Volleyball World League

The FIVB Volleyball World League was an international men's volleyball competition played every year from 1990 to 2017. It was organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB).^[1] The tournament had large prize money and television coverage in many countries. In 2018, the World League was stopped and replaced by the FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League.^[2]

History

The FIVB created the World League in 1990 to make volleyball more popular and more interesting for television viewers. The first tournament had 8 teams. By 2015, more than 30 national teams were taking part across three competition groups.^[1]

Italian dominance (1990–2000)

Italy won 8 of the first 11 World League tournaments, including the first three from 1990 to 1992. Andrea Zorzi was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) in both 1990 and 1991. Lorenzo Bernardi won the MVP award in 1992 and again in 1996.^[1]

Brazil won their first title in 1993, playing as hosts and reigning Olympic champions. Cuba reached five finals during the 1990s and won their only World League title in 1998. The Netherlands won in 1996, beating Italy in five sets.^[1]

Brazilian dominance (2001–2010)

Brazil won 8 of 10 titles between 2001 and 2010. Coach Bernardo Rezende led the team during this period, building on their success at the Sydney Olympics. Giba, Sérgio Santos, and Murilo Endres were among the most recognized players of this era.^[1]

Russia interrupted Brazil's run in 2002. The United States won in 2008, with Lloy Ball named MVP. That victory gave the Americans confidence going into the Beijing Olympics.^[1]

Multiple winners (2011–2017)

Five different countries won the World League between 2011 and 2017: Russia (2011, 2013), Poland (2012), the United States (2014), France (2015, 2017), and Serbia (2016).^[1]

Serbia's 2016 win ended a long wait — they had collected 16 medals across World League history without ever finishing first. France won the last World League in 2017, beating Brazil in five sets in Curitiba. Earvin N'Gapeth was named MVP of both the 2015 and 2017 tournaments.^[3]

End of the World League

After the 2017 tournament, the FIVB replaced the World League (for men) and the FIVB World Grand Prix (for women) with new competitions called the Volleyball Nations League and the Challenger Cup.^[2]

Format

The format changed several times over 28 years, but the basic structure stayed the same. The competition had two main parts: a preliminary round and a final round.^[1]

In the preliminary round, teams were placed into groups called pools. Each team played matches against other teams in its pool. Matches were usually played in pairs over a weekend — one in the home country of one team, and the next in the home country of the other team.^[1]

The best teams from each pool went to the final round, which was held in one city. The host country of the final round also took part, even if it had not finished at the top of its pool. The final round used a mix of pool matches and knockout matches to decide the champion.^[1]

From 2006, the FIVB split the competition into three groups. Group 1 had the strongest teams and decided the overall champion. Groups 2 and 3 gave developing volleyball nations a chance to play internationally at their own level.^[1]

Results

The World League was played 28 times between 1990 and 2017. Brazil and Italy were the only two countries that took part in every single edition.^[1]

World League titles by country
Country	Titles	Years won
Brazil	9	1993, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010
Italy	8	1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000
Russia	3	2002, 2011, 2013
France	2	2015, 2017
United States	2	2008, 2014
Cuba	1	1998
Netherlands	1	1996
Poland	1	2012
Serbia	1	2016