Contents

2019 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League

2019 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League

Tournament details
Host nation	United States
City	Chicago (final round)
Dates	31 May – 14 July
Teams	16 (from 4 confederations)
Venue(s)	21 (in 21 host cities)
Champions	Russia (2nd title)
Runners-up	United States
Third place	Poland
Fourth place	Brazil
Tournament awards
MVP	Matt Anderson
Best Setter	Micah Christenson
Best OH	Bartosz Bednorz Dmitry Volkov Egor Kliuka
Best MB	Ivan Iakovlev Maxwell Holt
Best OPP	Matt Anderson
Best Libero	Erik Shoji
Tournament statistics
Matches played	130
Attendance	449,809 (3,460 per match)
Official website
en.volleyballworld.com/en/vnl/2019/
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The 2019 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League was the second edition of the FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League, an annual international men's volleyball tournament contested by 16 national teams.^[1] The competition was held between May and July 2019, and the final round took place in the Credit Union 1 Arena, Chicago, United States.^[2][3] This was the first edition of the World League or the Nations League to have the final round hosted in North America.

Following the results of the 2018 Nations League and 2018 Challenger Cup, South Korea were replaced by debutants Portugal in this edition.^[4]

Portugal were the last placed challenger team after the preliminary round and will be replaced by 2019 Challenger Cup winners Slovenia in the 2020 edition.

Russia successfully defended its title, defeating finals hosts, the United States, in the final. Poland claimed the bronze after sweeping Brazil in three straight sets. Matt Anderson from United States named the MVP of the tournament.

Qualification[edit]

Sixteen teams qualified for the competition. Twelve of them qualified as core teams which cannot face relegation. Other four teams were selected as challenger teams which could be relegated from the tournament.^[1] Portugal replaced South Korea after winning the 2018 Challenger Cup.^[4]

Country	Confederation	Designation	Previous appearances			Previous best performance
			Total	First	Last
Argentina	CSV	Core team	1	2018	2018	14th place (2018)
Australia	AVC	Challenger team	1	2018	2018	13th place (2018)
Brazil	CSV	Core team	1	2018	2018	4th place (2018)
Bulgaria	CEV	Challenger team	1	2018	2018	11th place (2018)
Canada	NORCECA	Challenger team	1	2018	2018	7th place (2018)
China	AVC	Core team	1	2018	2018	15th place (2018)
France	CEV	Core team	1	2018	2018	Runners-up (2018)
Germany	CEV	Core team	1	2018	2018	9th place (2018)
Iran	AVC	Core team	1	2018	2018	10th place (2018)
Italy	CEV	Core team	1	2018	2018	8th place (2018)
Japan	AVC	Core team	1	2018	2018	12th place (2018)
Poland	CEV	Core team	1	2018	2018	5th place (2018)
Portugal	CEV	Challenger team	0	None		None
Russia	CEV	Core team	1	2018	2018	Champions (2018)
Serbia	CEV	Core team	1	2018	2018	5th place (2018)
United States	NORCECA	Core team	1	2018	2018	3rd place (2018)

Format[edit]

Preliminary round[edit]

The 16 teams competed in a round-robin format, with every core team hosting a pool at least once. The teams were divided into 4 pools of 4 teams at each week and competed for five weeks, totalling 120 matches. The top five teams after the preliminary round joined the hosts of the final round to compete in the final round.^[1] The relegation took into consideration only the 4 challenger teams. The last-ranked challenger team was excluded from the 2020 Volleyball Nations League. The winners of the 2019 Challenger Cup qualified for the next edition as a challenger team.

Final round[edit]

The six qualified teams played in 2 pools of 3 teams in a round-robin format. The top 2 teams of each pool qualified for the semifinals. The pool winners played against the runners-up in this round. The semifinals winners advanced to compete for the Volleyball Nations League title. The losers faced each other in the third place match.

Pools composition[edit]

The overview of pools was released on October 23, 2018.^[1]

Preliminary round[edit]

Final round[edit]

Venues[edit]

The list of host cities and venues was announced on 26 March 2019.^[5]

Preliminary round[edit]

Week 1
Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3	Pool 4
Jiangmen, China	Mendoza, Argentina	Katowice, Poland	Novi Sad, Serbia
Jiangmen Sports Center Gymnasium	Aconcagua Arena	Spodek	SPC Vojvodina
Capacity: 8,500	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 11,500	Capacity: 6,987
Week 2
Pool 5	Pool 6	Pool 7	Pool 8
Ningbo, China	Ufa, Russia	Tokyo, Japan	Ottawa, Canada
Beilun Gymnasium	Ufa Arena	Musashino Forest Sports Plaza	TD Place Arena
Capacity: 4,000	Capacity: 8,250	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 9,500
Week 3
Pool 9	Pool 10	Pool 11	Pool 12
Gondomar, Portugal	Varna, Bulgaria	Urmia, Iran	Cannes, France
Multiusos de Gondomar	Palace of Culture and Sports	Ghadir Arena	Palais des Victoires
Capacity: 5,000	Capacity: 6,000	Capacity: 6,000	Capacity: 4,000
Week 4
Pool 13	Pool 14	Pool 15	Pool 16
Hoffman Estates, United States	Milan, Italy	Ardabil, Iran	Cuiabá, Brazil
Sears Centre Arena	PalaLido	Rezazadeh Stadium	Ginásio Aecim Tocantins
Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 5,420	Capacity: 6,000	Capacity: 12,000
Week 5
Pool 17	Pool 18	Pool 19	Pool 20
Brisbane, Australia	Brasilia, Brazil	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Leipzig, Germany
Queensland State Netball Centre	Nilson Nelson Gymnasium	Kolodruma	Arena Leipzig
Capacity: 5,000	Capacity: 11,105	Capacity: 6,100	Capacity: 12,000

Final round[edit]

All matches
Chicago, United States
Credit Union 1 Arena
Capacity: 10,000

Competition schedule[edit]

Pool standing procedure[edit]

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1. Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost)
2. In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker applied: The teams were 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
3. Where teams were still tied after an examination of the number of their victories and points gained, then the FIVB examined the results to break the tie in the following order:
   • Sets quotient: if two or more teams were tied on the number of points gained, they were ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all sets won by the number of all sets lost.
   • Points quotient: where the tie persisted based on the sets quotient, the teams were ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets.
   • Where the tie persisted based on the points quotient, the tie was broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. Where the tie in points quotient was between three or more teams, these teams were ranked taking into consideration only the matches the teams in question were involved in.

Squads[edit]

The 16 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 25 players, which every week's 14-player roster must be selected from. Each country must declare its 14-player roster two days before the start of each week's round-robin competition.

Preliminary round[edit]

Ranking[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification or relegation
1	Brazil	15	14	1	39	44	15	2.933	1408	1218	1.156	Final round
2	Iran	15	12	3	36	38	15	2.533	1276	1173	1.088
3	Russia	15	12	3	34	37	17	2.176	1284	1164	1.103
4	France	15	11	4	34	38	18	2.111	1341	1251	1.072
5	Poland	15	11	4	30	38	25	1.520	1465	1397	1.049
6	United States[a]	15	9	6	28	32	24	1.333	1317	1258	1.047	Final round
7	Argentina	15	8	7	26	33	26	1.269	1363	1304	1.045
8	Italy	15	8	7	25	31	25	1.240	1316	1263	1.042
9	Canada	15	8	7	23	29	29	1.000	1313	1321	0.994
10	Japan	15	7	8	19	27	32	0.844	1318	1326	0.994
11	Serbia	15	6	9	17	28	36	0.778	1393	1417	0.983
12	Bulgaria	15	5	10	13	21	38	0.553	1268	1372	0.924
13	Australia	15	3	12	13	20	37	0.541	1217	1334	0.912
14	Germany	15	3	12	12	23	41	0.561	1349	1470	0.918
15	Portugal	15	2	13	7	12	40	0.300	1095	1268	0.864	Excluded from the 2020 Volleyball Nations League
16	China	15	1	14	4	9	42	0.214	1047	1234	0.848

Week 1[edit]

Pool 1[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 May	16:00	Iran	3–1	Italy	20–25	25–23	25–23	25–23		95–94	P2 Report
31 May	20:00	China	2–3	Germany	21–25	21–25	25–19	25–19	11–15	103–103	P2 Report
1 Jun	16:00	Italy	3–0	Germany	25–21	30–28	25–23			80–72	P2 Report
1 Jun	20:00	China	0–3	Iran	22–25	18–25	21–25			61–75	P2 Report
2 Jun	16:00	Germany	0–3	Iran	28–30	27–29	20–25			75–84	P2 Report
2 Jun	20:00	China	0–3	Italy	21–25	13–25	24–26			58–76	P2 Report

Pool 2[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 May	18:10	Canada	1–3	Bulgaria	20–25	24–26	25–19	17–25		86–95	P2 Report
31 May	21:10	Argentina	3–0	Portugal	25–17	25–21	25–21			75–59	P2 Report
1 Jun	18:10	Canada	3–0	Portugal	25–20	25–23	25–16			75–59	P2 Report
1 Jun	21:10	Argentina	3–0	Bulgaria	25–16	25–21	25–23			75–60	P2 Report
2 Jun	16:10	Portugal	3–1	Bulgaria	25–21	19–25	28–26	25–23		97–95	P2 Report
2 Jun	19:10	Argentina	1–3	Canada	21–25	27–29	25–16	24–26		97–96	P2 Report

Pool 3[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 May	17:30	United States	0–3	Brazil	22–25	22–25	23–25			67–75	P2 Report
31 May	20:30	Poland	3–1	Australia	25–15	24–26	25–21	25–14		99–76	P2 Report
1 Jun	14:00	Brazil	3–2	Australia	32–34	25–16	25–19	27–29	15–13	124–111	P2 Report
1 Jun	17:40	United States	2–3	Poland	25–17	32–34	28–26	23–25	9–15	117–117	P2 Report
2 Jun	14:00	Australia	1–3	United States	25–19	25–27	16–25	16–25		82–96	P2 Report
2 Jun	17:00	Brazil	3–1	Poland	22–25	25–15	25–21	25–17		97–78	P2 Report

Pool 4[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
31 May	17:00	Serbia	1–3	Japan	17–25	12–25	26–24	17–25		72–99	P2 Report
31 May	20:15	France	3–1	Russia	25–19	25–22	20–25	25–23		95–89	P2 Report
1 Jun	16:00	Japan	1–3	Russia	22–25	25–23	19–25	23–25		89–98	P2 Report
1 Jun	19:15	Serbia	1–3	France	12–25	22–25	25–20	20–25		79–95	P2 Report
2 Jun	16:00	Japan	1–3	France	22–25	27–25	19–25	15–25		83–100	P2 Report
2 Jun	19:00	Russia	3–2	Serbia	20–25	26–24	25–23	22–25	15–10	108–107	P2 Report

Week 2[edit]

Pool 5[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
7 Jun	16:00	France	3–1	Poland	28–26	25–23	24–26	25–20		102–95	P2 Report
7 Jun	19:30	China	3–0	Bulgaria	26–24	25–20	25–17			76–61	P2 Report
8 Jun	16:00	Poland	3–1	Bulgaria	22–25	25–19	27–25	25–20		99–89	P2 Report
8 Jun	19:30	China	0–3	France	16–25	23–25	20–25			59–75	P2 Report
9 Jun	16:00	Bulgaria	3–2	France	18–25	23–25	25–21	25–23	15–11	106–105	P2 Report
9 Jun	19:15	China	0–3	Poland	22–25	13–25	15–25			50–75	P2 Report

Pool 6[edit]

• All times are Yekaterinburg Time (UTC+05:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
7 Jun	16:00	Italy	3–1	United States	25–23	13–25	25–20	25–23		88–91	P2 Report
7 Jun	19:10	Russia	3–0	Portugal	25–19	25–22	25–20			75–61	P2 Report
8 Jun	16:00	Italy	3–0	Portugal	25–13	25–20	25–11			75–44	P2 Report
8 Jun	19:00	Russia	3–0	United States	25–22	25–19	25–15			75–56	P2 Report
9 Jun	16:00	Portugal	1–3	United States	20–25	25–22	22–25	17–25		84–97	P2 Report
9 Jun	19:00	Russia	3–0	Italy	29–27	25–16	25–18			79–61	P2 Report

Pool 7[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
7 Jun	15:40	Brazil	3–2	Iran	23–25	25–16	21–25	33–31	15–10	117–107	P2 Report
7 Jun	19:10	Japan	3–0	Argentina	25–16	25–16	33–31			83–63	P2 Report
8 Jun	15:10	Argentina	1–3	Iran	19–25	25–20	22–25	32–34		98–104	P2 Report
8 Jun	18:40	Japan	0–3	Brazil	22–25	19–25	21–25			62–75	P2 Report
9 Jun	15:10	Argentina	2–3	Brazil	20–25	25–21	28–26	23–25	12–15	108–112	P2 Report
9 Jun	18:40	Japan	0–3	Iran	22–25	21–25	19–25			62–75	P2 Report

Pool 8[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
7 Jun	16:40	Germany	3–2	Serbia	25–20	16–25	26–28	26–24	15–9	108–106	P2 Report
7 Jun	20:06	Canada	3–0	Australia	25–23	25–17	25–18			75–58	P2 Report
8 Jun	16:10	Serbia	3–2	Australia	22–25	14–25	25–21	25–21	15–9	101–101	P2 Report
8 Jun	19:15	Canada	3–2	Germany	23–25	29–27	25–18	23–25	15–12	115–107	P2 Report
9 Jun	13:10	Australia	3–0	Germany	25–20	25–20	25–16			75–56	P2 Report
9 Jun	16:10	Canada	2–3	Serbia	17–25	26–24	21–25	28–26	12–15	104–115	P2 Report

Week 3[edit]

Pool 9[edit]

• All times are Western European Summer Time (UTC+01:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
14 Jun	18:00	Brazil	2–3	Serbia	25–17	22–25	25–17	20–25	12–15	104–99	P2 Report
14 Jun	21:15	Portugal	3–0	China	25–22	25–17	25–23			75–62	P2 Report
15 Jun	16:00	Brazil	3–0	China	25–15	25–18	25–22			75–55	P2 Report
15 Jun	19:00	Portugal	2–3	Serbia	25–21	15–25	22–25	32–30	9–15	103–116	P2 Report
16 Jun	15:00	China	1–3	Serbia	17–25	22–25	27–25	18–25		84–100	P2 Report
16 Jun	18:00	Portugal	0–3	Brazil	19–25	21–25	18–25			58–75	P2 Report

Pool 10[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
14 Jun	17:00	Japan	1–3	Italy	25–23	15–25	27–29	21–25		88–102	P2 Report
14 Jun	20:40	Bulgaria	3–2	Australia	20–25	29–27	22–25	25–21	15–13	111–111	P2 Report
15 Jun	17:00	Australia	1–3	Italy	18–25	32–30	18–25	15–25		83–105	P2 Report
15 Jun	20:40	Bulgaria	2–3	Japan	25–22	19–25	25–16	19–25	19–21	107–109	P2 Report
16 Jun	17:00	Japan	3–2	Australia	25–18	25–27	23–25	25–22	17–15	115–107	P2 Report
16 Jun	20:40	Italy	3–1	Bulgaria	25–14	25–20	23–25	25–21		98–80	P2 Report

Pool 11[edit]

• All times are Iran Daylight Time (UTC+04:30).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
14 Jun	15:30	Russia	3–1	Poland	24–26	25–20	25–22	25–19		99–87	P2 Report
14 Jun	18:45	Iran	3–0	Canada	25–15	26–24	25–16			76–55	P2 Report
15 Jun	15:30	Russia	3–1	Canada	25–23	22–25	25–20	25–23		97–91	P2 Report
15 Jun	18:40	Iran	3–2	Poland	25–20	21–25	18–25	25–17	15–8	104–95	P2 Report
16 Jun	15:30	Poland	3–1	Canada	25–20	25–27	25–20	28–26		103–93	P2 Report
16 Jun	18:45	Iran	3–0	Russia	25–20	26–24	25–23			76–67	P2 Report

Pool 12[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
14 Jun	17:00	United States	3–1	Argentina	25–22	25–19	21–25	25–21		96–87	P2 Report
14 Jun	20:15	France	3–1	Germany	24–26	25–20	25–19	25–20		99–85	P2 Report
15 Jun	17:00	United States	3–1	Germany	25–22	21–25	25–19	25–20		96–86	P2 Report
15 Jun	20:03	France	1–3	Argentina	18–25	17–25	25–19	20–25		80–94	P2 Report
16 Jun	14:00	Argentina	3–2	Germany	25–19	23–25	23–25	25–23	15–10	111–102	P2 Report
16 Jun	17:35	France	1–3	United States	25–23	22–25	26–28	25–27		98–103	P2 Report

Week 4[edit]

Pool 13[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
21 Jun	17:00	Canada	3–1	China	25–19	25–23	22–25	25–17		97–84	P2 Report
21 Jun	20:10	United States	3–0	Japan	25–15	25–19	25–19			75–53	P2 Report
22 Jun	14:00	China	0–3	Japan	19–25	20–25	23–25			62–75	P2 Report
22 Jun	19:30	United States	1–3	Canada	22–25	25–22	23–25	17–25		87–97	P2 Report
23 Jun	12:00	Canada	3–2	Japan	25–18	26–24	23–25	21–25	15–13	110–105	P2 Report
23 Jun	16:30	United States	3–0	China	25–20	25–19	25–19			75–58	P2 Report

Pool 14[edit]

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

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
21 Jun	17:00	Poland	3–2	Argentina	25–21	25–23	25–27	20–25	19–17	114–113	P2 Report
21 Jun	20:20	Italy	3–0	Serbia	26–24	25–19	25–22			76–65	P2 Report
22 Jun	17:00	Poland	3–2	Serbia	32–30	21–25	25–21	19–25	15–11	112–112	P2 Report
22 Jun	20:10	Italy	1–3	Argentina	22–25	25–23	19–25	19–25		85–98	P2 Report
23 Jun	17:00	Argentina	3–0	Serbia	25–17	25–23	25–18			75–58	P2 Report
23 Jun	20:00	Italy	2–3	Poland	25–23	22–25	25–23	21–25	23–25	116–121	P2 Report

Pool 15[edit]

• All times are Iran Daylight Time (UTC+04:30).