2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship

Previously, the competition format was determined through agreements between the host country and the FIVB, resulting in varying and inconsistent formats. In March 2022, the FIVB Board of Administration approved the new proposed World Championship format. To standardize, the proposed format started with a pool phase and then proceeded with a direct elimination phase. Additionally, they proposed increasing the number of teams from 24 to 32 to guarantee universality. The new format of the World Championship was confirmed in late 2022 and started with this edition. In May 2022, the FIVB revealed the television rights agreement for Polsat covering the competition events from 2022 to 2032, which included a new event to be held in 2025 and 2029. Before that, Fabio Azevedo, now the FIVB president and a member of the Board of Administration, suggested that the World Championships be held in 2027 and subsequently every two years, while the Continental Championships would take place in 2026 and 2028, serving as qualifiers for the World Championships. ==Host selection==

The bidding procedure to host the 2025 and 2027 FIVB World Championships began in August 2023. National federations had until 31 August 2023 to register interest. At least five countries placed rival bids for the 2025 FIVB Women's World Championships: Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. As Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam have been the largest and fastest-growing markets for volleyball, and some of these countries didn't have enough potential to host the expanded World Championship alone, the FIVB viewed co-hosting among four countries as the best option to share related risks and benefits, strengthen cordial ties among the co-host countries, and promote the sport in Southeast Asia. Initially, the announcement of the host country was scheduled to be held in March 2024, but was postponed by withdrawals, confusing bidding conditions, and political uncertainty. The Philippines withdrew its bid in March 2024, due to the aforementioned confusing bidding conditions, and its selection as the sole host of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship. Vietnam later withdrew its bid, citing financial reasons. Meanwhile, even though Thailand did not consider withdrawing its bid, it was still slowed down due to complex administrative procedures, with the high budget for the tournament requiring joint consideration with the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF), and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS). After successfully hosting the final round of the 2024 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League, the FIVB preferred Thailand to be the host of the World Championship. Eventually, the FIVB and the Volleyball World announced that Thailand was selected as the sole host of the tournament at the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Elective General Assembly on 30 August 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. Following the announcement of the host country, the host agreement was signed by, then-president of the FIVB, Ary Graça and the president of the Thailand Volleyball Association (TVA) Somporn Chaibangyang. The selection was subject to the guarantee of the Government of Thailand, which was renewed due to the dismissal of Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin by the Constitutional Court on 14 August 2024. The new government was established on 6 September 2024; however, by November 2024, its guarantee had yet to be ratified. After a long time, the government guaranteed its subsidies to the World Championship on 3 December 2024 and formally informed the FIVB by 6 December 2024. ==Qualification==

The qualification criteria and slot allocation of the expanded World Championship were approved by the FIVB Board of Administration. Similar to the 2022 World Championship, the number of places in the finals allocated to each of the continental zones was not based on the numbers participating in the qualification round and relative performance of the confederations' teams from the previous edition (for example, NORCECA had the second most slots in 2018 with six due to a large number of teams in the continental qualifiers (34) and the high performance of their teams in 2014). Every confederation was awarded the same slot allocation with three, determined by the ranking of its Continental Championships in 2023. As a courtesy, the host team receives an automatic berth selection, as has happened with the immediate past tournament winner in 2022. The remaining places were determined by the FIVB World Ranking at the end of August 2024, without the continental bias. Of FIVB's 222 national federations, 62 women's national teams entered or qualified for the Continental Championships in 2023, while Russia and Belarus were barred due to suspension from CEV and FIVB competitions following their country's invasion of Ukraine. For Europe, eleven additional teams entered the qualifiers of their Continental Championship. The other nine teams were listed in the FIVB World Ranking at the end of August 2024, but did not compete in their Continental Championships. Qualified teams Defending champions Serbia qualified automatically. Therefore, its performance in the 2023 European Championship were not taken into account for the CEV slots. Amidst the unresolved host selection process, the all-Asian candidate teams—including Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam—continued to pursue their qualification in the 2023 Asian Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. If the host team was ranked in the top three, its AVC slot was allocated to the fourth-place team. However, Indonesia refused to join the tournament. On 22 August 2023, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia became qualified teams from CSV by topping the round-robin of the 2023 South American Championship, held in Recife, Brazil. The following day, Kenya and Egypt won their semifinals of the 2023 African Championship in Yaoundé and secured the CAVB spots. Egypt returned to the World Championship after being absent since 2006. The other spot was awarded to the tournament's host Cameroon, which defeated Rwanda in the bronze medal match on 24 August 2023. As Serbia reached the semifinals of the 2023 European Championship on 30 August 2023, the other semifinalists, including Turkey, the Netherlands and Italy qualified for the World Championship. On 3 September 2023, the NORCECA slots were awarded to Dominican Republic and the United States after they surpassed the semifinals of the 2023 NORCECA Championship in Quebec City, Canada. In the bronze medal match the next day, Canada defeated Cuba and qualified for the World Championship. On 5 September 2023, Thailand and China advanced to the final of the 2023 Asian Championship and qualified directly for the World Championship. Japan followed them after beating Vietnam in the bronze medal match the next day. However, when Thailand was named the host country on 30 August 2024, Vietnam also qualified, making its debut in the tournament. Finally, the remaining fifteen places were allocated to the highest-ranked teams according to the FIVB World Rankings at the end of August 2024. Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden made their World Championship debut. Meanwhile, France, Spain, Ukraine and Greece returned to the tournament after long absences, having last participated in 1974, 1982, 1994, and 2002, respectively. Additionally, Cuba and Mexico returned to the tournament after missing the 2022 edition. In contrast, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Croatia, all of whom qualified for the 2022 edition, failed to qualify due to insufficient rankings. ==Format==

The tournament are played in two rounds: a preliminary round (pool phase) and a final round (direct elimination phase). During the preliminary round, 32 qualified teams were divided into eight pools, labeled A through H, with four teams in each pool. In this phase, every team within a pool competed against the other three teams once. After the pool phase, the top two teams from each pool advanced to the final round, creating a round of 16 teams. Simultaneously, the bottom two teams from each pool were ranked from 17th to 32nd based on the Team Combined Ranking System. ==Pools composition==

The final draw was held at The Grand Fourwings Convention Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, on 17 December 2024, 15:00 ICT, after the host confirmation by the Government of Thailand. The draw was graced by the presence of Sorawong Thienthong, Minister of Tourism and Sports (MOTS); Ramon Suzara, President of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) and Vice President of the FIVB; Somporn Chaibangyang, President of the Thailand Volleyball Association (TVA); Preecha Lalun, Deputy Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT); and Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai, Head coach of the Thailand women's national volleyball team and led by three of seven legends of Thai volleyball, including Onuma Sittirak, Pleumjit Thinkaow, and Nootsara Tomkom. Based on the FIVB World Rankings at the end of August 2024, the tournament seeding followed a protocol where Thailand, as the host country, was automatically assigned to position A1, and the top seven teams in the World Rankings were placed as the first position in their respective pools. These top-seeded teams include Italy (B1), Brazil (C1), the United States (D1), Turkey (E1), China (F1), Poland (G1) and Japan (H1), distributing the highest-ranked teams across different pools. Seeding Teams were seeded using the FIVB World Rankings at the end of August 2024 (shown in parentheses), which were published on 30 August 2024. ==Venues==

Thailand proposed a tournament hosting plan featuring four potential cities across two strategic options. The first option centered on Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, with Bangkok designated to host the final round. The alternative proposal expanded the venues to include Chiang Mai and Phuket for preliminary matches. These cities represented key urban centers in their respective regions, with Nakhon Ratchasima, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai being the largest cities in their areas. Phuket was the notable exception, being the second-largest city in Southern Thailand after Hat Yai. In December 2024, the Thai government officially endorsed the four-city hosting proposal. Later, FIVB confirmed the tournament was hosted in four separate cities on 11 December 2024. Phuket served as the host city of the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 and U21 World Championships in 2021 and previously served as the venue for several FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tours. Similarly, Chiang Mai hosted the rebranded FIVB Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour in 2023. Pool A and H (seeded by Thailand and Japan) competed in Bangkok, capitalizing on their strong fan base among local volleyball enthusiasts. Phuket hosted Pool B and G (seeded by Italy and Poland), leveraging its appeal to European tourists. Chiang Mai was the venue for Pool C and F (seeded by Brazil and China), taking advantage of the city's popularity among Chinese travelers. Meanwhile, Nakhon Ratchasima, with its historical connection to the United States Air Force, hosted Pool D and E (seeded by the United States and Turkey). Indoor arenas The following four indoor arenas hosted for the tournament. ==Preparations==

Several teams participated in official tournaments or in exhibition ones, either ad hoc or already existing ones, to prepare for the World Championship. CEV Volleyball European Golden League Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine featured in the tournament from 29 May to 29 June, with Ängelholm, Sweden, hosting the final. Ukraine won their title after defeating Hungary in the final. Romania claimed their bronze medal after defeating Sweden in the third-place match. Italy won their title after defeating Brazil in the final. Poland claimed their bronze medal after defeating Japan in the third-place match. AVC Volleyball Nations Cup Vietnam featured in the tournament from 7 to 14 June in Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnam won their title after defeating the Philippines in the final. NORCECA Final Four Mexico and Puerto Rico participated in the tournament from 16 to 21 July in Manati, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico won their title after defeating Mexico in the final. Cuba was originally set to participate but withdrew, and Trinidad and Tobago replaced them. NORCECA/CSV Pan-American Cup Canada, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico participated in the tournament from 3 to 10 August in Colima, Mexico. Dominican Republic won their title after defeating Colombia in the final. Puerto Rico claimed their bronze medal after defeating Mexico in the third-place match. Canada competed with a reserve squad, while the United States had initially intended to field a reserve team but ultimately withdrew from the tournament. Other official tournaments Thailand and Vietnam competed in the SEA V.League from 1 to 10 August, while Belgium, Germany, Greece, Slovenia and Spain took part in the qualification phase of the CEV EuroVolley from 2 to 10 August. ==Squads==

Each national team had to register a long-list roster with up to 25 players, which eventually had to be reduced to a final list of 14 players. ==Team ranking system==

Pool standing procedure To establish the ranking of teams after the preliminary round, the following criteria were implemented: • Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost) • In the event of a tie, the teams will be ranked by the most point 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, then the FIVB will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order: • Set 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 set won by the number of all sets lost. • Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the set 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 point 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 point quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question. Teams combined ranking system To establish the final ranking of teams of the tournament, the following criteria were implemented: • Position of the team in the Pool (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th) • Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost) • In the event of a tie, the teams will be ranked by the most point 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, then the FIVB will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order: • Set 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 set won by the number of all sets lost. • Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the set 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 point 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 point quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question. After the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, the eliminated teams were ranked in the final standings according to the Teams Combined Ranking System, which takes into account all matches played during both the preliminary and final rounds. ==Preliminary round==

• All times are Thailand Standard Time (UTC+07:00) In the preliminary round, competing teams were divided into eight pools of four teams (pools A to H). Teams in each pool played one another in a round-robin, where the top two teams advanced to the final round. Meanwhile, the bottom two teams from each pool were ranked from 17th to 32nd based on the teams combined ranking system. Pool A Venue: Indoor Stadium Huamark, Bangkok Pool A was one of eight pools of the preliminary round of the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship. The pool consisted of the host country, Thailand, as well as the Netherlands, Sweden, and Egypt. It took place in Bangkok from 22 to 26 August 2025, with rest days on 23 and 25 August. Each matchday featured two games, held at 17:00 and 20:30. As the seeded team, Thailand played all of its matches at 20:30. The Netherlands and Thailand advanced to the round of 16. Pool B Venue: Phuket Municipal Stadium, Phuket Pool B was one of eight pools of the preliminary round of the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship. The pool consisted of the Olympic champion, Italy, as well as Belgium, Cuba, and Slovakia. It took place in Phuket from 22 to 26 August 2025, with rest days on 23 and 25 August. Each matchday features two games, held at 17:00 and 20:30. As the seeded team, Italy played at 20:30 in the first match against Slovakia, while their two remaining matches against Cuba and Belgium were played at 17:00 due to a broadcast time conflict with the Thailand vs. Sweden and the Thailand vs. Netherlands match in Pool A. Italy and Belgium advanced to the round of 16. Pool C Venue: Chiang Mai International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Chiang Mai Pool D Venue: Korat Chatchai Hall, Nakhon Ratchasima Pool E Venue: Korat Chatchai Hall, Nakhon Ratchasima Pool F Venue: Chiang Mai International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Chiang Mai Pool G Venue: Phuket Municipal Stadium, Phuket Pool H Venue: Indoor Stadium Huamark, Bangkok ==Final round==

• All times are Thailand Standard Time (UTC+07:00). • All matches are played at the Indoor Stadium Huamark, Bangkok. The final round followed a single-elimination format with teams from pools A, D, E, and H segregated from pools B, C, F, and G until the final match. The round of 16 losers were ranked from 9th to 16th places, while the quarterfinal losers were ranked from 5th to 8th places according to the teams combined ranking system. In the semifinals, the losers competed for third place, while the winners faced each other in the final match. Bracket Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd place match Final ==Final standing==

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. • Most valuable player • : Alessia Orro • Best setter • : Alessia Orro • Best outside spikers • : Gabriela Guimarães • : Mayu Ishikawa • Best opposite spiker • : Melissa Vargas • Best middle blockers • : Eda Erdem • : Anna Danesi • Best libero • : Monica De Gennaro ==Statistics leaders==

The statistics of leaders for each skill are recorded throughout the tournament. Best scorers Best spikers Best blockers Best servers Best setters Best diggers Best receivers ==Marketing==

Branding The official emblem for the FIVB Volleyball World Championship, created by branding agency Landor Associates, was revealed in December 2020. Inspired by the distinctive panels of a volleyball, each stripe symbolized an athlete in motion—moving, jumping, and diving across the court—and the overall shape resembled the tournament's trophy. ==See also==