2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship

The 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship will be the 23rd edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship, contested by the men's national teams under the age of 21 of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. It will be held in China from 21 to 31 August 2025.^[1]

2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship

Tournament details
Host nation	China
City	Jiangmen
Dates	21–31 August 2025
Teams	24 (from 5 confederations)
Official website
2025 Men's U21 World Championship
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Starting with this edition, the tournament will be expanded to include 24 teams instead of the 16 teams of previous editions, following the decision adopted by FIVB in June 2023.^[2]

Host selection

On 28 March 2024, FIVB opened the bidding process for member associations whose countries were interested in hosting one of the four Age Group World Championships in 2025 (i.e., U19 Boys' and Girls' World Championships and U21 Men's and Women's World Championships).^[3] The expression of interest of the member associations had to be submitted to FIVB by 30 April 2024, 18:00 CEST (UTC+2).^[4]

On 10 September 2024, FIVB announced that China was selected as the host for the 2024 Boys' U21 World Championship.^[5]

Qualification

A total of 24 national teams will qualify for the final tournament.^[4] In addition to the host team and the defending champions who qualified automatically, 20 other teams will qualify through five separate continental competitions which were required to be held no later than 31 December 2024. Two remaining teams will enter the tournament via the Men's U21 FIVB World Ranking (as of 31 December 2024) among the teams not yet qualified.

The slot allocation per confederation was set as follows:^[4]

• Defending champion (Iran): 1
• AVC (Asia & Oceania): 4
• CAVB (Africa): 3
• CEV (Europe): 6
• CSV (South America): 3
• NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean): 4
• Host: 1
• Top teams not yet qualified as per Men's U21 FIVB World Ranking: 2

Confederation	Qualifying tournament	Team qualified	Appearances			Previous best performance
			Total	First	Last
AVC (Asia & Oceania)	Host nation	China	17th	1977	2019	Runners-up (1977)
	Defending champions	Iran	15th	1993	2023	Champions (2019, 2023)
	2024 Asian Men's U20 Championship ( Surabaya, 23–30 July)	South Korea	14th	1977	2019	Champions (1987)
		Japan	14th	1977	2017	Runners-up (1989)
		Indonesia	2nd	1989		Fifteenth (1989)
		Kazakhstan	1st	Debut		None
	Men's U21 FIVB World Ranking	Thailand	4th	1999	2023	Eighth place (2023)
CAVB (Africa)	2024 Men's U20 African Nations Championship ( Tunis, 5–10 August)	Tunisia	14th	1985	2023	Ninth place (1999, 2005)
		Egypt	15th	1981	2023	Ninth place (2003, 2023)
		Morocco	8th	1999	2021	Ninth place (2005)
CEV (Europe)	2024 Men's U20 European Championship ( Vrnjačka Banja and Arta, 26 August–7 September)	France	7th	1985	2015	Runners-up (1999)
		Czech Republic	7th[a]	1991	2023	Third place (1993)
		Bulgaria	11th	1985	2023	Champions (1991)
		Italy	17th	1985	2023	Champions (2021)
		Ukraine	4th	1999	2017	Ninth place (1999)
		Turkey	4th	2013	2017	Sixth place (2013, 2015)
	Men's U21 FIVB World Ranking	Poland	13th	1989	2023	Champions (1997, 2003, 2017)
CSV (South America)	2024 Men's U21 South American Championship ( Callao, 30 October–3 November)	Brazil	23rd	1977	2023	Champions (1993, 2001, 2007, 2009)
		Colombia	2nd	1977		Eighth place (1977)
		Argentina	18th	1977	2023	Runners-up (2011, 2015)
NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean)	2024 Men's U21 NORCECA Championship ( Nogales, 9–17 June)	United States	11th	1977	2023	Fourth place (2011)
		Canada	14th	1977	2023	Fifth place (1999)
		Cuba	15th	1981	2021	Runners-up (1987, 2009, 2017)
		Puerto Rico	6th	1989	2019	Ninth place (1997)

1. Competed as Czechoslovakia in 1991 and 1993; 4 appearances as Czech Republic.

Competition formula changes

In June 2023 during a three-day meeting in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, the FIVB Board of Administration approved the proposal made by its Volleyball Council to increase the number of participating teams to 24 in its Age Group World Championships (U19 and U21 in both genders).^[6][2] Consequently, the distribution of quotas by confederation for the Women's U21 World Championship was modified regarding previous editions, ensuring one automatic quota for the defending champion and assigning two quotas based on the corresponding FIVB Age Group World Ranking.^{[citation needed]}

The new competition formula was in line with the one adopted for the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U19 World Championship, which was also contested by 24 teams.^[7]

Pools composition

Draw

The draw for the pools composition will held on 4 December 2024 at the FIVB headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.^[8] The 24 participating teams will be split into four single round-robin pools of six with the host nations and the reigning world champions receiving the highest seeds. The rest of the qualified teams are seeded in a serpentine system based on their positions in the respective FIVB World Rankings.^[9]

Men's U21 FIVB World Ranking of each team as of 4 November 2024 are shown in brackets, except the hosts China who ranked 66th.

Seeded teams		Teams to be drawn
Line 1	Line 2	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
China (Hosts, assigned to A1)  Iran (1), assigned to B1  Bulgaria (2), assigned to C1  Italy (3), assigned to D1	Argentina (4), assigned to D2  Brazil (5), assigned to C2  Poland (6), assigned to B2  Egypt (7), assigned to A2	Canada (8)  United States (9)  Czech Republic (10)  Tunisia (12)	Thailand (13)  France (13)  South Korea (15)  Colombia (15)	Morocco (18)  Japan (18)  Ukraine (20)  Puerto Rico (20)	Indonesia (20)  Kazakhstan (26)  Turkey (29)  Cuba (66)

The draw procedure also followed the serpentine system and was as follows:^[9]

• Teams from pot 4 were drawn first and were placed in line 6 of each pool starting from pool D to pool A.
• Teams from pot 3 were then drawn and placed in line 5 of each pool starting from pool A to pool D.
• Teams from pot 2 were then drawn and were placed in line 4 of each pool starting from pool D to pool A.
• Teams from pot 1 were then drawn and placed in line 3 of each pool starting from pool A to pool D.

The pools composition after the draw was as follow:

Pool A Pos Team A1  China A2  Egypt A3  United States A4  Thailand A5  Morocco A6  Turkey

Pool B Pos Team B1  Iran B2  Poland B3  Canada B4  South Korea B5  Puerto Rico B6  Kazakhstan

Pool C Pos Team C1  Bulgaria C2  Brazil C3  Czech Republic C4  Colombia C5  Japan C6  Cuba

Pool D Pos Team D1  Italy D2  Argentina D3  Tunisia D4  France D5  Ukraine D6  Indonesia

Format

According to the new competition format, the top four teams from the final standings in each pool will advance to the eighthfinals, while the remaining two will continue their participation in the playoffs for the distribution of the places from 17th to 24th.

Venue

Squads

Main article: 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship squads

Preliminary round

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

Pool A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	China (H)	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	Round of 16
2	Egypt	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
3	United States	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
4	Thailand	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
5	Morocco	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	17–24 places
6	Turkey	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—

First match(es) will be played: 21 August 2025. Source: FIVB
(H) Host

Pool B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Iran	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	Round of 16
2	Poland	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
3	Canada	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
4	South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
5	Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	17–24 places
6	Kazakhstan	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—

First match(es) will be played: 21 August 2025. Source: FIVB

Pool C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Bulgaria	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	Round of 16
2	Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
3	Czech Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
4	Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
5	Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	17–24 places
6	Cuba	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—

First match(es) will be played: 21 August 2025. Source: FIVB

Pool D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Italy	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	Round of 16
2	Argentina	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
3	Tunisia	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
4	France	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
5	Ukraine	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—	17–24 places
6	Indonesia	0	0	0	0	0	0	—	0	0	—

First match(es) will be played: 21 August 2025. Source: FIVB

Final round

17th–24th places

21st place match

21st–24th semifinals

17th–24th quarterfinals

17th–20th semifinals

17th place match

Group A 5th place

Group C 6th place

Losers 17–24 QF1

Winners 17–24 QF1

Losers 17–24 QF3

Winners 17–24 QF3

Group B 5th place

Group D 6th place

Winners 17–20 SF1

Winners 21–24 SF1

Winners 17–20 SF2

Winners 21–24 SF2

Group C 5th place

Group A 6th place

23rd place match

Losers 17–24 QF2

Winners 17–24 QF2

19th place match

Losers 17–24 QF4

Winners 17–24 QF4

Losers 17–20 SF1

Group D 5th place

Losers 21–24 SF1

Losers 17–20 SF2

Group B 6th place

Losers 21–24 SF2

17th–24th quarterfinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Group A 5th place	17–24 QF1	Group C 6th place	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Group C 5th place	17–24 QF2	Group A 6th place	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Group B 5th place	17–24 QF3	Group D 6th place	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Group D 5th place	17–24 QF4	Group B 6th place	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

21st–24th semi-finals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Losers 17–24 QF1	21–24 SF1	Losers 17–24 QF3	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Losers 17–24 QF2	21–24 SF2	Losers 17–24 QF4	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

17th–20th semi-finals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Winners 17–24 QF1	17–20 SF1	Winners 17–24 QF3	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Winners 17–24 QF2	17–20 SF2	Winners 17–24 QF4	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

23rd place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Losers 21–24 SF1	23–24 F	Losers 21–24 SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

21st place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Winners 21–24 SF1	21–22 F	Winners 21–24 SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

19th place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Losers 17–20 SF1	19–20 F	Losers 17–20 SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

17th place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Winners 17–20 SF1	17–18 F	Winners 17–20 SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

1st–16th places

Main path bracket

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Aug

Team 2D

Aug

Team 3B

Winners EF2

Aug

Winners EF3

Team 1A

Aug

Team 4C

Winners QF1

Aug

Winners QF3

Team 2C

Aug

Team 3A

Winners EF1

Aug

Winners EF4

Team 1B

31 Aug

Team 4D

Winners SF1

Aug

Winners SF2

Team 2B

Aug

Team 3D

Winners EF6

Aug

Winners EF7

Team 1C

Aug

Team 4A

Winners QF2

Aug

Winners QF4

3rd place match

Team 2A

Aug

31 Aug

Team 3C

Winners EF5

Losers SF1

Aug

Winners EF8

Losers SF2

Team 1D

Team 4B

Round of 16

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Team 2C	EF1	Team 3A	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Team 2D	EF2	Team 3B	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Team 1A	EF3	Team 4C	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Team 1B	EF4	Team 4D	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Team 2A	EF5	Team 3C	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Team 2B	EF6	Team 3D	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Team 1C	EF7	Team 4A	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Team 1D	EF8	Team 4B	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

9th–16th places

13th place match

13th–16th semi-finals

9th–16th quarter-finals

9th–12th semi-finals

9th place match

Losers EF2

Losers EF3

Losers 9–16 QF1

Winners 9–16 QF1

Losers 9–16 QF3

Winners 9–16 QF3

Losers EF1

Losers EF4

Winners 13–16 SF1

Winners 9–12 SF1

Winners 13–16 SF2

Winners 9–12 SF2

Losers EF6

Losers EF7

15th place match

Losers 9–16 QF2

Winners 9–16 QF2

11th place match

Losers 9–16 QF4

Winners 9–16 QF4

Losers 13–16 SF1

Losers EF5

Losers 9–12 SF1

Losers 13–16 SF2

Losers EF8

Losers 9–12 SF2

9th–16th quarter-finals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Losers EF2	9–16 QF1	Losers EF3	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Losers EF6	9–16 QF2	Losers EF7	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Losers EF1	9–16 QF3	Losers EF4	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Losers EF5	9–16 QF4	Losers EF8	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

13th–16th semifinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Losers 9–16 QF1	13–16 SF1	Losers 9–16 QF3	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Losers 9–16 QF2	13–16 SF2	Losers 9–16 QF4	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

9th–12th semifinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Winners 9–16 QF1	9–12 SF1	Winners 9–16 QF3	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Winners 9–16 QF2	9–12 SF2	Winners 9–16 QF4	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

15th place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 Aug	00:00	Losers 13–16 SF1	15–16 F	Losers 13–16 SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

13th place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 Aug	00:00	Winners 13–16 SF1	13–14 F	Winners 13–16 SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

11th place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 Aug	00:00	Losers 9–12 SF1	11–12 F	Losers 9–12 SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

9th place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 Aug	00:00	Winners 9–12 SF1	9–10 F	Winners 9–12 SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

1st–8th places

5th place match

5th–8th semifinals

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Winners EF2

Winners EF3

Losers QF1

Winners QF1

Losers QF3

Winners QF3

Winners EF1

Winners EF4

Winners 5–8 SF1

Winners SF1

Winners 5–8 SF2

Winners SF2

Winners EF6

Winners EF7

7th place match

Losers QF2

Winners QF2

3rd place match

Losers QF4

Winners QF4

Losers 5–8 SF1

Winners EF5

Losers SF1

Losers 5–8 SF2

Winners EF8

Losers SF2

Quarterfinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Winners EF2	QF1	Winners EF3	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Winners EF6	QF2	Winners EF7	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Winners EF1	QF3	Winners EF4	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Winners EF5	QF4	Winners EF8	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

5th–8th semifinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Losers QF1	5–8 SF1	Losers QF3	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Losers QF2	5–8 SF2	Losers QF4	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

Semifinals

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
Aug	00:00	Winners QF1	SF1	Winners QF3	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report
Aug	00:00	Winners QF2	SF2	Winners QF4	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

7th place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 Aug	00:00	Losers 5–8 SF1	7–8 F	Losers 5–8 SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

5th place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 Aug	00:00	Winners 5–8 SF1	5–6 F	Winners 5–8 SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

3rd place match

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 Aug	00:00	Losers SF1	3–4 F	Losers SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

Final

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 Aug	00:00	Winners SF1	F	Winners SF2	–	–	–			0–0	P2 Report

Final standing

Rank Team 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Qualified for the 2027 World Championship

See also

• 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women's U21 World Championship