The Slovenia men's national volleyball team represents Slovenia in international volleyball competitions and friendly matches, and is governed by the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia. The team made its debut at major tournaments in 2001, when it competed at the European Volleyball Championship. Between 2015 and 2021, Slovenia reached the final of the European Championship three times and finished as runners-up on all three occasions after losing to France, Serbia and Italy, respectively.
As of September 2026, Slovenia is ranked seventh in the FIVB World Rankings.
History The Slovenia national team played its first official match on 24 April 1992, under the leadership of Viktor Krevsel. They first appeared at the European Volleyball Championship in 2001, where they took last place among twelve teams.
In March 2015, Andrea Giani was appointed as the head coach of Slovenia. He led the team to its first medal at the 2015 Men's European Volleyball Championship, when Slovenia lost 3–0 to France in the final. Tine Urnaut won one of the individual player awards for the best outside spiker.
In January 2017, Giani resigned as coach and Slobodan Kovač took over the team. In the same year, Slovenia qualified for the 2018 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, their first ever World Championship appearance, after beating Belgium in the qualifiers. Two years after his appointment, in January 2019, the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia and Kovač both agreed to part ways and terminate the contract. He was replaced by Alberto Giuliani.
Slovenia hosted the 2019 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup at home in Ljubljana. The team reached the final, where they defeated Cuba 3–0 and earned the right to participate in the 2020 Nations League, replacing Portugal; however, the competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Slovenia qualified for the 2021 edition instead. At their Nations League debut in Rimini, Italy, the team reached the final round as the only challenger team, where they lost 3–0 both to Poland and France in the semifinals and in the third place match, respectively.
At the 2019 European Championship, Slovenia was one of the four co-hosts of the tournament. The team reached the final again, where they lost 3–1 to Serbia, clinching their second silver medal in four years. Two years later, at the 2021 European Championship, Slovenia once again reached the final. After defeating hosts Poland in the semifinals, they lost the final 3–2 against Italy to claim their third silver medal. Gregor Ropret was selected in the All Star Team as the best setter through fan votes. Giuliani decided to step down as head coach after the tournament, and was replaced by Mark Lebedew from February 2022. After failing to reach the top 8 in the 2022 Nations League, he was sacked and replaced by Gheorghe Crețu in August 2022, just two weeks before the start of the 2022 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship, co-hosted by Slovenia and Poland.
Competitive record Key Champions Runners-up Third place As host
Olympic Games
Olympic Games record Year Round Position Squad 2024 Quarterfinals 5th place 4 3 1 10 6
World Cup
Before 2026, the competition was known as the World Championship.
World Cup record Year Round Position Squad 2018 Second round 12th place 8 4 4 17 16 2022 Semifinals 4th place 7 4 3 15 11 2025 Round of 16 11th place 4 2 2 9 7 2027Qualified
European Championship
European Championship record Year Round Position Squad 2001 Group stage 12th place 5 0 5 3 15 2007 Group stage 16th place 3 0 3 2 9 2009 Group stage 15th place 3 0 3 1 9 2011 Playoffs 9th place 4 2 2 9 8 2013 Group stage 13th place 3 1 2 5 7 2015 FinalSilver medalists 7 4 3 14 12 2017 Quarterfinals 8th place 5 2 3 6 9 2019 FinalSilver medalists 9 6 3 20 13 2021 FinalSilver medalists 9 6 3 21 11 2023 SemifinalsBronze medalists 9 8 1 25 9 2026 Semifinals 4th place 9 5 4 18 14
World League
World League record Year Round Position 2016 G3 Final 25th place 8 7 1 22 6 2017 G2 Final 13th place 11 10 1 32 10
Nations League
Nations League record Year Round Position Squad 2021 Semifinals 4th place 17 12 5 40 24 2022 Preliminary round 10th place 12 5 7 18 24 2023 Quarterfinals 7th place 13 8 5 27 20 2024 Semifinals 4th place 15 12 3 37 22 2025 Semifinals 4th place 15 8 7 27 29 2026 SemifinalsBronze medalists 15 12 3 38 21
Challenger Cup
Challenger Cup record Year Round Position 2019 FinalChampions 4 4 0 12 2
European League
European League record Year Round Position 2007 Semifinals 4th place 14 9 5 34 25 2011 SemifinalsBronze medalists 14 10 4 33 19 2014 SemifinalsBronze medalists 10 8 2 26 9 2015 FinalChampions 12 12 0 36 5 2018 Pool stage 12th place 6 1 5 5 17
Team Current squad The following is Slovenia's roster for the 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship.
Head coach: Fabio Soli
2 Alen Pajenk 3 Uroš Planinšič 4 Jan Kozamernik 7 Luka Marovt 8 Rok Bračko 10 Sašo Štalekar 12 Grega Okroglič 13 Jani Kovačič 17 Tine Urnaut 18 Klemen Čebulj 19 Rok Možič 20 Nik Mujanović 22 Janž Janez Kržič 24 Nejc Najdič 25 Klemen Šen
Head coaches +List of Slovenia's national team head coachesNameFromToAchievementsViktor Krevsel1992Luka LobnikViktor Krevsel19931996Vladimir Janković19961997Gregor Hribar19972005Iztok Kšela20052008Gregor Hribar20082010Veselin Vuković20102012Luka Slabe20122015Andrea Giani20152017 2015 European ChampionshipSlobodan Kovač20172019Alberto Giuliani20192021 2019 Challenger Cup 2019 European Championship 2021 European ChampionshipMark Lebedew2022Gheorghe Crețu20222024 2023 European ChampionshipFabio Soli2025present 2026 Nations League
References
External links