The FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship 2022 is the 20th edition of the International Volleyball Federation's flagship event and returns to Russia which hosted (as USSR) the 2nd and 5th editions in 1952 and 1962.
History
The competition will be held across the cities of Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Yaroslavl, Yekaterinburg, Ufa and Novosibirsk from 26 August to 11 September. It will feature 24 teams.
Russia are the second country in the history of the competition to host an edition for a third time, after Italy in 1978, 2010 and (jointly with Bulgaria) in 2018.
Other hosts have been Poland (2014), Czechoslovakia (1949, 1966), France (1956, 1986), Brazil (1960, 1990), Argentina (1982, 2002), Japan (1998, 2006), Bulgaria (1970, 2018), Mexico (1974) and Greece (1994).
With six titles to its name, Russia's predecessor, the Soviet Union, is the most successful nation since the first World Championship took place in 1949. However, it is now 32 years since their last gold medal, which they won in 1982 in Buenos Aires.
Taking the gold medal on three occasions each are Brazil (2002, 2006, 2010), Italy (1990, 1994, 1998) and Poland (1974, 2014 and 2018), while Czechoslovakia triumphed on two occasions (1956, 1966). Other countries to have been crowned world champions are East Germany (1970) and USA (1986) with one title each.