The FIVB Volleyball World Cup is an international men's and women's
volleyball competition. Created in 1965 and 1973, it is an international
qualification event for the Olympic Games. It is not to be confused with the
World Championship or the World League/World Grand Prix.
History = Origins=
The World Cup was created in 1965 with the purpose of partially filling the gap
between the two most important volleyball tournaments, the Olympic
Games and the World Championship, which take place in alternating 4-year cycles.
The establishment of a third international competition would leave
only one in every four years with no major events.
The World Cup was to be held in the year following the Olympic Games. The first
two tournaments were for men's volleyball only; in 1973, a women's
tournament was also introduced. Originally, each tournament had a
different host, but in 1977 the competition was transferred to Japan on
a permanent basis. In the 1990s, the installment of annual
international events such as the World League and the Grand Prix made the
original motivations for the creation of the World Cup obsolete. Instead of
letting a consolidated event disappear for lack of interest, the FIVB decided
to change its format in 1991: it would be held in the year preceding, and not
following, the Olympic Games; and it would be considered a first
international Olympic qualification tournament, granting the winner a direct
berth in the games. This move saved the competition. The
possibility of securing an early berth for the Olympic Games, thus avoiding
extraneous and in some cases tight continental qualification procedures,
became a consistent motivation for the national federations to participate in
the World Cup. In 1995, the number of Olympic spots granted at the competition
was increased to three, as it remained until 2011. In 2015 the number of spots
was only two again. = Winners=
Former Soviet Union and Brazil managed to win the Men's World Cup more than
once. The Soviets took the gold at the opening edition of the tournament, in
1965. Four years later, the winner was also a socialist nation, East Germany.
Brazil's team won consecutively 2003 and 2007.
Scheduled for Uruguay, the men's events of the 1973 edition were cancelled. In
1977, competition was resumed in Japan, and the USSR came back for two wins in a
row. In 1985, they were once again runner-ups, but lost the decisive match
to USA in five sets. In 1989, Cuba surprised the world and beat a rising
Italy to take the gold. With the competition now set as a
qualifying event for the Olympic Games, Soviet Union, led by Dmitri Fomin won
the title in 1991, at the brink of dissolution. The Italians, who hadn't
participated in this edition, finally conquered their gold medal in 1995.
Inheriting a large part of the former Soviet volleyball programme, Russia was
the winner in 1999. In the following two editions, played in 2003 and 2007
respectively, were won by favorite Brazil.
In 2011, the world champion Russia regained the title by defeating Poland.
= Winners= The Women's World Cup has had not one
great winner, like its counterpart for men's volleyball, but two: Cuba and
China. The first edition of the tournament was
won by the Soviet Union. Japan, the runner-up of 1973, took the gold in
1977. With the help of superstar player Lang Ping, China won the following two
editions, in 1981 and 1985. Then Cuba stepped forward to begin its
amazing World Cup career, winning its first title in 1989. With the tournament
now as an Olympic qualifier, there followed three more consecutive
victories, in 1991, 1995 and 1999. China came back in 2003 with a
remarkably offensive team to win its third title.
Finally Italy won the 2007 edition with an outstanding record of eleven wins in
eleven games and only two sets left to the opponents. Italy took a second win
in a row in 2011, getting the better hand on United States and China.
Competition formula The World Cup is the most stable from
all competition formulas employed by the FIVB. The following rules apply:
The competition takes place in Japan. Twelve teams participate in each event:
ten qualified, two per invitation. Japan is always pre-qualified as host
nation. The winner of the FIVB World
Championships in the previous year is automatically granted a spot.
The champion and runner-up of each continental tournament of that year is
granted a spot. Since the 1999 edition, only teams not
yet qualified for the following Olympic Games can compete in the World Cup.
The competition is divided in exactly two phases.
Teams are divided in two pools. At the first leg, each team plays one
match against all other teams in its pool.
At the second leg, each team plays one match against all the teams in the other
pool. Matches take place continuously through
two weeks, with one-day breaks every two or three days. Each day, six matches are
played. Final standings are calculated by usual
volleyball criteria: match points, numbers of matches won, sets ratio,
points ratio, direct confrontation. Top two teams in overall standings,
regardless of pools, qualify for the following Olympic Games.
The tournament implements very tight line-up restrictions: only twelve
players are allowed, and no replacement is permitted, even in the case of
injuries. Results
= Men= = Women=
Medals summary = Men=
= Women= Performance by team
= Men= In 1969 both East Germany and West
Germany participated and a East Germany junior team also.
= Women= See also
Volleyball at the Summer Olympics FIVB Volleyball World Championship
FIVB Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup
FIVB Volleyball World League FIVB World Grand Prix
List of indoor volleyball World Champions
List of indoor volleyball world medalists
References External links
Official FIVB website