2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League

The 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League will be the seventh edition of the FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League, an annual men's international volleyball tournament. The competition will be held from 11 June to 3 August 2025, with the final round to take place at the Beilun Gymnasium in Ningbo, China.^[1]^[2]

Following the results of the 2024 Challenger Cup, China made their comeback this edition, while Ukraine made their debuts as the top FIVB ranked team.

Qualification

In a change of format for this edition, none of the current teams relegated, and from this year 2025 onwards the competition expanded to 18 teams. The two extra spots were allocated to China, who won the 2024 Challenger Cup,^[3] and Ukraine, the non-qualified top FIVB ranked team.^[4]


Country	Confederation	Previous appearances			Previous best performance
Country	Confederation	Total	First	Last	Previous best performance
Argentina	CSV	6	2018	2024	5th place (2023)
Brazil	CSV	6	2018	2024	Champions (2021)
Bulgaria	CEV	6	2018	2024	11th place (2018)
Canada	NORCECA	6	2018	2024	6th place (2024)
China	AVC	4	2018	2023	13th place (2022)
Cuba	NORCECA	2	2023	2024	9th place (2024)
France	CEV	6	2018	2024	Champions (2022, 2024)
Germany	CEV	6	2018	2024	9th place (2018)
Iran	AVC	6	2018	2024	5th place (2019)
Italy	CEV	6	2018	2024	4th place (2022, 2023)
Japan	AVC	6	2018	2024	Runners-up (2024)
Netherlands	CEV	4	2021	2024	8th place (2022)
Poland	CEV	6	2018	2024	Champions (2023)
Serbia	CEV	6	2018	2024	5th place (2018)
Slovenia	CEV	4	2021	2024	4th place (2021, 2024)
Turkey	CEV	1	2024		16th place (2024)
Ukraine	CEV	0	0		None
United States	NORCECA	6	2018	2024	Runners-up (2019, 2022, 2023)

Format

Preliminary round

The format of play is generally the same as in the 2022 edition. However, this is the first time that 18 men's teams competing.Each week 6 teams during the pool phase. Each team play 12 matches during the pool stage. During three weeks each team plays 4 times in a table that is set up by a logarithm, with all teams playing 12 times in total at the end of the first phase. The 8 best teams advance to the quarter-finals while the last placed team loses its place to the highest FIVB ranked team that did not compete this year.The only country that has already qualified for this phase is China for hosting the finals and if it does not finish the first phase among the top eight, the top seven will qualify with the Chinese team being ranked 8th.^[5]

Final round

The VNL Finals will see the top eight teams moving directly to the knockout phase, which will consist of eight matches in total: four quarterfinals, two semi-finals, and the bronze and gold medal matches.^[5]

Final 8 direct elimination formula:

The first ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the eighth ranked team, the second ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the seventh ranked team, the third ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the sixth ranked team, and the fourth ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the fifth ranked team.
The national team of the hosting territory of the event will have a guaranteed berth for the Final round. If the host nation team do not finish in the top eight in the Preliminary round, they will replace the eighth place team and play as the eighth seed.

Pool composition

The overview of pools was released on 10 December 2024.^[1]

Week 1			Week 2			Week 3
Pool 1 Canada	Pool 2 Brazil	Pool 3 China	Pool 4 Bulgaria	Pool 5 United States	Pool 6 Serbia	Pool 7 Poland	Pool 8 Slovenia	Pool 9 Japan
Italy France Argentina Canada Germany Bulgaria	Slovenia United States Brazil Cuba Ukraine Iran	Poland Japan Serbia Netherlands Turkey China	Japan France Slovenia Ukraine Turkey Bulgaria	Poland Italy United States Brazil Canada China	Argentina Serbia Germany Cuba Netherlands Iran	Poland France Cuba Iran Bulgaria China	Italy Slovenia Canada Serbia Netherlands Ukraine	Japan United States Brazil Argentina Germany Turkey

Venues

Preliminary round

Week 1
Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3
Quebec City, Canada	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Xi'an, China
Videotron Centre	Ginásio do Maracanãzinho	Xi'an Qujiang Sports Center
Capacity: 10,500	Capacity: 12,000	Capacity: 10,000

Week 2
Pool 4	Pool 5	Pool 6
Burgas, Bulgaria	Hoffman Estates, United States	Belgrade, Serbia
Arena Burgas	Now Arena	Belgrade Arena
Capacity: 4,100	Capacity: 10,543	Capacity: 18,386

Week 3
Pool 7	Pool 8	Pool 9
Gdańsk, Poland	Ljubljana, Slovenia	Chiba, Japan
Ergo Arena	Arena Stožice	Chiba Port Arena
Capacity: 11,409	Capacity: 12,480	Capacity: 7,512

Final round

All matches
Ningbo, China
Beilun Gymnasium
Capacity: 8,000

Competition schedule

●	Preliminary round	●	Final round

Week 1 11–15 Jun	Week 2 25–29 Jun	Week 3 16–20 Jul	Week 4 30 Jul – 3 Aug
36 matches	36 matches	36 matches	8 matches

Pool standing procedure

Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost)
In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker will apply, with the teams 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
If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, 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 between the tied teams during the Round Robin Phase. When the tie in points quotient is between three or more teams, these teams will be ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.

Preliminary round

Ranking

Pos	Team	SR	SPR	Qualification
1	Argentina	—	—	Final round
2	Brazil	—	—
3	Bulgaria	—	—
4	Canada	—	—
5	China^[a]	—	—	Final round
6	Cuba	—	—	Final round
7	France	—	—
8	Germany	—	—
9	Iran	—	—
10	Italy	—	—
11	Japan	—	—
12	Netherlands	—	—
13	Poland	—	—
14	Serbia	—	—
15	Slovenia	—	—
16	Turkey	—	—
17	Ukraine	—	—
18	United States	—	—

First match(es) will be played: 11 June 2024. Source: VNL 2025 – Men's standings
Notes:

^ Qualified as finals' host

Week 1

Pool 1

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total	Report
11 Jun	11:00	Bulgaria	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report
11 Jun	16:30	Argentina	–	France	–	–	–	0–0	Report
11 Jun	20:00	Germany	–	Canada	–	–	–	0–0	Report
12 Jun	16:30	Germany	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report
12 Jun	20:00	Argentina	–	Canada	–	–	–	0–0	Report
13 Jun	16:30	Bulgaria	–	Argentina	–	–	–	0–0	Report
13 Jun	20:00	France	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report
14 Jun	16:30	Canada	–	France	–	–	–	0–0	Report
14 Jun	20:00	Bulgaria	–	Germany	–	–	–	0–0	Report
15 Jun	11:00	Argentina	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report
15 Jun	14:30	Germany	–	France	–	–	–	0–0	Report
15 Jun	18:00	Bulgaria	–	Canada	–	–	–	0–0	Report

Pool 2

All times are Brasília Time (UTC−03:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total	Report
11 Jun	14:00	Ukraine	–	United States	–	–	–	0–0	Report
11 Jun	17:30	Brazil	–	Iran	–	–	–	0–0	Report
11 Jun	21:00	Slovenia	–	Cuba	–	–	–	0–0	Report
12 Jun	17:30	Brazil	–	Cuba	–	–	–	0–0	Report
12 Jun	21:00	United States	–	Iran	–	–	–	0–0	Report
13 Jun	17:30	Ukraine	–	Cuba	–	–	–	0–0	Report
13 Jun	21:00	Iran	–	Slovenia	–	–	–	0–0	Report
14 Jun	10:00	Ukraine	–	Brazil	–	–	–	0–0	Report
14 Jun	13:30	United States	–	Slovenia	–	–	–	0–0	Report
15 Jun	10:00	Brazil	–	Slovenia	–	–	–	0–0	Report
15 Jun	13:30	Ukraine	–	Iran	–	–	–	0–0	Report
15 Jun	17:00	Cuba	–	United States	–	–	–	0–0	Report

Pool 3

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+08:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total	Report
11 Jun	13:30	Poland	–	Netherlands	–	–	–	0–0	Report
11 Jun	17:00	China	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
11 Jun	20:30	Serbia	–	Turkey	–	–	–	0–0	Report
12 Jun	17:00	China	–	Serbia	–	–	–	0–0	Report
12 Jun	20:30	Poland	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
13 Jun	17:00	Japan	–	Serbia	–	–	–	0–0	Report
13 Jun	20:30	Netherlands	–	Turkey	–	–	–	0–0	Report
14 Jun	15:00	China	–	Netherlands	–	–	–	0–0	Report
14 Jun	19:00	Turkey	–	Poland	–	–	–	0–0	Report
15 Jun	11:30	Netherlands	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
15 Jun	15:00	China	–	Turkey	–	–	–	0–0	Report
15 Jun	19:00	Poland	–	Serbia	–	–	–	0–0	Report

Week 2

Pool 4

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total	Report
25 Jun	12:30	Ukraine	–	France	–	–	–	0–0	Report
25 Jun	16:00	Turkey	–	Slovenia	–	–	–	0–0	Report
25 Jun	19:30	Bulgaria	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
26 Jun	15:00	France	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
26 Jun	18:30	Turkey	–	Ukraine	–	–	–	0–0	Report
27 Jun	16:00	Ukraine	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
27 Jun	19:30	Bulgaria	–	Slovenia	–	–	–	0–0	Report
28 Jun	15:30	Slovenia	–	France	–	–	–	0–0	Report
28 Jun	19:00	Bulgaria	–	Turkey	–	–	–	0–0	Report
29 Jun	12:00	Slovenia	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
29 Jun	15:30	Turkey	–	France	–	–	–	0–0	Report
29 Jun	19:00	Bulgaria	–	Ukraine	–	–	–	0–0	Report

Pool 5

All times are Central Daylight Time (UTC−05:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total	Report
25 Jun	12:30	Italy	–	Poland	–	–	–	0–0	Report
25 Jun	16:00	Canada	–	Brazil	–	–	–	0–0	Report
25 Jun	19:30	China	–	United States	–	–	–	0–0	Report
26 Jun	16:00	Brazil	–	China	–	–	–	0–0	Report
26 Jun	19:30	Canada	–	United States	–	–	–	0–0	Report
27 Jun	16:00	China	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report
27 Jun	19:30	Canada	–	Poland	–	–	–	0–0	Report
28 Jun	16:00	Brazil	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report
28 Jun	19:30	United States	–	Poland	–	–	–	0–0	Report
29 Jun	12:30	China	–	Canada	–	–	–	0–0	Report
29 Jun	16:00	Brazil	–	Poland	–	–	–	0–0	Report
29 Jun	19:30	United States	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report

Pool 6

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total	Report
25 Jun	13:00	Germany	–	Cuba	–	–	–	0–0	Report
25 Jun	16:30	Netherlands	–	Argentina	–	–	–	0–0	Report
25 Jun	20:00	Serbia	–	Iran	–	–	–	0–0	Report
26 Jun	16:30	Netherlands	–	Germany	–	–	–	0–0	Report
26 Jun	20:00	Serbia	–	Cuba	–	–	–	0–0	Report
27 Jun	16:30	Argentina	–	Iran	–	–	–	0–0	Report
27 Jun	20:00	Netherlands	–	Cuba	–	–	–	0–0	Report
28 Jun	16:30	Germany	–	Iran	–	–	–	0–0	Report
28 Jun	20:00	Serbia	–	Argentina	–	–	–	0–0	Report
29 Jun	13:00	Iran	–	Netherlands	–	–	–	0–0	Report
29 Jun	16:30	Cuba	–	Argentina	–	–	–	0–0	Report
29 Jun	20:00	Germany	–	Serbia	–	–	–	0–0	Report

Week 3

Pool 7

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total	Report
16 Jul	13:00	China	–	France	–	–	–	0–0	Report
16 Jul	16:30	Bulgaria	–	Cuba	–	–	–	0–0	Report
16 Jul	20:00	Iran	–	Poland	–	–	–	0–0	Report
17 Jul	16:30	China	–	Iran	–	–	–	0–0	Report
17 Jul	20:00	Cuba	–	Poland	–	–	–	0–0	Report
18 Jul	16:30	Cuba	–	France	–	–	–	0–0	Report
18 Jul	20:00	China	–	Bulgaria	–	–	–	0–0	Report
19 Jul	17:00	Bulgaria	–	Poland	–	–	–	0–0	Report
19 Jul	20:30	Iran	–	France	–	–	–	0–0	Report
20 Jul	13:30	China	–	Cuba	–	–	–	0–0	Report
20 Jul	17:00	Bulgaria	–	Iran	–	–	–	0–0	Report
20 Jul	20:30	France	–	Poland	–	–	–	0–0	Report

Pool 8

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total	Report
16 Jul	13:00	Ukraine	–	Netherlands	–	–	–	0–0	Report
16 Jul	16:30	Serbia	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report
16 Jul	20:30	Canada	–	Slovenia	–	–	–	0–0	Report
17 Jul	16:30	Ukraine	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report
17 Jul	20:30	Netherlands	–	Slovenia	–	–	–	0–0	Report
18 Jul	16:30	Ukraine	–	Serbia	–	–	–	0–0	Report
18 Jul	20:00	Netherlands	–	Canada	–	–	–	0–0	Report
19 Jul	16:30	Serbia	–	Canada	–	–	–	0–0	Report
19 Jul	20:30	Slovenia	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report
20 Jul	13:00	Ukraine	–	Canada	–	–	–	0–0	Report
20 Jul	16:30	Netherlands	–	Italy	–	–	–	0–0	Report
20 Jul	20:30	Serbia	–	Slovenia	–	–	–	0–0	Report

Pool 9

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total	Report
15 Jul	19:30	United States	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
16 Jul	12:30	Argentina	–	Brazil	–	–	–	0–0	Report
16 Jul	16:00	Turkey	–	United States	–	–	–	0–0	Report
17 Jul	16:00	Germany	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
17 Jul	16:00	Turkey	–	Germany	–	–	–	0–0	Report
17 Jul	19:30	Argentina	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
18 Jul	16:00	Argentina	–	United States	–	–	–	0–0	Report
18 Jul	19:30	Turkey	–	Brazil	–	–	–	0–0	Report
19 Jul	16:00	Germany	–	United States	–	–	–	0–0	Report
19 Jul	19:30	Brazil	–	Japan	–	–	–	0–0	Report
20 Jul	14:00	Turkey	–	Argentina	–	–	–	0–0	Report
20 Jul	17:30	Germany	–	Brazil	–	–	–	0–0	Report

Final round

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+08:00).

Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final

30 July

1
	2 August
8

30 July

4
		3 August
5

31 July

2
	2 August
7

31 July
		3rd place match
3
		3 August
6

Quarterfinals

Date		Score	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Total	Report
30 Jul		–	–	–	–	0–0	Report
30 Jul	China	–	–	–	–	0–0	Report
31 Jul		–	–	–	–	0–0	Report
31 Jul		–	–	–	–	0–0	Report

Semifinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
2 Aug			–		–	–	–			0–0	Report
2 Aug			–		–	–	–			0–0	Report

3rd place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
3 Aug			–		–	–	–			0–0	Report

Final

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
3 Aug			–		–	–	–			0–0	Report

Final standing

Rank	Team



4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

Awards

Most valuable player
Best setter
Best outside spikers
Best opposite spiker
Best middle blockers
Best libero

References

^ ^a ^b "Host cities, pools and ticket information revealed for revamped VNL 2025!" (Press release). FIVB. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
^ 2025年世界男排联赛总决赛落户宁波北仑中国男排主场作战迎击强手 [The 2025 Men's Volleyball Nations League Finals will be held in Ningbo Beilun. The Chinese men's volleyball team will play at home against strong opponents.]. Volleyball China (in Chinese). 8 February 2025. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
^ "China return to the VNL with Challenger Cup gold". Volleyball World. 7 July 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
^ Pareja, Marcos Menocal (14 February 2024). "Volleyball Nations League (VNL) to feature 18 teams from 2025". Inside the Games. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
^ ^a ^b "VNL 2025 Competition Formula". Volleyball World. Archived from the original on 25 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

External links

Fédération Internationale de Volleyball FIVB
FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2025 – official website

[table_note_CHN0.30026669534867-6] Qualified as finals' host

[VNL2025-1] "Host cities, pools and ticket information revealed for revamped VNL 2025!" (Press release). FIVB. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

[2] 2025年世界男排联赛总决赛落户宁波北仑中国男排主场作战迎击强手 [The 2025 Men's Volleyball Nations League Finals will be held in Ningbo Beilun. The Chinese men's volleyball team will play at home against strong opponents.]. Volleyball China (in Chinese). 8 February 2025. Retrieved 18 February 2025.

[VCC-3] "China return to the VNL with Challenger Cup gold". Volleyball World. 7 July 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

[4] Pareja, Marcos Menocal (14 February 2024). "Volleyball Nations League (VNL) to feature 18 teams from 2025". Inside the Games. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

[format-5] "VNL 2025 Competition Formula". Volleyball World. Archived from the original on 25 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[a]

Qualification

Format

Preliminary round

Final round

Pool composition

Venues

Preliminary round

Final round

Competition schedule

Pool standing procedure

Preliminary round

Ranking

Week 1

Pool 1

Pool 2

Pool 3

Week 2

Pool 4

Pool 5

Pool 6

Week 3

Pool 7

Pool 8

Pool 9

Final round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

3rd place match

Final

Final standing

Awards

See also

References

External links