2025 AVC Men's Volleyball Nations Cup
Asian men's volleyball tournament
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The 2025 AVC Men's Volleyball Nations Cup was the first and final edition under this name, and the fifth overall edition of the tournament formerly known as the AVC Men's Challenge Cup, an annual international volleyball tournament organised by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA). It was held from 17 to 24 June 2025 in Manama, Bahrain.[1]
| أمم آسيا لرجال الطائرة | |
|---|---|
Official logo | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Bahrain |
| City | Manama |
| Dates | 17–24 June |
| Teams | 11 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Bahrain (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Pakistan |
| Third place |  Qatar |
| Fourth place |  South Korea |
| Tournament awards | |
| MVP | Mohamed Abdulla Yaqoob |
| Best Setter | Mahmood Alafyah |
| Best OH |
|
| Best MB |
|
| Best OPP | Ali Khamis |
| Best Libero | Ayman Haroon |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 25 |
| Attendance | 20,585 (823 per match) |
← 2024 2026 → | |
As the FIVB Volleyball Nations League restructured its format and abolished the Challenger Cup as a direct qualifier to the tournament, this tournament will serve to countries currently not participating in the Nations League to garner world ranking points for a chance to enter the said competition. Bahrain, the champions of this tournament qualified for the 2026 Asian Championship.[2]
Host Bahrain won their first title after defeating the Pakistan in the final.[3] This was Pakistan's second consecutive defeat in the final of the tournament.[4] Qatar beat South Korea in the 3rd place match and took the bronze medal.[5] Mohamed Abdulla Yaqoob was named as the MVP of the tournament.[6]
Suspension of the final match was considered due to security issues arising from the Iranian strikes on Al Udeid Air Base. However the plan was dropped after guarantees from the host country's government and federation.[7]
Host selection
Bahrain is the only country that submitted its bid to host the tournament and AVC was awarded the hosting rights in February 2025.[citation needed]
Qualification
Participating in the 2025 AVC Nations Cup
Did not participate
Following AVC regulations, a maximum of 12 teams for the next AVC Nations Cup were selected through the following criteria:[1]
- 1 team for the host country
- 6 other top-ranked teams from the previous edition (2024)
- 5 other highest-ranked entrant teams in the FIVB Senior World Rankings
- If a team does not have world ranking points, the final decision will be made by AVC in consultation with Volleyball World and the host country.
| Country | Zone | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances | Previous best performance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | First | Last | |||||
| Bahrain[a] |
WAVA | Host country | 15 April 2025 | 2 | 2023 | 2024 | Runners-up (2023) |
| Qatar |
WAVA | Defending champions | 8 June 2024 | 1 | 2024 | Champions (2024) | |
| Pakistan |
CAVA | 2024 Challenge Cup runners-up | 8 June 2024 | 1 | 2024 | Runners-up (2024) | |
| South Korea |
EAVA | 2024 Challenge Cup 3rd placers | 8 June 2024 | 2 | 2023 | 2024 | 3rd place (2023, 2024) |
 Kazakhstan |
|||||||
 Vietnam |
SAVA | 2024 Challenge Cup 6th placers | 8 June 2024 | 2 | 2023 | 2024 | 4th place (2023) |
 Australia[a] |
OZVA | 2024 Challenge Cup 8th placers | 15 April 2025 | 2 | 2023 | 2024 | 5th place (2023) |
 Chinese Taipei |
EAVA | 1st World ranked non-qualified team | 15 April 2025 | 2 | 2023 | 2024 | 9th place (2023) |
 Indonesia |
SAVA | 2nd World ranked non-qualified team | 15 April 2025 | 2 | 2023 | 2024 | 6th place (2023) |
 Philippines |
SAVA | 3rd World ranked non-qualified team | 15 April 2025 | 2 | 2023 | 2024 | 10th place (2023, 2024) |
 Thailand |
SAVA | 4th World ranked non-qualified team | 15 April 2025 | 2 | 2023 | 2024 | Champions (2023) |
 New Zealand |
OZVA | Additional entrant team | 19 May 2025 | 0 | None | Debut | |
China, 
Iran, and 
Japan which are part of the 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League are ineligible to submit entries to this tournament.[9]
Pools composition
The draw of lots took place on 25 May 2025 at the Edsa Shangri-La, Manila in Mandaluyong, Philippines and teams were split into four pools with three teams each.[10][11]
| Seeded teams | Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Bahrain (58) (Hosts) Qatar (21) (1st) Pakistan (46) (2nd) South Korea (27) (3rd) |
Australia (33) Chinese Taipei (45) Indonesia (51) Vietnam (52) |
Kazakhstan (53) Philippines (56) Thailand (57) New Zealand (–) |
- Drawing results
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bahrain |
Qatar |
Pakistan |
South Korea |
| Indonesia |
Australia |
Chinese Taipei |
Vietnam |
| Thailand |
Kazakhstan |
Philippines |
New Zealand |
Venue
| Manama, Bahrain |
|---|
| Isa Bin Rashed Hall |
| Capacity: 10,500 |
Pool standing procedure
- Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost)
- In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker will apply: The teams will be ranked by the most point gained per match as follows:
- Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser
- Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser
- Match forfeited: 3 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser
- If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, then the AVC will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order:
- Set quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all set won by the number of all sets lost.
- Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the set quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets.
- If the tie persists based on the point quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. When the tie in point quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.
Squads
Preliminary round
- All times are Arabia Standard Time (UTC+03:00).
Pool A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bahrain (H) |
2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 6.000 | 173 | 147 | 1.177 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Indonesia |
2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.600 | 169 | 177 | 0.955 | |
| 3 | Thailand |
2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0.500 | 187 | 205 | 0.912 | 9th–11th places |
Pool B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qatar |
1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | MAX | 75 | 65 | 1.154 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Australia |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 65 | 75 | 0.867 |
Source: FIVB Live Center
Pool C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pakistan |
2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2.000 | 198 | 185 | 1.070 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Chinese Taipei |
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1.250 | 211 | 197 | 1.071 | |
| 3 | Philippines |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0.333 | 169 | 196 | 0.862 | 9th–11th places |
Source: FIVB Live Center
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Jun | 14:00 | Pakistan | 3–1 | Philippines | 25–18 | 25–12 | 18–25 | 25–22 | 93–77 | P2 Report | |
| 18 Jun | 14:00 | Chinese Taipei | 3–1 | Philippines | 25–19 | 23–25 | 30–28 | 25–20 | 103–92 | P2 Report | |
| 19 Jun | 14:00 | Pakistan | 3–2 | Chinese Taipei | 25–20 | 25–22 | 21–25 | 16–25 | 18–16 | 105–108 | P2 Report |
Pool D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea |
2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | MAX | 153 | 118 | 1.297 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Vietnam |
2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1.000 | 132 | 135 | 0.978 | |
| 3 | New Zealand |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.000 | 121 | 153 | 0.791 | 9th–11th places |
Source: FIVB Live Center
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Jun | 16:30 | South Korea | 3–0 | New Zealand | 28–26 | 25–13 | 25–22 | 78–61 | P2 Report | ||
| 18 Jun | 16:30 | Vietnam | 3–0 | New Zealand | 25–23 | 25–22 | 25–15 | 75–60 | P2 Report | ||
| 19 Jun | 16:30 | South Korea | 3–0 | Vietnam | 25–22 | 25–23 | 25–12 | 75–57 | P2 Report |
Final round
- All times are Arabia Standard Time (UTC+03:00).
9th–11th places
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Thailand |
2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | MAX | 152 | 121 | 1.256 |
| 10 | Philippines |
2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0.750 | 157 | 149 | 1.054 |
| 11 | New Zealand |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.167 | 136 | 175 | 0.777 |
Source: FIVB Live Center
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Jun | 19:00 | Thailand | 3–0 | Philippines | 25–21 | 25–20 | 25–18 | 75–59 | P2 Report | ||
| 22 Jun | 14:00 | Thailand | 3–0 | New Zealand | 25–20 | 25–17 | 27–25 | 77–62 | P2 Report | ||
| 24 Jun | 12:00 | Philippines | 3–1 | New Zealand | 25–16 | 23–25 | 25–11 | 25–22 | 98–74 | P2 Report |
Final eight
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| 21 June | ||||||||||
| Bahrain | 3 | |||||||||
| 23 June | ||||||||||
| Chinese Taipei | 0 | |||||||||
| Bahrain | 3 | |||||||||
| 21 June | ||||||||||
| South Korea | 2 | |||||||||
| Australia | 1 | |||||||||
| 24 June | ||||||||||
| South Korea | 3 | |||||||||
| Bahrain | 3 | |||||||||
| 21 June | ||||||||||
| Pakistan | 1 | |||||||||
| Indonesia | 1 | |||||||||
| 23 June | ||||||||||
| Pakistan | 3 | |||||||||
| Pakistan | 3 | |||||||||
| 21 June | ||||||||||
| Qatar | 0 | 3rd place match | ||||||||
| Qatar | 3 | |||||||||
| 24 June | ||||||||||
| Vietnam | 2 | |||||||||
| South Korea | 0 | |||||||||
| Qatar | 3 | |||||||||
| 5th–8th semifinals | 5th place match | |||||
| 22 June | ||||||
| Chinese Taipei | 1 | |||||
| 23 June | ||||||
| Australia | 3 | |||||
| Australia | 3 | |||||
| 22 June | ||||||
| Indonesia | 0 | |||||
| Indonesia | 3 | |||||
| Vietnam | 2 | |||||
| 7th place match | ||||||
| 23 June | ||||||
| Chinese Taipei | 3 | |||||
| Vietnam | 1 | |||||
Quarterfinals
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Jun | 11:30 | Australia | 1–3 | South Korea | 23–25 | 18–25 | 25–22 | 23–25 | 89–97 | P2 Report | |
| 21 Jun | 14:00 | Indonesia | 1–3 | Pakistan | 25–20 | 21–25 | 20–25 | 17–25 | 83–95 | P2 Report | |
| 21 Jun | 16:30 | Qatar | 3–2 | Vietnam | 29–31 | 25–21 | 25–15 | 22–25 | 15–12 | 116–104 | P2 Report |
| 21 Jun | 19:00 | Bahrain | 3–0 | Chinese Taipei | 25–18 | 25–22 | 35–33 | 85–73 | P2 Report |
5th–8th semifinals
Semifinals
7th place match
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Jun | 11:30 | Chinese Taipei | 3–1 | Vietnam | 21–25 | 25–22 | 25–19 | 25–22 | 96–88 | P2 Report |
5th place match
3rd place match
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Jun | 15:00 | South Korea | 0–3 | Qatar | 21–25 | 20–25 | 23–25 | 64–75 | P2 Report |
Final
Final standing
|
|
Awards
- Most valuable player
Mohamed Abdulla Yaqoob (BHR)
- Best setter
- Mahmood Alafyah (BHR)
- Best outside spikers
- Mohamed Abdulla Yaqoob (BHR)
Murad Jehan (PAK)
- Best middle blockers
- Musawer Khan (PAK)
Belal Nabel Abunabot (QAT)
- Best opposite spiker
- Ali Khamis (BHR)
- Best libero
- Ayman Haroon (BHR)
Notes
- As China qualified for the 2025 Nations League on 7 July 2024, Bahrain qualified as the 2024 Challenge Cup 7th placers. Their spot was allocated to Australia after being awarded hosting rights on 15 April 2025.[citation needed]
- Kazakhstan withdrew from tournament on 14 June 2025 due Security concerns regarding to Twelve-Day War.[8]
