MADRID, Spain.- The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) confirmed This week, the qualification of the Cuban men’s and women’s teams for the 2025 World Volleyball Championships was announced. The men’s tournament will be played in the Philippines, and the women’s in Thailand, which marks the return of the island’s women’s team to the elite of world volleyball after a seven-year absence.
The Cuban women’s team returns to the World Cup for the first time since 2018, when it finished with its worst result in history. On that occasion, it finished in the last positions, evidencing the sustained decline in the last two decades. Cuba was a world power in the discipline, with three world titles and three Olympic golds between 1978 and 2000. However, since the new millennium, his performance has been progressively declining.
At the 2002 World Cup in Germany, the Cubans finished fifth, but their performance declined in subsequent editions. In 2010 they ranked 12th, in 2014 they ranked 22nd, and in 2022 they did not even qualify.
Although they did not win any medals at the NORCECA Championships held in Quebec in September 2023, they did manage to secure one of the tickets to the World Cup.
Among the qualified teams are the Dominican Republic, the United States and Canada, which together with Cuba will represent the North American and Caribbean region. Brazil, Argentina and Colombia will also be representing South America, as well as European powers such as Turkey and Italy. Asia will have China and Japan, while Africa will be represented by Kenya, Cameroon and Egypt. Meanwhile, Thailand, as host, and Serbia, champion of the last two editions, have guaranteed their participation.
The specific date for the Women’s World Cup has not yet been announced, although the schedule is expected to be revealed in the coming months.
Men’s team
The Cuban men’s team also secured their qualification by finishing third at the NORCECA Championships, held in the United States in September 2023. Unlike the women’s team, the men have managed to stay on the international stage, although without reaching the quality of previous eras. They participated in the 2022 World Cup, where they ranked 14th, an improvement compared to 18th place in 2018 and 17th in 2014.
The latest great achievement of the men’s volleyball de la Isla was in 2010, when they reached the final of the World Cup in Italy, where they lost to Brazil.
The 2025 Men’s Volleyball World Cup, which will be held from September 12 to 28, will feature 32 teams. The United States and Canada will represent North America, along with powerhouses such as Brazil, Argentina and Poland. Egypt and Algeria will represent Africa, while Japan, Iran and Qatar will represent Asia. Europe will be represented by France, Slovenia and Polandas well as the reigning champion, Italy, and the host, the Philippines.
The draw to determine the groups for the men’s tournament will take place on September 14, and the official schedule will be published in the coming days by the FIVB.
The 2025 World Championships will mark a change in the structure of the competition. In addition to increasing the number of participants from 24 to 32 teams, the FIVB has decided that, from this edition, the World Championships will be held every two years instead of every four, with the aim of making the competition more dynamic and offering more opportunities to national teams from around the world.
