Many people are familiar with football competitions such as the World Cup and the European Cup, but not as many are familiar with world-class volleyball leagues. However, world-class volleyball leagues are no less than these football competitions. So, what are the most important volleyball tournaments? Such as the World Cup Volleyball Tournament, the Olympic Volleyball Competition, the World Volleyball Championships, and the World Men’s Volleyball League… Let’s take a look at the specifics together!

1. World Cup Volleyball Tournament

The World Cup is an international volleyball competition attended by high-level men’s and women’s teams from around the world, held once every four years. Since the 1991 World Cup was held the year before the Olympics, it acts as a qualifying competition for the Olympics.

The precursor to the World Cup was the “Three Continents” Volleyball Tournament, which were the three continents of Asia, Europe, and America. In 1964, the International Volleyball Federation renamed it the “World Cup” Volleyball Tournament and decided to hold the first World Cup Men’s Volleyball Tournament in Poland in 1965 and the first World Cup Women’s Volleyball Tournament in Uruguay in 1973.

2. Olympic Volleyball Competition

– Olympic Volleyball Tournament

In 1964, volleyball made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics with 10 men’s teams and 6 women’s teams participating in the competition. By the 2004 Athens Olympics, volleyball had entered the sacred temple of the Olympics for dozens of years. In these glorious and dreamy years, the size of the Olympic Volleyball Competition has grown from the original 10 men’s teams and 6 women’s teams to 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams.

– National Beach Volleyball Championships

The World Beach Volleyball Championships are held once every two years and are a world-class beach volleyball event recognized by the International Volleyball Federation. As a superb representative of international sports events, the World Beach Volleyball Championships embodies the sport’s technical skills, fitness habits, and physical beauty. It also provides men and women with the opportunity to compete at the same time, showing their strength and skills to the world.

– Paralympic Sitting Volleyball Match

The method of playing Paralympic sitting volleyball is largely the same as that of Olympic volleyball, but with some specific regulations. For example, the playing court for sitting volleyball is smaller than that for six-person volleyball. During the game, the athletes must sit on the ground and their hips must remain in contact with the ground, standing and walking are not allowed. However, defensive players can briefly lift themselves when diving to save a ball that is out of reach. Players are allowed to cross the center line with their hands and feet as long as they do not interfere with the opponent’s technical moves. Defensive players can also directly block serves, etc.

3. World Volleyball Championships

– Men’s World Volleyball Championships

The Men’s World Volleyball Championships are international volleyball competitions hosted by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), and are the oldest and largest worldwide competitions in volleyball that receive widespread attention from various countries. Originally held in the same year as the Olympics, they have been held two years after the Olympics since 1962. The champion directly qualifies for the next Olympics, and the qualification rules for the World Championships were modified by the FIVB in 1994. In the final qualifying tournament directly under the FIVB, previously only the top 3 teams could participate in the World Championships, but now the top 9 teams are eligible to participate. The rule “teams ranked 2nd to 7th in the previous World Championships are automatically eligible to participate” has been canceled.

– Women’s World Volleyball Championships

The Women’s World Volleyball Championships are international volleyball competitions hosted by the FIVB and are held every four years, starting in 1952. They are the oldest competition among the “Three Major Competitions” (World Championships, World Cup, and Olympic Women’s Volleyball Competition) and also the competition with the most participating teams. So far, 17 editions have been held.

4. World Men’s Volleyball League

The World Men’s Volleyball League is an international commercial competition organized by the International Volleyball Federation, starting in 1990, with the aim of increasing the influence of volleyball around the world. The participating teams are national teams from the five continents, and the competition is usually held in the summer, lasting one to two months. The competition starts with home and away group matches, and then the higher-ranked teams compete in a final in one country to determine the champion.

5. World Women’s Volleyball Grand Prix

The World Women’s Volleyball Grand Prix is an annual large-scale world-class volleyball competition organized by the International Volleyball Federation. Founded in 1993, the tournament decides the list of participants in the final (Final Week) based on the results of the preliminary tournaments. The winner of the final is the overall champion of the competition.