FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup

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FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup
SportVolleyball
Founded1973
Inaugural season1973
CEOBrazil Ary Graça
No. of teams12
ContinentInternational (FIVB)
Most recent
champion(s)		 China (5th title)
Most titles China (5 titles)
Official websiteFIVB World Cup

The FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. Initially the tournament was played in the year following the Olympic Games, but since 1991 the World Cup has been awarded in the year preceding the Olympic Games. The current champion is China, which won its fifth title at the 2019 tournament.

The current format of the competition involves 12 teams, including the automatically qualifying host nation Japan, competing in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about two weeks. The World Cup (with exception of the 2019 edition) acts as the first qualification event for the following year's Olympic Games with the top two teams qualifying.

The 13 World Cup tournaments have been won by five different national teams. China have won five times. The other World Cup winners are Cuba, with four titles; Italy, with two titles; and Japan and Russia (as Soviet Union), with one title each.

This tournament should not be confused with the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship.

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 has a smaller entry than the World Championship, with at most 12 teams.

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[]

The Women's World Cup has had not one great winner, like its counterpart for men's volleyball, but two: China and Cuba.

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.

Italy won the 2007 edition with an outstanding record of eleven wins in eleven games and only two sets left to the opponents (both lost against Serbia). Italy took a second win in a row in 2011, getting the better hand on United States and China. In 2015, China regained the title and then successfully defended it in 2019.

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 are always pre-qualified as host nation.
    • The winners of the FIVB World Championship in the previous year are automatically granted a spot.
    • The champion and runner-up of each continental tournament of that year are granted two spots.
    • Since the 1999 edition, only teams not yet qualified for the following Olympic Games can compete in the World Cup; hence hosts of the following year's Olympic Games are not allowed to compete. There was an exception for the 2019 World Cup, as the tournament will be hosted by Japan and the country will host the 2020 Summer Olympics.
  • The competition is divided in exactly two phases (called "legs").
    • 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 (the total number of sets won divided by the total number of sets lost), points ratio, direct confrontation.
  • The 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 summary[]

Year Host Final 3rd place match Teams
Champions Score Runners-up 3rd place Score 4th place
1973
Details 		Uruguay
Uruguay
Soviet Union 		Round-robin
Japan
South Korea 		Round-robin
Peru 		10
1977
Details 		Japan
Japan
Japan 		Round-robin
Cuba
South Korea 		Round-robin
China 		8
1981
Details 		Japan
Japan
China 		Round-robin
Japan
Soviet Union 		Round-robin
United States 		8
1985
Details 		Japan
Japan
China 		Round-robin
Cuba
Soviet Union 		Round-robin
Japan 		8
1989
Details 		Japan
Japan
Cuba 		Round-robin
Soviet Union
China 		Round-robin
Japan 		8
1991
Details 		Japan
Japan
Cuba 		Round-robin
China
Soviet Union 		Round-robin
United States 		12
1995
Details 		Japan
Japan
Cuba 		Round-robin
Brazil
China 		Round-robin
Croatia 		12
1999
Details 		Japan
Japan
Cuba 		Round-robin
Russia
Brazil 		Round-robin
South Korea 		12
2003
Details 		Japan
Japan
China 		Round-robin
Brazil
United States 		Round-robin
Italy 		12
2007
Details 		Japan
Japan
Italy 		Round-robin
Brazil
United States 		Round-robin
Cuba 		12
2011
Details 		Japan
Japan
Italy 		Round-robin
United States
China 		Round-robin
Japan 		12
2015
Details 		Japan
Japan
China 		Round-robin
Serbia
United States 		Round-robin
Russia 		12
2019
Details 		Japan
Japan
China 		Round-robin
United States
Russia 		Round-robin
Brazil 		12

Medals summary[]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 China5139
2 Cuba4206
3 Italy2002
4 Japan1203
5 Soviet Union1135
6 Brazil0314
7 United States0235
8 Russia0112
9 Serbia0101
10 South Korea0022
Totals (10 nations)13131339

Debut of national teams[]

Year Debutants Total
1973  Argentina,  Brazil,  Canada,  Cuba,  Japan,  Peru,
 South Korea,  Soviet Union,  United States,  Uruguay 		10
1977  Hungary 1
1981  Bulgaria 1
1985  Tunisia 1
1989  East Germany 1
1991  Germany,  Kenya,  Spain 3
1995  Croatia,  Egypt,  Netherlands 2
1999  Italy,  Russia 2
2003  Dominican Republic,  Poland,  Turkey 4
2007  Serbia,  Thailand 2
2011  Algeria 1
2015 None 0
2019  Cameroon 1

Participating nations[]

Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  •  •  – Did not enter / Did not qualify
  •    – Hosts
  • = – More than one team tied for that rank
  • Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
Team[1] Uruguay
1973
(10) 		Japan
1977
(8) 		Japan
1981
(8) 		Japan
1985
(8) 		Japan
1989
(8) 		Japan
1991
(12) 		Japan
1995
(12) 		Japan
1999
(12) 		Japan
2003
(12) 		Japan
2007
(12) 		Japan
2011
(12) 		Japan
2015
(12) 		Japan
2019
(12) 		Total
 Algeria • • • • • • • • • • 11th 12th • 2
 Argentina 8th • • • • • • 11th 11th • 10th 8th 10th 6
 Brazil 9th • 8th 6th • 8th 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd 5th • 4th 10
 Bulgaria • • 7th • • • • • • • • • • 1
 Cameroon • • • • • • • • • • • • 12th 1
 Canada 7th • • • 8th 10th 9th • • • • • • 4
 China • 4th 1st 1st 3rd 2nd 3rd 5th 1st • 3rd 1st 1st 11
 Croatia Part of  Yugoslavia 4th 8th • • • • • 2
 Cuba 5th 2nd 6th 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 6th 4th • 9th • 11
 Dominican Republic • • • • • • • • 10th 9th 8th 7th 7th 5
 Egypt • • • • • • 12th • 12th • • • • 2
 Germany See  East Germany
and  West Germany		 9th • • • • 6th • • 2
 Hungary • 6th • • • • • • • • • • • 1
 Italy • • • • • • • 7th 4th 1st 1st • • 4
 Japan 2nd 1st 2nd 4th 4th 7th 6th 6th 5th 7th 4th 5th 5th 13
 Kenya • • • • • 12th 11th • • 12th 12th 10th 11th 6
 Netherlands • • • • • • 8th • • • • • 8th 2
 Peru 4th 5th • 5th 5th 5th 10th 10th • 11th • 11th • 9
 Poland • • • • • • • • 8th 6th • • • 2
 Russia Part of  Soviet Union • 2nd • • • 4th 3rd 3
 Serbia Part of  Yugoslavia Part of Serbia and Montenegro SCG 5th 7th 2nd 9th 4
 South Korea 3rd 3rd 5th 7th 7th 6th 5th 4th 9th 8th 9th 6th 6th 13
 Spain • • • • • 11th • • • • • • • 1
 Thailand • • • • �� • • • • 10th • • • 1
 Tunisia • • • 8th • • • 12th • • • • • 2
 Turkey • • • • • • • • 7th • • • • 1
 United States 6th 7th 4th • • 4th 7th 9th 3rd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 11
 Uruguay 10th • • • • • • • • • • • • 1
Discontinued nations
 East Germany • • • • 6th defunct 1
 Soviet Union 1st 8th 3rd 3rd 2nd 3rd defunct 6


MVP by edition[]

See also[]

Notes[]

References[]

  1. ^ FIVB Official website - Honours Women
  2. ^ "배구 조혜정" [Volleyball Jo Hea-jung] (in Korean). 20 Dec 1973. Retrieved 2 Mar 2020.

External links[]

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