# FIVB Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup

The FIVB Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The first tournament was played between 20 and 24 June 2018 in Matosinhos, Portugal. The Portugal team won the inaugural edition, defeating Czech Republic counterpart in the final and qualified for the 2019 Nations League.

## History

The tournament 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. The Challenger Cup serves as a qualifying tournament for the aforementioned Nations League. The FIVB Challenger Cup is held before the Nations League's Final Round (in 2018 and 2019 editions) but changed it in 2022 edition and the winner earns the right to participate in the next year's Nations League.
A corresponding tournament for women's national teams is the FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup.

## Format
### Previous format

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.

### New format

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.

## 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) |
| 1 | Portugal | 2018 |
| 1 | Slovenia | 2019 |
| 1 | South Korea | 2022 |
| 1 | Qatar | 2023 |
| 1 | China | 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 |
| Australia | • | • | 5th | • | • | 1 |
| Belarus | • | 3rd | • | • | • | 1 |
| Belgium | • | • | • | • | 2nd | 1 |
| Chile | 5th | 6th | 8th | 4th | 7th | 5 |
| China | • | • | • | 5th | 1st | 2 |
| Croatia | • | • | • | • | 5th | 1 |
| Cuba | 4th | 2nd | 1st | • | • | 3 |
| Czech Republic | 2nd | • | 4th | • | • | 2 |
| Dominican Republic | • | • | • | 6th | • | 1 |
| Egypt | • | 5th | • | • | 3rd | 2 |
| Estonia | 3rd | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| Kazakhstan | 5th | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| Mexico | • | • | • | • | 8th | 1 |
| Portugal | 1st | • | • | • | • | 1 |
| Qatar | • | • | 7th | 2nd | 6th | 3 |
| Slovenia | • | 1st | • | • | • | 1 |
| South Korea | • | • | 3rd | • | • | 1 |
| Thailand | • | • | • | 7th | • | 1 |
| Tunisia | • | • | 6th | 8th | • | 2 |
| Turkey | • | 4th | 2nd | 1st | • | 3 |
| Ukraine | • | • | • | 3rd | 4th | 2 |

## Results summary

| Year | Host | Final | Final | Final | | 3rd place match | 3rd place match | 3rd place match | | Teams |
| Year | Host | Champions | Score | Runners-up | | 3rd place | Score | 4th place | | Teams |
| 2018 Details | Matosinhos | Portugal | 3–1 | Czech Republic | | Estonia | 3–0 | Cuba | | 6 |
| 2019 Details | Ljubljana | Slovenia | 3–0 | Cuba | | Belarus | 3–1 | Turkey | | 6 |
| 2020 | Gondomar | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | Gondomar | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2022 Details | Seoul | Cuba | 3–1 | Turkey | | South Korea | 3–2 | Czech Republic | | 8 |
| 2023 Details | Doha | Turkey | 3–2 | Qatar | | Ukraine | 3–0 | Chile | | 8 |
| 2024 Details | Linyi | China | 3–1 | Belgium | | Egypt | 3–2 | Ukraine | | 8 |

## Medals summary

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Cuba | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | Turkey | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | China | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Portugal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Slovenia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Belgium | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Czech Republic | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Qatar | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Belarus | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Egypt | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Estonia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | South Korea | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Ukraine | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (13 entries) | Totals (13 entries) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |

## Nations League qualifier

| Year | Relegated Challenger Team | Remaining Challenger Teams | Remaining Challenger Teams | Remaining Challenger Teams | Remaining Challenger Teams | Remaining Challenger Teams | | Challenger Cup Winner |
| 2018 | South Korea | Australia | Bulgaria | Canada | Only 4 challenger teams in the tournament | Only 4 challenger teams in the tournament | | Portugal |
| 2019 | Portugal | Australia | Bulgaria | Canada | Only 4 challenger teams in the tournament | Only 4 challenger teams in the tournament | | Slovenia |
| 2021 | None | Australia | Bulgaria | Canada | Netherlands | Slovenia | | Cancelled |
| 2022 | Australia | China | Bulgaria | Canada | Netherlands | Slovenia | | Cuba |
| 2023 | China | Cuba | Bulgaria | Canada | Netherlands | Slovenia | | Turkey |
| 2024 | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | China |