The 2026 AVC Men's Volleyball Continental Championship, officially named the for sponsorship reasons, was the 23rd staging of the AVC Men's Volleyball Continental Championship, a biennial international volleyball tournament by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with Japan Volleyball Association (JVA). It took place at Kitakyushu City General Gymnasium in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan from 4 to 13 September 2026.
Following structural adjustments to the international volleyball calendar by the (FIVB), Continental Championships are now permanently staged during even-numbered years to maximize player welfare and clean up qualification pathways. The 2026 edition will serve as a direct qualification pathway for major international tournaments. The winning team will earn a direct quota place for the 2028 Summer Olympics, while the top three finishers will secure qualification spots for the 2027 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Cup.
Host nation Japan defeated Iran 3–0 in the final to retain the continental title. The victory earned Japan direct qualification for the 2028 Summer Olympics. In the third place matxh, South Korea defeated Australia 3–2 to claim the bronze medal. As the top three finishers of the tournament, Japan, Iran, and South Korea qualified for the 2027 FIVB World Cup. Ran Takahashi of Japan was named the MVP of the tournament.
Year change On 22 June 2023, the (FIVB) announced a comprehensive restructuring of the international calendar for the 2025–2028 cycle. As part of this overhaul, continental championships shifted from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, beginning in 2026. The structural change was implemented to prioritize athlete health and recovery by reducing calendar congestion, as well as to streamline the qualification pathways for major global tournaments such as the FIVB World Cup and the Olympic Games.
Host selection On 20 December 2025, the Asian Volleyball Confederation officially unveiled its comprehensive calendar for the 2026 international season following joint meetings with the FIVB and Volleyball World in Bangkok, Thailand. During this announcement, Kitakyushu, Japan was confirmed as the host city for the Men's Continental Championship.
On July 3, 2026, the Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) confirmed that would serve as the tournament's title sponsor.
Teams Qualification The tournament featured a maximum of 12 teams, qualified through the following criteria: Host country (1) Runners-up of the 2023 edition (1) AVC Nations Cup champion (1) FIVB World Ranking (4) Zonal champions/qualification (5)
The final list of participating teams was officially confirmed by the AVC on 6 February 2026.
+ Team Method ofqualification Date ofqualification Appearance(s) Previous bestperformance First Last Hosts 23rd 1975 2023 23 2023 Asian Championship runners-up 22nd 1979 2023 19 2025 AVC Nations Cup champions 12th 1979 2023 3 2025 CAVA Nations League runners-up 21st 1979 2023 4 2025 West Asian Championship 3rd placers 4th 2013 2019 1 2025 Asian Eastern Zonal Championship runners-up 21st 1983 2023 21 2025 SEA Games champions 18th 1987 2023 12 2025 Oceania Qualifier runners-up 11th 1975 2005 1 1st World ranked AVC team 18th 1989 2023 17 2nd World ranked AVC team 23rd 1975 2023 23 3rd World ranked AVC team 23rd 1975 2023 23 4th World ranked AVC team 22nd 1975 2021 1
Seeding Teams were split into three pools with four teams each. The hosts were automatically placed in the top position of Pool A as the first seed, while the previous runners-up were placed at the top of Pool B as the second seed. The next four teams from the FIVB World Ranking were placed across the first and second lines using the serpentine system. The third and fourth lines consisted of the remaining teams according to the ranking and were drawn in the ceremony.
Seeded teams Line 3 Line 4 (hosts and defending champions) (7) (16) (21) (26) (28) (33) (40) (53) (58) (59) (76) (82)
Draw results The drawing of lots, which featured former members of the Japan men's national volleyball team Tatsuya Fukuzawa and Kunihiro Shimizu as draw assistants, was held at Fuji TV in Tokyo on 11 August 2026.
+ Pool A Team A1 A2 A3 A4 + Pool B Team B1 B2 B3 B4 + Pool C Team C1 C2 C3 C4
Squads
Each of the 12 national teams participating in the tournament was required to submit a provisional release list of 25 players by 5 August 2026, before finalizing a tournament squad of 12 to 14 players by 28 August 2026.
Venue On 3 July 2026, the Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) announced that the tournament would be held in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. All matches are scheduled to take place at Kitakyushu City General Gymnasium.
Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan Kitakyushu City General Gymnasium Capacity: 10,000
Team ranking system Pool standing procedure To establish the ranking of teams after the preliminary round, the following criteria were implemented: 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.
Teams combined ranking system To determine the teams playing in the quarterfinals and their match-ups, the following criteria were implemented: Position of the team in the Pool (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th) 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.
Final standing procedure To establish the final rankings of teams of the tournament, the following criteria were implemented: After the preliminary round, eliminated teams will be ranked as per the teams combined ranking system from 9th to 12th place. After the quarterfinals, eliminated teams will be ranked as per the teams combined ranking system from 8th to 5th place, including all matches played so far in the preliminary round and the final round. During the final round, the teams that do not win the semi-finals will compete for 4th and 3rd place and the winners of the semi-finals will compete for 2nd and 1st place.
Preliminary round All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
Pool A
Pool B
Pool C
Combined ranking
Final round All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third place match
Final
Final standing
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
Most valuable player Ran Takahashi Best setter Hideomi Fukatsu Best outside spikers Poriya Khanzadeh Ran Takahashi Best middle blockers Taishi Onodera Seyed Eisa Best opposite spiker Ali Hajipour Best libero Park Kyeong-min
See also 2026 Men's African Nations Volleyball Championship 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship 2026 Men's NORCECA Volleyball Championship 2026 Men's South American Volleyball Championship 2026 AVC Men's Volleyball Cup 2026 AVC Boys' U18 Volleyball Championship
Notes
References
External links
at Volleyball World