The AVC Men's Volleyball Continental Championship (formerly known as the Asian Men's Volleyball Championship) is an international volleyball competition in Asia and Oceania. It is organized by the sport's continental governing body, the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC), and is contested by the senior men's national teams of its member nations.
The tournament serves as the primary continental qualification pathway to determine Asian representatives for major global events organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), such as the FIVB Men's Volleyball World Cup and the Olympic Games.
First established in Australia in 1975, the competition was initially held on a quadrennial basis before transitioning to a biennial format in 1987. Most recently, the tournament cycle was adjusted to even-numbered years beginning in 2026, aligning with the FIVB's newly implemented global volleyball calendar for 2025–2028.
Between its inception and the 2023 edition, the tournament has been held 22 times, featuring a total of 38 national teams. Throughout its history, only five nations have captured the championship title: Japan holds the record with 10 titles, followed by South Korea and Iran with four titles each, China with three, and Australia with one.
The reigning champions are Japan, who secured their record-extending evelenth title at the 2026 tournament held in Kitakyushu, Japan.
History The inaugural tournament, originally established as the Asian Men's Volleyball Championship, was hosted in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975. Initially, the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) organized the competition on a quadrennial basis. In 1987, the tournament transitioned to a biennial cycle held in odd-numbered years to better align with the international volleyball calendar.
Throughout its history, the championship has functioned as the primary continental qualification pathway for major global tournaments governed by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). From its early editions through the early 1990s, the tournament served as a direct Olympic qualification event for Asian teams. In subsequent decades, it acted as a continental qualifier for the now-defunct FIVB Men's Volleyball World Cup, which in turn served as a global qualification step for the Olympic Games. Furthermore, between 1993 and 2013, the tournament winners were awarded a continental berth to compete in the quadrennial FIVB World Grand Champions Cup.
Following a commercial partnership between the AVC and Volleyball World, first signed in 2022 and later extended through 2052, the tournament was officially rebranded as the AVC Men's Volleyball Continental Championship in 2026. This edition also marked the first to be officially sanctioned by Volleyball World, coinciding with the shift to even-numbered years under the FIVB's 2025–2032 global calendar. The stakes of the competition were significantly upgraded; the tournament now serves as a direct qualifier, awarding the champions an automatic berth to the 2028 Summer Olympics and the top three teams spots in the 2027 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Cup.
Competition formula Qualification Beginning with the 2026 edition, a total of twelve teams compete in the tournament. The qualification process is structured to ensure continental representation, with berths distributed through four criteria: Two automatic berths are granted to the host nation and the defending champions. One berth is awarded to the winners of the AVC Men's Volleyball Cup. Five berths are allocated to the five AVC-affiliated zonal associations with each zone receiving one berth decided via zonal qualification tournaments. Four berths are assigned based on the FIVB Senior World Rankings.
Final tournament Beginning with the 2026 edition, the tournament is split into two main phases: Preliminary phase: The twelve teams are divided into three pools of four (Pools A, B, and C) and play a single round-robin. Pool standings are determined by match wins, followed by match points, set ratio, points ratio, and head-to-head results. Final phase: The top two teams from each pool and the two best third-placed teams advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal matchups are determined by a combined ranking of the eight advancing teams. From this point, the tournament uses a single-elimination knockout bracket consisting of quarterfinals, semifinals, and the gold medal match, alongside a bronze medal match for the semifinal losers.
Results summary Finals #YearHostFinal3rd place matchTeamsChampionsScoreRunners-up3rd placeScore4th place11975DetailsMelbourneRound-robinRound-robin721979DetailsManamaRound-robinRound-robin1531983DetailsTokyoRound-robinRound-robin1141987DetailsKuwait City3–03–01751989DetailsSeoul3–03–21961991DetailsPerthRound-robinRound-robin1571993DetailsNakhon Ratchasima3–03–21681995DetailsSeoulRound-robinRound-robin1491997DetailsDohaRound-robinRound-robin17101999DetailsTehranRound-robinRound-robin14112001DetailsChangwon3–13–112122003DetailsTianjinRound-robinRound-robin15132005DetailsSuphan Buri3–03–118142007DetailsJakartaRound-robinRound-robin17152009DetailsManila3–13–118162011DetailsTehran3–13–116172013DetailsDubai3–03–121182015DetailsTehran3–13–216192017DetailsGresik3–13–016202019DetailsTehran3–03–116212021DetailsChiba / Funabashi3–03–016222023DetailsUrmia3–03–017232026Details Kitakyushu3–03–212
Performances by country TeamChampionsRunners-up3rd place4th placeTotal 11 4 4 2 21 4 4 10 1 19 4 4 1 1 10 3 6 6 5 20 1 3 1 6 11 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1
Performances by zonal association Zonal associationChampionsRunners-up3rd place4th placeTotalEAVA (East Asia) 18 14 20 11 63CAVA (Central Asia) 4 6 1 3 14OZVA (Oceania) 1 3 1 5 10WAVA (West Asia) 0 0 1 2 3SAVA (Southeast Asia) 0 0 0 1 1
Medal summary
National team appearances Comprehensive team results + 1975(7) 1979(15) 1983(11) 1987(17) 1989(19) 1991(15) 1993(16) 1995(14) 1997(17) 1999(14) 2001(12) 2003(15) 2005(18) 2007(17) 2009(18) 2011(16) 2013(21) 2015(16) 2017(16) 2019(16) 2021(16) 2023(17) 2026(12) Total•••••••••••••••15th20th••••14th•34th4th6th11th10th4th6th5th3rd2nd2nd4th8th1st7th4th5th5th8th2nd6th•4th22•14th•8th16th•••10th10th•13th10th•••12th12th••10th8th9th12••••17th•16th••••••••••••••15th•33rd1st2nd2nd3rd3rd4th2nd1st1st4th2nd2nd4th4th2nd3rd3rd6th6th3rd4th6th23••4th6th9th5th10th6th4th7th6th9th13th8th8th13th9th6th7th5th4th6th7th21••10th•14th•••••12th•18th•17th•••16th16th14th16th•9•5th5th5th6th10th9th•9th9th7th5th4th9th9th6th7th11th•8th9th11th8th206th•9th••6th•••6th••11th7th6th11th••4th12th•9th•11•6th•10th8th7th5th4th6th5th5th3rd6th5th2nd1st1st2nd5th1st1st2nd2nd21•8th•9th7th•••••••••••13th•13th••12th•61st3rd1st1st2nd1st3rd1st2nd4th3rd6th1st2nd1st5th4th1st1st3rd2nd1st1st23•••17th•••••••••••••••••••1••••••2nd14th•11th9th8th•10th5th9th10th9th2nd10th11th13th•14•7th7th4th5th•14th13th•14th•••17th••17th14th•15th16th••12•13th••••••••••••11th•8th••••••3••••••••13th••••••••••••••1•••••••••••••16th18th••••••••2••••••••••••••10th•18th••••••2••11th•18th••••••••••••••••••27th11th8th12th12th12th11th12th•••14th15th•••••••••12th11•••••11th•••••••••••••••••1••••••••••••••••19th15th•13th••10th4•••7th4th8th8th8th7th8th•7th9th13th•7th•10th12th7th7th7th•165th•••••15th11th14th•••14th•15th••••••••6••••19th•12th10th8th13th11th11th7th11th14th12th11th4th9th9th5th3rd11th18•••••15th•••••••••••••••••1•9th•13th•13th••12th•8th12th•12th••21st•15th•12th••10•12th•••••••••••••••••••••12nd2nd3rd3rd1st2nd1st3rd5th3rd1st1st3rd3rd3rd3rd2nd7th3rd4th8th5th3rd23••••13th•13th9th15th12th•••14th16th8th15th13th14th14th•••12•10th•••••••••••••••••••••1•••14th15th9th7th7th11th••10th5th6th13th10th6th8th11th11th15th10th5th18•••••••••••••••14th•16th•••••2•••15th11th14th••17th•10th15th17th•••14th••••••8••••••••16th•••16th••16th16th•••13th17th•6••••••••••••12th15th12th•••10th••••4Discontinued team•15th•16th•••••••••••••••••••2 + Legend1stChampions2ndRunners-up3rd3rd place4th4th placeQQualified for upcoming tournament••Qualified but withdrew•Did not qualify×Withdrew before qualification / Banned by FIVBHostsDid not enterstyle="width:10px" Not a FIVB member
Debut of teams + Year Debutants Total 1975 , , , , , , 7 1979 , , , , , , , , , 10 1983 , , 3 1987 , , , 4 1989 , , 3 1991 , 2 1993 1 1995 None 0 1997 , 2 1999 None 0 2001 2003 2005 1 2007 1 2009 1 2011 , 2 2013 1 2015 None 0 2017 2019 2021 2023 2026
Awards Current awards
YearMost Valuable Player1979 Wang Jiawei1999 Behnam Mahmoudi2001 Shin Jin-sik2003 Yejju Subba Rao2005 Marcos Sugiyama2007 Dan Howard2009 Tatsuya Fukuzawa2011 Arash Kamalvand2013 Saeid Marouf2015 Kunihiro Shimizu2017 Yūki Ishikawa2019 Thomas Edgar2019 Saber Kazemi2023 Yūki Ishikawa
YearBest Setter1979 Kim Ho-chul1999 Zhou Jianan2001 Choi Tae-woong2003 Wang Hebing2005 Kwon Young-min2007 Kosuke Tomonaga2009 Han Sun-soo2011 Amir Hosseini2013 Saeid Marouf2015 Hideomi Fukatsu2017 Naonobu Fujii2019 Saeid Marouf2019 Javad Karimi2023 Mohammad Taher Vadi
YearBest Outside Spikers2015 Purya Fayazi Hamzeh Zarini2017 Yūki Ishikawa Vitaliy Vorivodin2019 Yūki Ishikawa Samuel Walker2021 Milad Ebadipour Yūki Ishikawa2023 Ran Takahashi Raimi Wadidie
YearBest Middle Blockers2015 Zhang Zhejia Mostafa Sharifat2017 Nodirkhan Kadirkhanov Haku Ri2019 Shin Yung-suk Mohammad Mousavi2021 Aliasghar Mojarad Li Yongzhen2023 Belal Nabel Abunabot Taishi Onodera
YearBest Libero2005 Yeo Oh-hyun2007 Yeo Oh-hyun2009 Yeo Oh-hyun2011 Farhad Zarif2013 Farhad Zarif2015 Daisuke Sakai2017 Oh Jae-seong2019 Tomohiro Yamamoto2021 Mohammad Reza Hazratpour2023 Yang Yiming
YearBest Opposite Spiker2015 Farhad Piroutpour2017 Rivan Nurmulki2019 Amir Ghafour2021 Kento Miyaura2023 Amin Esmaeilnejad
Former awards
YearBest Scorer1999 Benjamin Hardy2001 Benjamin Hardy2003 Dan Howard2005 Yu Koshikawa2007 Mohammad Mohammadkazem2009 Kim Yo-han2011 Jeon Kwang-in2013 Zhong Weijun
YearBest Spiker1979 Kang Man-soo1999 Benjamin Hardy2001 Lee Kyung-soo2003 Yejju Subba Rao2005 Lee Sun-kyu2007 Lee Kyung-soo2009 Andri Widiatmoko2011 Nathan Roberts2013 Amir Ghafour
YearBest Blocker1979 Chen Gang1999 Kim Se-jin2001 Dan Howard2003 Yejju Subba Rao2005 Yejju Subba Rao2007 Lee Sun-kyu2009 Mohammad Mousavi2011 Liang Chunlong2013 Mohammad Mousavi
YearBest Server1979 Xu Zhen1999 Zhu Gang2001 Shin Jin-sik2003 Zheng Liang2005 Lee Kyung-soo2007 Yu Koshikawa2009 Kim Yo-han2011 Kim Yo-han2013 Zhong Weijun
YearBest Receiver1999 Li Tieming2001 Yeo Oh-hyun2003 Suk Jin-wook2007 Siriphum Supachai2009 Yeo Oh-hyun
YearBest Digger1999 Koichi Nishimura2001 Kenji Yamamoto2003 Yeo Oh-hyun
See also AVC Women's Volleyball Continental Championship AVC Men's Volleyball Cup AVC Men's U20 Volleyball Championship AVC Boys' U18 Volleyball Championship AVC Boys' U16 Volleyball Championship Volleyball at the Asian Games
References
External links
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