The
World Cup is a men's and women's
volleyball competition. Created in 1965 (men) and
1973 (women), it is an international qualification event for the
Olympic Games. It is not to be
confused with the
Volleyball World Championship
or the
FIVB World League/
FIVB World Grand Prix.
History
Origins
The World Cup was created in 1965 with the purpose of partially
filling the gap between the two most important volleyball
tournaments, the
Olympic Games and the
World Championship,
which take place in alternating 4-year cycles. The establishment of
a third international competition would leave only one in every
four years with no major events.
The World Cup was to be held in the year following the Olympic
Games. The first two tournaments were for men's volleyball only; in
1973, a women's tournament was also introduced.
Originally, each
tournament had a different host, but in 1977 the competition was
transferred to Japan
on a
permanent basis.
In the 1990s, the installment of annual international events such
as the
World League and the
Grand Prix made the original
motivations for the creation of the World Cup obsolete. Instead of
letting a consolidated event disappear for lack of interest, the
FIVB decided to change its format in 1991: it
would be held in the year preceding, and not following, the Olympic
Games; and it would be considered a first international Olympic
qualification tournament, granting the winner a direct berth in the
games.
This move saved the competition. The possibility of securing an
early berth for the Olympic Games, thus avoiding extraneous and in
some cases tight continental qualification procedures, became a
consistent motivation for the national federations to participate
in the World Cup. In 1995, the number of Olympic spots granted at
the competition was increased to three, as it remains up to now
(2005).
Winners (Men)
Former
Soviet Union and
Brazil (2007) managed to win the Men's World Cup more than once.
The
Soviets
took the
gold at the opening edition of the tournament, in 1965.
Four years
later, the winner was also a socialist nation, East Germany
. Brazil's team won consecutively 2003 and
2007.
Scheduled
for Uruguay
, the men's
events of the 1973 edition were cancelled. In 1977,
competition was resumed in Japan, and the USSR came back for two
wins in a row. In 1985, they were once again runner-ups, but lost
the decisive match to
USA in five
sets.
In
1989, Cuba
surprised
the world and beat a rising Italy
to take the
gold.
With the competition now set as a qualifying event for the
Olympic Games,
Soviet Union,
led by
Dmitri Fomin won the title in
1991, at the brink of dissolution.
The Italians, who hadn't
participated in this edition, finally conquered their gold medal in
1995.
Inheriting a large part of the former Soviet volleyball programme,
Russia was the
winner in 1999. In the following edition, the last one played so
far, favorite
Brazil did not
disappoint its fans and swept smoothly through all its opponents
for the gold.
Winners (Women)
The Women's World Cup has had not one great winner, like its
counterpart for men's volleyball, but two:
Cuba and
China.
The first edition of the tournament was won by the
Soviet Union.
Japan, the
runner-up of 1973, took the gold in 1977. With the help of
superstar player
Lang Ping,
China won the
following two editions, in 1981 and 1985.
Then
Cuba
stepped forward to begin its amazing World Cup career, winning its
first title in 1989. With the tournament now as an Olympic
qualifier, there followed three more consecutive victories, in
1991, 1995 and 1999.
China came
back in 2003 with a remarkably offensive team to win its third
title.
Finally
Italy
won the 2007 edition with an outstanding record of eleven wins in
eleven games and only two sets left to the opponents (both lost
against
Serbia).
Competition formula
The World Cup is the most stable from all competition formulas
employed by the
FIVB. The following rules
apply:
- The competition takes place in Japan.
- Twelve teams participate in each event: ten qualified, two per
invitation.
- Japan is always
pre-qualified as host nation.
- Five continental champions are qualified plus the best four
continental vice-champions according to the FIVB ranking.
- The remaining two teams participate through wild cards granted
by the FIVB.
- Since the 1999 edition, only teams not yet qualified for the
following Olympic Games can compete in
the World Cup.
- The competition is divided in exactly two phases (called
"legs").
- Teams are divided in two pools.
- At the first leg, each team plays one match against all other
teams in its pool.
- At the second leg, each team plays one match against all the
teams in the other pool.
- Matches take place continuously through two weeks, with one-day
breaks every two or three days. Each day, six matches are
played.
- Final standings are calculated by usual volleyball criteria:
number of wins, point ratio (the total number of points won divided
by the total number of points lost), set ratio, direct
confrontation.
- Top three teams in overall standings, regardless of pools,
qualify for the following Olympic
Games.
- The tournament implements very tight line-up restrictions: only
twelve players are allowed, and no replacement is permitted, even
in the case of injuries.
Results
Men
Women
Medals summary
Men
| 1 |
|
5 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
| 2 |
|
2 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
| 3 |
|
1 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
| 4 |
|
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| 5 |
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| 6 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 7 |
|
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| 8 |
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| 10 |
|
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| 11 |
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Women
| 1 |
|
4 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
| 2 |
|
3 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
| 3 |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
| 4 |
|
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
| 5 |
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 6 |
|
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
| 7 |
|
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Footnotes
- FIVB considers
Russia as the inheritor of
the records of Soviet Union and CIS
- After German reunification, West Germany was renamed
Germany and they
absorbed East
Germany with the records
- FIVB considers
Czech
Republic as the inheritor of the records of Czechoslovakia
- FIVB considers
Serbia as the inheritor of
the records of SFR Yugoslavia,
FR Yugoslavia and
Serbia and Montenegro
- FIVB considers
Russia as the inheritor of
the records of Soviet Union and CIS
See also
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