Thailand hosts the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship with an expanded 32-team format
In short: The 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship marked a historic shift in international volleyball. Held in Thailand, this 20th edition introduced an expanded 32-team format and a new two-year cycle. Italy emerged victorious, securing their second title in a tournament that spanned four cities and redefined the sport's global reach.
The 2025 tournament, held from 22 August to 7 September, was the first World Championship hosted in Southeast Asia and the first world senior championship in an Olympic team sport to be staged in Thailand. The event represented a significant structural evolution for the FIVB, transitioning to a two-year cycle in odd-numbered years. To ensure greater universality, the FIVB Board of Administration approved an expansion from 24 to 32 teams, standardizing the competition into a pool-based preliminary phase followed by a direct-elimination final round.
The selection of Thailand as the sole host followed a complex bidding process involving multiple nations, including Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. After the Philippines withdrew to focus on the Men's World Championship and Vietnam cited financial constraints, Thailand was confirmed as the host in August 2024. The tournament was distributed across four cities: Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiang Mai, and Phuket. Each city was strategically paired with specific pools to leverage local interest and tourist demographics, with Bangkok serving as the site for the final round.
Competition for the title was intense, with Italy ultimately defeating Turkey in the final to claim their second championship. Turkey’s silver medal marked their first-ever podium finish in the event, while Brazil secured the bronze by defeating Japan. The tournament also served as a stage for rising nations, with Vietnam making its debut. The qualification process, which moved away from continental bias, relied on a combination of automatic berths for the host and defending champions, alongside FIVB World Rankings, ensuring a diverse field of participants from across the globe.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship
- Also: Volleyball: FIVB Women's World Championship 2025 - full schedule, all results & standings - complete list
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