Thank you FIVB!
The volleyball world waits in anticipation for this year’s FIVB Volleyball World Championships for men and women for what promises to be a tournament filled with surprises and top notch sporting action.
And all seasoned fans know, volleyball is not just a sport but a passion – one that brings together a multitude of people from different parts of the world for one common purpose.
The promotional videos for the World Championships bring together the emotions of the sport, giving volleyball fans the world over a taste of what to expect when the 24 men’s and women’s teams take to courts later this year.
A total of 24 teams will compete for the title in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Poland 2014 and the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Italy 2014.
To date 19 out of 24 teams have booked their place at this year’s Men’s World Championship event scheduled to take place from August 30 to September 21. In addition to Poland, the following eight European countries have also qualified through the CEV qualification tournaments: Russia, Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia, Germany, Belgium, Finland and France.
The four Asian countries that qualified through the AVC World Championship qualification tournament are Iran, Australia, Korea and China. The three vacancies available to South America were filled by Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, while Egypt, Tunisia and Cameroon will be participating for Africa.
NORCECA is the only confederation left to complete its qualification tournaments. The NORCECA confederation will hold four qualifying tournaments (each with four teams) scheduled to take place in Cuba (May 12 to 18), USA (May 13 to 19), Canada (May 14 to 20) and Puerto Rico (May 20 to 26). The FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Poland 2014 NORCECA playoff will take place either in Mexico or Puerto Rico from July 14 to 20 and will determine the last of the five NORCECA teams to book their place at the World Championships this year.
Brazil sealed their third straight FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship title in Italy in 2010 after beating Cuba in the final. Serbia completed the podium after beating the home side in the bronze medal match. Reigning world champions, Brazil could make history with a fourth win in a row at this year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship
In the women’s tournament, 18 out of 24 teams have qualified to participate in matches that will take place from September 23 to October 12.
The Asian, South American, African and European confederations have completed their qualification processes, with one of the European spots reserved for hosts, Italy.
Joining the hosts are Kazakhstan, Thailand, Japan, China (Asia), Brazil and Argentina (South America), Tunisia and Cameroon (Africa) as well as Germany, Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium and Azerbaijan (Europe). Only NORCECA have still to determine the countries that will participate in the tournament.
The NORCECA confederation will hold five qualifying tournaments (each with four teams) scheduled to take place in Cuba (May 12 to 18), USA and Dominican Republic (May 13 to 19), Canada (May 14 to 20) and Puerto Rico (May 20 to 26). The winner of each group will qualify for the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Italy 2014 while the runners-up will go through to a play-off for the sixth and final place from June 2 to 9 in Trinidad.
Russia will be looking to add a third consecutive title to their hat-trick of back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2010.
