FIVB announces 32 participants for 2027 World Championship in Poland without Russia — Interia Sport

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has announced the final list of participants in the 2027 Men's World Championship, which will be held in Poland. Thirty-two national teams, including Ukraine, will play in the tournament, while Russia, an aggressor state, was not included on the list. This was reported by Interia Sport.

Tournament in five cities

The competition will begin on September 10, 2027, and the new world champion will be determined 16 days later. Poland will host the world championship for the third time: the tournament was previously held there in 2014 and 2022.

Matches are scheduled to take place at ERGO Arena in the Tri-City area, Spodek in Katowice, Urania in Olsztyn, Atlas Arena in Łódź and TAURON Arena in Kraków. The Kraków arena will host the medal matches.

Automatic berths went to the hosts, Poland, and the reigning world champions, Italy. Another 15 teams qualified based on the results of continental championships, while the remaining 15 places were allocated according to the FIVB ranking. Estonia will make its World Championship debut, while Denmark will return to the competition after 61 years.

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Russia's participation

According to the publication, Russia's national team ranked third in the FIVB ranking after Poland and Italy, which could have secured its qualification. However, in the summer, FIVB reported that the Russian federation had officially informed it of its voluntary withdrawal from the 2027 Men's World Championship.

Stanislav Shevchenko, head of the Russian volleyball leadership, said that the decision to withdraw was made for security reasons and called the upcoming tournament excessively politicized. In 2022, Poland, together with Slovenia, took over hosting the World Championship after Russia was stripped of the right to organize it.

World Championship participants

The list includes Poland, Italy, Japan, Iran, South Korea, Tunisia, Cameroon, Algeria, France, Finland, Slovenia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, the United States, Canada, Cuba, Bulgaria, Germany, Ukraine, Belgium, Türkiye, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Romania, the Netherlands, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Denmark, Egypt and Estonia.