The Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup kicks off tomorrow in China. The hosts, Belgium, Chile, Croatia, Egypt, Mexico, Qatar, and Ukraine are playing for a spot in the 2025 Volleyball Nations League, with matches scheduled from Thursday to Sunday. The tournament will follow a single-elimination format, featuring quarterfinals on Thursday and Friday, semifinals on Saturday, and bronze and gold medal matches on Sunday. The winner will qualify for the VNL 2025, which will have a new format next year, expanding from 16 to 18 national teams.
The tournament will begin with a quarterfinal match between hosts China and Mexico on Thursday, at 15:30 local time (7:30 GMT).
The Chinese, who recently finished fifth in the AVC Challenge Cup, will have star Zhang Jingyin in their ranks, who will try to help his team return to the VNL after their relegation in 2022. Mexico, who won the NORCECA qualification for the Challenger Cup, will make their first appearance in the Challenger tournament.
Four hours later, European rivals Belgium and Croatia will meet in another quarterfinal. This is the first participation for both teams in the Challenger Cup. Belgium and Croatia recently met in the CEV European Golden League, with the Croats winning 3-1.
On Friday, two other quarterfinal matches will take place, with Ukraine facing Chile at 15:30 local time (7:30 GMT). The Ukrainians arrive as Golden League winners and will try to improve on their third-place finish from 2023. The Chileans, on the other hand, have appeared in all four editions of the Challenger Cup and finished fourth last year.
The fourth and final quarterfinal, scheduled for Friday at 19:30 local time (11:30 GMT), will see Qatar face Olympic qualifiers Egypt. The Qataris reached second place in the 2023 Challenger Cup, while the Africans finished fifth in their only appearance in 2019.
The last vacant spot for the VNL 2025 season will be taken by the highest-ranked team in the FIVB Men's Volleyball World Ranking, among those not yet qualified.
PHOTOS:volleyballworld.com
