2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship

On 9 December 2015, FIVB announced that the tournament would be held in Italy and Bulgaria. For the first time the championship will take place in more than one country.[1] The tournament will take place in six Italian cities (Bari, Bologna, Florence, Assago, Rome and Turin) and three Bulgarian cities (Ruse, Varna and Sofia).[7]

Both Italy and Bulgaria have previously hosted the Men's World Championship. Italy last organised the 2010 edition, when Brazil claimed the title their third straight title. Italy also hosted the men's event in 1978 as well as the 2014 Women's World Championship. Moreover, Italy hosted the 1985 Men's U21 World Championship, the 1985 Women's U20 World Championship and the 2009 Boys' U19 World Championship. Bulgaria, on the other hand, hosted both the men's and women's senior editions in 1970. Both countries have also played hosts to other important volleyball competitions, including the Men's European Volleyball Championship and the World League final round.

Qualified   Failed to qualify

Withdrew   Suspended

The qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the five FIVB confederations to decide 21 of the 24 teams which would play in the final tournament, with Italy and Bulgaria qualifying automatically as hosts and Poland also qualifying automatically as the defending champions. All remaining FIVB member associations were eligible to enter the qualifying process.

At first, 150 associations registered teams to compete in the qualification process, but 19 associations withdrew from the qualifying process after they registered and India were suspended and then expelled from taking part in the process as a punishment for internal problems in the India Volleyball Federation.

The five regional governing bodies were allocated the remaining 21 spots; CAVB (Africa) was granted three, AVC (Asia and Oceania) four, NORCECA (North America) five, CSV (South America) two, and CEV (Europe) seven spots.[8]

Of the 24 nations qualified to play at the 2018 World Championship, 20 countries competed at the previous tournament in 2014. Slovenia qualified for the first time. Other teams returning after absences of the last tournament(s) include: Dominican Republic, returning to the finals after their only previous appearance in 1974, Netherlands, who last competed in 2002, and Japan, who missed the 2014 edition.

Notable countries that failed to qualify include the 2014 third placed Germany, Venezuela (for the first time since 1998), South Korea and Czech Republic.

Qualified teams

Country	Confederation	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances
				Total	First	Last
Poland	CEV	Defending Champions	21 September 2014	16	1949	2014
Italy	CEV	Host Country	9 December 2015	16	1949	2014
Bulgaria	CEV	Host Country	9 December 2015	17	1949	2014
Serbia1	CEV	CEV Second Round Pool E Winners	27 May 2017	9	1956	2014
Netherlands	CEV	CEV Second Round Pool B Winners	28 May 2017	11	1949	2002
Slovenia	CEV	CEV Second Round Pool C Winners	28 May 2017	0	–	–
Finland	CEV	CEV Second Round Pool F Winners	28 May 2017	7	1952	2014
Russia2	CEV	CEV Second Round Pool D Winners	28 May 2017	18	1949	2014
France	CEV	CEV Second Round Pool A Winners	28 May 2017	15	1949	2014
Japan	AVC	AVC Final Round Pool B Winners	15 July 2017	14	1960	2010
Australia	AVC	AVC Final Round Pool B Runners-up	16 July 2017	6	1982	2014
Belgium	CEV	CEV Third Round Pool G Winners	23 July 2017	8	1949	2014
Brazil	CSV	CSV Championship Winners	11 August 2017	16	1956	2014
China	AVC	AVC Final Round Pool A Runners-up	13 August 2017	13	1956	2014
Iran	AVC	AVC Final Round Pool A Winners	13 August 2017	5	1970	2014
Argentina	CSV	CSV Qualifier Winners	2 September 2017	11	1960	2014
Dominican Republic	NORCECA	NORCECA Championship Runners-up	30 September 2017	1	1974	1974
United States	NORCECA	NORCECA Championship Winners	30 September 2017	15	1956	2014
Canada	NORCECA	NORCECA Championship 3rd place	1 October 2017	10	1974	2014
Tunisia	CAVB	CAVB Championship Winners	27 October 2017	9	1962	2014
Egypt	CAVB	CAVB Championship Runners-up	27 October 2017	8	1974	2014
Cameroon	CAVB	CAVB Championship 3rd place	29 October 2017	3	1990	2014
Puerto Rico	NORCECA	NORCECA Final Four Winners	12 November 2017	4	1974	2014
Cuba	NORCECA	NORCECA Final Four Runners-up	12 November 2017	14	1956	2014

Notes

¹ Competed as SFR Yugoslavia from 1956 to 1990 and as Serbia and Montenegro (FR Yugoslavia) from 1994 to 2006; 3rd appearance as Serbia.

² Competed as Soviet Union from 1949 to 1990; 7th appearance as Russia.

First round

In the first round, the 24 teams will be spread across four pools of six teams playing in a round-robin system. The top four teams from each pool will advance to the second round. featuring four pools of four teams playing in four cities.

Second round

The second round will feature four pools of four teams playing once again in a round-robin system. At the end of the second round matches, the rankings of the four pools will be drawn up taking into account the points scored by each team in the first and second rounds. The four pool-winning teams of the second stage will access the third stage, together with the top two of the second ranked teams.

Third round

The six teams competing in the third round will be divided into two three-team pools by a draw. After the matches played once again in a round-robin system, the top two in each pool will qualify for the semifinals and finals.

Final round

The third round pool winners play against the runners-up in this round. The semifinals winners advance to compete for the World Championship title. The losers face each other in the third place match.

The opening matches of the 2018 FIVB World Championship, jointly hosted by Italy and Bulgaria held With the presence of the president Sergio Mattarella and Rumen Radev. President of Italy Mattarella was guest of honour as co-hosts Italy got their 2018 campaign off to the perfect start with a 3–0 victory over Japan. Alongside FIVB President Ary Graça, Italian National Olympic Committee President Giovanni Malago, President of the Italian Volleyball Federation Pietro Bruno Cattaneo and many more national and international dignitaries, President Mattarella joined the 11,170-strong partisan crowd at the Foro Italy in Rome and in Varna, the home side Bulgaria fared just as successfully as their co-hosts, sweeping aside Finland 3–0 to take a commanding lead in Pool D, were present President of Bulgaria Radev was joined by his Minister for Sport, Krasen Kralev, in the Palace of Culture and Sports.[9]

If co-hosts Italy and Bulgaria qualify for the second round, they will play in Assago and Sofia respectively regardless of whether they finish first, second or third in their first round pools. The host cities will be adjusted accordingly.

Pool A (only 9 September)	Pool A (excl. 9 September)	Pool B	Pool C
Rome, Italy	Florence, Italy	Ruse, Bulgaria	Bari, Italy
Foro Italico Tennis Center Court	Nelson Mandela Forum	Arena Ruse	PalaFlorio
Capacity: 11,000	Capacity: 7,500	Capacity: 5,100	Capacity: 5,080
Pool D and H	Florence Turin Bologna Assago Bari Rome 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship (Italy)		Ruse Sofia Varna 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship (Bulgaria)
Varna, Bulgaria
Palace of Culture and Sports
Capacity: 6,000
Pool E	Pool F	Pool G	Third and Final round
Assago, Italy	Bologna, Italy	Sofia, Bulgaria	Turin, Italy
Mediolanum Forum	Land Rover Arena	Arena Armeets	Pala Alpitour
Capacity: 12,677	Capacity: 5,721	Capacity: 12,500	Capacity: 15,807

1. Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost)
2. In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker will apply: The teams will be ranked by the most points gained per match as follows:
   • Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser
   • Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser
   • Match forfeited: 3 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser
3. If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, then the FIVB will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order:
   • Sets quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all sets won by the number of all sets lost.
   • Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the sets quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets.
   • If the tie persists based on the points quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. When the tie in points quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.

• The top four teams in each pool qualified for the second round.

Pool A

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Italy	5	0	15	15	2	7.500	423	326	1.298
2	Belgium	3	2	10	11	8	1.375	419	394	1.063
3	Slovenia	3	2	9	12	10	1.200	479	463	1.035
4	Argentina	2	3	6	10	11	0.909	475	469	1.013
5	Japan	2	3	5	8	11	0.727	414	427	0.970
6	Dominican Republic	0	5	0	1	15	0.067	267	398	0.671

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
9 Sep	19:30	Italy	3–0	Japan	25–20	25–21	25–23			75–64	P2
12 Sep	17:00	Dominican Republic	1–3	Slovenia	25–22	13–25	13–25	17–25		68–97	P2
12 Sep	20:30	Belgium	3–1	Argentina	25–19	25–19	22–25	25–19		97–82	P2
13 Sep	17:00	Dominican Republic	0–3	Japan	20–25	16–25	16–25			52–75	P2
13 Sep	21:15	Italy	3–0	Belgium	25–20	25–17	25–16			75–53	P2
14 Sep	17:00	Japan	1–3	Slovenia	20–25	25–22	20–25	13–25		78–97	P2
14 Sep	20:30	Argentina	3–0	Dominican Republic	26–24	25–15	25–15			76–54	P2
15 Sep	17:00	Belgium	2–3	Slovenia	25–22	25–21	19–25	23–25	13–15	105–108	P2
15 Sep	21:15	Italy	3–1	Argentina	22–25	25–15	25–23	28–26		100–89	P2
16 Sep	17:00	Japan	1–3	Belgium	25–14	23–25	14–25	19–25		81–89	P2
16 Sep	21:15	Dominican Republic	0–3	Italy	12–25	18–25	15–25			45–75	P2
17 Sep	17:00	Belgium	3–0	Dominican Republic	25–18	25–13	25–17			75–48	P2
17 Sep	20:30	Argentina	3–2	Slovenia	25–18	22–25	27–29	25–17	15–13	114–102	P2
18 Sep	17:00	Japan	3–2	Argentina	26–24	20–25	30–32	25–20	15–13	116–114	P2
18 Sep	21:15	Italy	3–1	Slovenia	23–25	25–19	25–13	25–18		98–75	P2

Pool B

• All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00).

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Brazil	4	1	11	13	6	2.167	439	405	1.084
2	Netherlands	4	1	11	12	8	1.500	455	420	1.083
3	France	3	2	11	13	7	1.857	456	420	1.086
4	Canada	3	2	9	11	7	1.571	426	408	1.044
5	Egypt	1	4	3	4	13	0.308	368	426	0.864
6	China	0	5	0	3	15	0.200	375	440	0.852

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
12 Sep	14:00	France	3–0	China	25–20	25–21	25–17			75–58	P2
12 Sep	17:00	Netherlands	0–3	Canada	15–25	23–25	18–25			56–75	P2
12 Sep	20:30	Brazil	3–0	Egypt	25–17	25–22	25–20			75–59	P2
13 Sep	17:00	Egypt	0–3	Canada	25–27	28–30	19–25			72–82	P2
13 Sep	20:30	Brazil	3–2	France	25–20	25–20	21–25	23–25	15–12	109–102	P2
14 Sep	17:00	China	1–3	Netherlands	21–25	13–25	25–23	13–25		72–98	P2
14 Sep	20:30	France	3–0	Egypt	25–22	25–23	25–16			75–61	P2
15 Sep	17:00	Canada	3–1	China	25–22	25–19	21–25	25–23		96–89	P2
15 Sep	20:30	Netherlands	3–1	Brazil	21–25	25–20	25–20	25–21		96–86	P2
16 Sep	17:00	China	1–3	Egypt	26–28	24–26	25–17	21–25		96–96	P2
16 Sep	20:30	Netherlands	3–2	France	23–25	19–25	25–21	25–23	15–13	107–107	P2
17 Sep	17:00	Egypt	1–3	Netherlands	18–25	21–25	25–23	16–25		80–98	P2
17 Sep	20:30	Brazil	3–1	Canada	25–22	19–25	25–23	25–18		94–88	P2
18 Sep	17:00	China	0–3	Brazil	21–25	22–25	17–25			60–75	P2
18 Sep	20:30	Canada	1–3	France	22–25	21–25	25–22	17–25		85–97	P2

Pool C

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	United States	5	0	13	15	5	3.000	456	383	1.191
2	Serbia	4	1	12	14	7	2.000	476	430	1.107
3	Russia	3	2	10	12	6	2.000	422	366	1.153
4	Australia	2	3	7	9	11	0.818	428	442	0.968
5	Cameroon	1	4	3	4	12	0.333	334	398	0.839
6	Tunisia	0	5	0	2	15	0.133	317	414	0.766

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
12 Sep	14:00	Cameroon	3–0	Tunisia	25–20	28–26	25–21			78–67	P2
12 Sep	17:00	Australia	0–3	Russia	21–25	20–25	16–25			57–75	P2
12 Sep	20:30	United States	3–2	Serbia	15–25	25–14	21–25	25–20	15–10	101–94	P2
13 Sep	17:00	Australia	2–3	United States	23–25	20–25	25–22	25–23	10–15	103–110	P2
13 Sep	20:30	Cameroon	0–3	Serbia	28–30	16–25	17–25			61–80	P2
14 Sep	17:00	Australia	3–1	Cameroon	21–25	25–17	25–22	25–20		96–84	P2
14 Sep	20:30	Russia	3–0	Tunisia	25–19	25–6	25–19			75–44	P2
15 Sep	17:00	Serbia	3–1	Tunisia	20–25	25–20	25–21	25–20		95–86	P2
15 Sep	20:30	United States	3–1	Russia	25–23	20–25	25–23	25–20		95–91	P2
16 Sep	17:00	Cameroon	0–3	United States	18–25	20–25	14–25			52–75	P2
16 Sep	20:30	Serbia	3–1	Australia	25–20	21–25	25–17	25–19		96–81	P2
17 Sep	17:00	Russia	3–0	Cameroon	25–16	30–28	25–15			80–59	P2
17 Sep	20:30	Australia	3–1	Tunisia	16–25	25–17	25–19	25–16		91–77	P2
18 Sep	17:00	United States	3–0	Tunisia	25–12	25–18	25–13			75–43	P2
18 Sep	20:30	Serbia	3–2	Russia	25–21	24–26	25–17	22–25	15–12	111–101	P2

Pool D

• All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00).

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Poland	5	0	15	15	3	5.000	445	343	1.297
2	Iran	4	1	11	12	7	1.714	437	400	1.093
3	Bulgaria	3	2	9	11	6	1.833	395	368	1.073
4	Finland	2	3	6	9	12	0.750	453	471	0.962
5	Cuba	1	4	3	6	13	0.462	392	436	0.899
6	Puerto Rico	0	5	1	3	15	0.200	331	435	0.761

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
9 Sep	20:40	Bulgaria	3–0	Finland	25–21	25–19	25–22			75–62	P2
12 Sep	17:00	Iran	3–0	Puerto Rico	25–19	25–14	25–18			75–51	P2
12 Sep	20:30	Cuba	1–3	Poland	18–25	19–25	25–21	14–25		76–96	P2
13 Sep	17:00	Puerto Rico	0–3	Poland	14–25	12–25	15–25			41–75	P2
13 Sep	20:40	Iran	3–1	Bulgaria	25–22	25–20	22–25	25–19		97–86	P2
14 Sep	17:00	Finland	3–1	Cuba	25–19	25–19	20–25	25–16		95–79	P2
14 Sep	20:40	Bulgaria	3–0	Puerto Rico	25–16	25–18	25–21			75–55	P2
15 Sep	17:00	Cuba	1–3	Iran	25–17	18–25	22–25	19–25		84–92	P2
15 Sep	20:30	Poland	3–1	Finland	25–20	26–28	25–16	25–15		101–79	P2
16 Sep	17:00	Puerto Rico	2–3	Finland	19–25	23–25	29–27	25–21	10–15	106–113	P2
16 Sep	20:40	Cuba	0–3	Bulgaria	22–25	16–25	18–25			56–75	P2
17 Sep	17:00	Cuba	3–1	Puerto Rico	25–15	22–25	25–21	25–17		97–78	P2
17 Sep	20:30	Iran	0–3	Poland	21–25	20–25	22–25			63–75	P2
18 Sep	17:00	Finland	2–3	Iran	19–25	25–22	25–23	23–25	12–15	104–110	P2
18 Sep	20:40	Bulgaria	1–3	Poland	14–25	25–23	22–25	23–25		84–98	P2

• The standings of the four pools were drawn up taking into account the wins and points scored by each team in the first and second round.
• The winners in each pool and the top two of the second placed teams qualified for the third round.

Pool E

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Italy	7	1	22	23	6	3.833	691	568	1.217
2	Russia	6	2	18	21	8	2.625	675	578	1.168
3	Netherlands	5	3	14	16	15	1.067	692	661	1.047
4	Finland	2	6	6	10	21	0.476	638	719	0.887

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
21 Sep	17:00	Netherlands	0–3	Russia	17–25	16–25	21–25			54–75	P2
21 Sep	21:15	Italy	3–0	Finland	25–20	25–18	25–16			75–54	P2
22 Sep	17:00	Netherlands	3–1	Finland	25–19	23–25	25–16	25–13		98–73	P2
22 Sep	21:15	Russia	3–2	Italy	19–25	25–18	25–21	19–25	15–11	103–100	P2
23 Sep	17:00	Russia	3–0	Finland	25–17	25–19	25–22			75–58	P2
23 Sep	21:15	Italy	3–1	Netherlands	16–25	25–20	27–25	25–15		93–85	P2

Pool F

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Brazil	7	1	19	22	8	2.750	699	618	1.131
2	Belgium	4	4	14	16	14	1.143	667	657	1.015
3	Slovenia	4	4	13	17	16	1.063	722	716	1.008
4	Australia	3	5	9	12	19	0.632	665	701	0.949

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
21 Sep	17:00	Brazil	3–0	Australia	25–21	25–22	25–15			75–58	P2
21 Sep	20:30	Belgium	0–3	Slovenia	26–28	26–28	19–25			71–81	P2
22 Sep	17:00	Australia	0–3	Belgium	26–28	26–28	20–25			72–81	P2
22 Sep	20:30	Slovenia	0–3	Brazil	22–25	21–25	16–25			59–75	P2
23 Sep	17:00	Slovenia	2–3	Australia	25–23	20–25	25–19	22–25	11–15	103–107	P2
23 Sep	20:30	Belgium	2–3	Brazil	25–22	25–23	19–25	15–25	12–15	96–110	P2

Pool G

• All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00).

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	United States	8	0	22	24	6	4.000	704	585	1.203
2	Canada	5	3	13	18	14	1.286	712	694	1.026
3	Bulgaria	4	4	13	16	12	1.333	625	617	1.013
4	Iran	4	4	12	14	16	0.875	674	664	1.015

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
21 Sep	17:00	United States	3–1	Canada	25–17	25–14	21–25	25–17		96–73	P2
21 Sep	20:40	Bulgaria	3–0	Iran	25–19	28–26	26–24			79–69	P2
22 Sep	17:00	Iran	2–3	Canada	20–25	25–20	15–25	25–23	12–15	97–108	P2
22 Sep	20:40	Bulgaria	0–3	United States	20–25	20–25	18–25			58–75	P2
23 Sep	17:00	United States	3–0	Iran	25–23	26–24	26–24			77–71	P2
23 Sep	20:40	Bulgaria	2–3	Canada	19–25	14–25	25–21	25–19	10–15	93–105	P2

Pool H

• All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00).

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Poland	6	2	19	21	9	2.333	702	593	1.184
2	Serbia	6	2	17	20	12	1.667	707	677	1.044
3	France	5	3	18	21	12	1.750	765	688	1.112
4	Argentina	3	5	8	14	19	0.737	725	751	0.965

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
21 Sep	17:00	Serbia	3–2	France	22–25	26–24	25–20	18–25	18–16	109–110	P2
21 Sep	20:40	Poland	2–3	Argentina	25–16	19–25	23–25	25–23	14–16	106–105	P2
22 Sep	17:00	Serbia	3–0	Argentina	25–18	25–22	25–22			75–62	P2
22 Sep	20:40	Poland	1–3	France	15–25	18–25	25–23	18–25		76–98	P2
23 Sep	17:00	France	3–1	Argentina	25–16	25–20	26–28	25–19		101–83	P2
23 Sep	20:40	Poland	3–0	Serbia	25–17	25–16	25–14			75–47	P2

Ranking of the second placed teams

• The top two of the second placed teams qualified for the third round.

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Russia	6	2	18	21	8	2.625	675	578	1.168
2	Serbia	6	2	17	20	12	1.667	707	677	1.044
3	Canada	5	3	13	18	14	1.286	712	694	1.026
4	Belgium	4	4	14	16	14	1.143	667	657	1.015

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).
• The top two teams in each pool qualified for the semifinals.

Pool I

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Brazil	2	0	5	6	2	3.000	181	164	1.104
2	United States	1	1	3	3	3	1.000	132	143	0.923
3	Russia	0	2	1	2	6	0.333	175	181	0.967

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
26 Sep	17:00	Brazil	3–2	Russia	20–25	21–25	25–22	25–23	15–12	106–107	P2
27 Sep	17:00	United States	3–0	Russia	25–22	25–23	25–23			75–68	P2
28 Sep	17:00	Brazil	3–0	United States	25–20	25–18	25–19			75–57	P2

Pool J

Rank	Team	Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
		W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Poland	1	1	4	5	3	1.667	180	171	1.053
2	Serbia	1	1	3	3	3	1.000	149	134	1.112
3	Italy	1	1	2	3	5	0.600	150	174	0.862

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
26 Sep	21:15	Italy	0–3	Serbia	15–25	20–25	18–25			53–75	P2
27 Sep	20:30	Poland	3–0	Serbia	28–26	28–26	25–22			81–74	P2
28 Sep	21:15	Italy	3–2	Poland	14–25	25–21	18–25	25–17	15–11	97–99	P2

• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

	Semifinals				Final
	29 September
	Brazil	3
					30 September
	Serbia	0
					Brazil	0
	29 September
					Poland	3
	Poland	3
	United States	2
					3rd place match
					30 September
					Serbia	1
					United States	3

Semifinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
29 Sep	17:00	Brazil	3–0	Serbia	25–22	25–21	25–22			75–65	P2
29 Sep	21:15	Poland	3–2	United States	25–22	20–25	23–25	25–20	15–11	108–103	P2

3rd place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
30 Sep	17:00	Serbia	1–3	United States	25–23	17–25	30–32	19–25		91–105	P2

Final

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
30 Sep	21:15	Brazil	0–3	Poland	26–28	20–25	23–25			69–78	P2

The statistics of each group follows the vis reports P2 and P3. The statistics include 6 volleyball skills; serve, reception, set, spike, block, and dig. The table below shows the top 5 ranked players in each skill plus top scorers at the completion of the tournament.[15] Only players whose teams advanced to the final round are taken in consideration.

Best Scorers Player Spikes Blocks Serves Total 1 Bartosz Kurek 133 22 16 171 2 Matt Anderson 138 9 16 163 3 Wallace de Souza 145 6 6 157 4 Aaron Russell 135 10 8 153 5 Douglas Souza 129 10 11 150

Best Spikers Player Spikes Faults Shots Total % 1 Douglas Souza 129 28 71 228 56.58 2 Matthew Anderson 138 47 59 244 56.56 3 Taylor Sander 107 34 49 190 56.32 4 Uroš Kovačević 104 31 59 194 53.61 5 Wallace de Souza 145 43 83 271 53.51

Best Blockers Player Blocks Faults Rebounds Total Avg 1 Bartosz Kurek 22 16 22 60 0.48 2 Michał Kubiak 21 17 15 53 0.46 3 Piotr Nowakowski 19 15 46 80 0.41 4 Srećko Lisinac 18 37 39 94 0.40 5 Maxwell Holt 17 37 42 96 0.38

Best Servers Player Aces Faults Hits Total Avg 1 Marko Ivović 16 33 90 139 0.36 2 Matt Anderson 16 37 99 152 0.36 3 Bartosz Kurek 16 35 59 110 0.35 4 Taylor Sander 15 41 90 146 0.33 5 Maxwell Holt 15 28 63 106 0.33

Best Setters Player Running Faults Still Total Avg 1 Micah Christenson 293 8 473 774 6.51 2 Nikola Jovović 239 4 563 806 5.31 3 Bruno Rezende 190 2 422 614 4.32 4 William Arjona 156 1 189 246 1.27 5 Fabian Drzyzga 52 3 588 643 1.12

Best Diggers Player Digs Faults Receptions Total Avg 1 Erik Shoji 74 5 33 112 1.64 2 Paweł Zatorski 69 10 42 121 1.50 3 Thales Hoss 60 7 26 93 1.36 4 Micah Christenson 48 5 25 78 1.07 5 Bruno Rezende 46 7 22 75 1.05

Best Receivers Player Excellents Faults Serve Total % 1 Taylor Sander 82 10 115 207 34.78 2 Paweł Zatorski 81 11 127 219 31.96 3 Douglas Souza 96 19 167 292 27.30 4 Marko Ivović 78 18 146 242 24.79 5 Michał Kubiak 73 18 133 224 24.55

Comparable 2014 year the FIVB then mandated two young product designers from Switzerland, Thilo Alex Brunner and Jörg Mettler to create the new World Championship trophy. With its unique contemporary design, the trophy has set itself apart from other awards in international competitions across the sporting world. Eichenberger LTD and their mastermind, Juan Franco, have been responsible for its production. The company specialises in complex metal works mainly for the Swiss watchmaking and jewellery industry. The trophy was constructed using 12 individual pieces, representing each member of a volleyball team. The pieces are brought together in a seamless cylindrical design, symbolising the coming together of the 12 players using the rotation system on the court.[16]

FIVB, through several companies, sold the broadcasting rights for the 2018 World Championship[17] to the following broadcasters.

Country/Region	Broadcaster
Argentina	TV Pública
Belarus	Saran Holding
Belgium	VRT
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sport Klub
Brazil	Grupo Globo
Bulgaria	BNT
China	CCTV, Tencent
Costa Rica	Sky México
Croatia	Sport Klub
Dominica	Sky México
Dominican Republic	Sky México
Egypt	Nile Sport, TIME Sports
Europe	Eurosport
Germany	Sky Sport
Guatemala	Sky México
Honduras	Sky México
Hong Kong	i-CABLE Sports
Iran	IRIB Varzesh
Israel	Charlton
Italy	RAI
Japan	TBS
Kazakhstan	Saran Holding
South Korea	SPOTV
Libya	Libya Sport Channel
Macedonia	Sport Klub
Malaysia	Astro
MENA	ASBU
Mexico	Sky México
Montenegro	Sport Klub
Morocco	SNRT
Netherlands	Ziggo Sport
Nicaragua	Sky México
Oman	Oman Sport
Panama	Sky México
Poland	Polsat
Puerto Rico	WAPA-TV
Russia	Match TV
Serbia	Sport Klub
Slovenia	Sport Klub
Thailand	Workpoint TV
Trinidad and Tobago	Sky México
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi Sports, Dubai Sports
United States	FloSports