ "Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2021 – Everything you need to know". IOC. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
↑ "FIVB statement on participating teams at VNL 2021". FIVB. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
↑ "FIVB announces cancellation of Volleyball Challenger Cup 2021". Volleyball World. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
↑ "FIVB Declares Russia And Belarus Not Eligible For International And Continental Competitions". FIVB. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.

External links

Fédération Internationale de Volleyball – official website

[11] Bulgaria replaced Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. As a result, Russia was out of the Nations League.^[10]

[challengercup-1] 1 2 "FIVB Executive Committee embraces digital transformation". FIVB.org. 7 December 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.

[cc2022-2] 1 2 "Volleyball Challenger Cup battles coming up in Croatia and Korea". Volleyball World. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.

[announcement-3] "FIVB announces the Volleyball Nations League". FIVB.org. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.

[cc2024-4] 1 2 "VNL to expand to 18 teams in 2025". Volleyball World. 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2025.

[5] "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.

[6] "Competition Formula". Volleyball World. Archived from the original on 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-07-09.

[7] "Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2021 – Everything you need to know". IOC. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.

[8] "FIVB statement on participating teams at VNL 2021". FIVB. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2022.

[9] "FIVB announces cancellation of Volleyball Challenger Cup 2021". Volleyball World. Retrieved 8 November 2022.

[10] "FIVB Declares Russia And Belarus Not Eligible For International And Continental Competitions". FIVB. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.

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