2018 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship

2018 FIVB Men's World Championship
Campionato mondiale di pallavolo maschile Italia/Bulgaria 2018
Световно първенство по волейбол за мъже Италия/България 2018
Tournament details
Host nations Italy
 Bulgaria
Dates9–30 September
Teams24 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)9 (in 9 host cities)
Officially opened bySergio Mattarella and Rumen Radev
Champions Poland (3rd title)
Runners-up Brazil
Third place United States
Fourth place Serbia
Tournament awards
MVPPoland Bartosz Kurek
Best SetterUnited States Micah Christenson
Best OHPoland Michał Kubiak
Brazil Douglas Souza
Best MBBrazil Lucas Saatkamp
Poland Piotr Nowakowski
Best OPPUnited States Matt Anderson
Best LiberoPoland Paweł Zatorski
Tournament statistics
Matches played94
Attendance389,029 (4,139 per match)
Best scorerPoland Bartosz Kurek (171 points)
Best spikerBrazil Douglas Souza (56.58%)
Best blockerPoland Bartosz Kurek (0.48 Avg)
Best serverSerbia Marko Ivović (0.36 Avg)
Best setterUnited States Micah Christenson (6.51 Avg)
Best diggerUnited States Erik Shoji (1.64 Avg)
Best receiverUnited States Taylor Sander (34.78%)
Official website
italy-bulgaria2018.fivb.com

The 2018 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship was the 19th staging of the FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship, 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 final tournament was held in Italy and Bulgaria from 9 to 30 September 2018. For the first time, the tournament was jointly-hosted by more than one country. The final six was hosted by Italy at the Pala Alpitour in Turin.[1]

Poland defended their world title, defeating the reigning Olympic champions Brazil in straight sets at a repeat of the 2014 final.[2][3] This was Poland's third title overall, and the third time in the last four editions of the World Championship that Brazil and Poland contested the final. This was also the fifth straight World Championship with Brazil reaching at least the final. United States won the 3rd place match, defeating Serbia in four sets.[4] Bartosz Kurek from Poland was elected the MVP.[5]

The first round match between Russia and Tunisia set the new all-time lowest-scoring record in a World Championship set since the new volleyball scoring rules were adopted, with Russia winning the second set by 25–6. The previous record was a 25–8 achieved by United States against Puerto Rico during the 2014 World Championship.[6]

  1. ^ "Italy and Bulgaria to co-host 2018 Men's World Championship". FIVB. 9 December 2015.
  2. ^ "Poland triumph over Brazil to retain world title for four more years". FIVB. 30 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Poland retake the world by storm". FIVB. 30 September 2018.
  4. ^ "USA rebound from a set down to claim world bronze over Serbia". FIVB. 30 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Bartosz Kurek named MVP to lead World Dream Team". FIVB. 30 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Russia set scoring record as World Championship pools take shape". FIVB. 16 September 2018.