A total of 32 teams qualified to play in the final tournament in Thailand. The host country Thailand and the defending champion Serbia qualified automatically, while the other 30 teams were decided by qualification through the Continental Championships in 2023 and the FIVB World Ranking at the end of August 2024.
Slot allocation
In March 2022, the FIVB Board of Administration approved the new proposed World Championship format.[1] The proposed format increased the number of teams from 24 to 32 to guarantee universality. The new format of the World Championship was confirmed in late 2022 and started with this edition.[2][3]
The qualification criteria and slot allocation of the expanded World Championship were approved by the FIVB Board of Administration.[4][5] Similar to the 2022 World Championship, the number of places in the finals allocated to each of the continental zones was not based on the numbers participating in the qualification round and relative performance of the confederations' teams from the previous edition (for example, the NORCECA slot in 2018 was the second most with six due to large numbers of teams in the continental qualifiers (34) and the high performance of their teams in 2014).[6][7] Every confederation was awarded its slot allocation with three, determined by the ranking of its Continental Championships in 2023. As a courtesy, the host team receives an automatic berth selection, as has happened with the immediate past tournament winner in 2022. The remaining places were determined by the FIVB World Ranking at the end of August 2024, without the continental bias.[8]
Qualified teams
Status of countries with respect to the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship:
Qualified to the World Championship
Failed to qualify
Suspended
Neither entered in the Continental Championships nor listed in the FIVB World Ranking at the end of August 2024
The host country Thailand and the defending champion Serbia qualified automatically. Meanwhile, the other fifteen teams (three per confederation) qualified through the Continental Championships in 2023. The remaining fifteen places (twelve from CEV and three from NORCECA) were allocated to the highest-ranked teams according to the FIVB World Rankings at the end of August 2024. Therefore, all of the teams were from all confederations with sixteen from CEV, six from NORCECA, four from AVC, three from CAVB, and another three from CSV.
Of the 32 teams qualified, 21 teams were returning after appearing in the 2022 edition. Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Vietnam made their World Championship debut. Meanwhile, France, Spain, Ukraine, Greece and Egypt returned to the tournament after long absences, having last participated in 1974, 1982, 1994, 2002 and 2006, respectively. Additionally, Cuba and Mexico returned to the tournament after missing the 2022 edition. In contrast, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Croatia, all of whom qualified for the 2022 edition, failed to qualify due to insufficient rankings.
The following thirty-two teams qualified for the tournament, listed by the method of qualification.
aOriginally qualified on 5 September 2023 as the Asian champions. Its spot was allocated to Vietnam, after being awarded hosting rights on 30 August 2024.
cFinished at the European Championship as the runner-up. Its spot was allocated to Italy, after qualified as the defending champion.
dDesignated as Türkiye by the FIVB
eCompeted as East Germany from 1956 to 1990 (7 times) and as West Germany from 1956 to 1990 (8 times); 8 appearances as Germany.
fDesignated as Czechia by the FIVB
gCompeted as Czechoslovakia from 1952 to 1986 (8 times); 4 appearances as Czech Republic.
Qualification process
There were two methods to qualify for the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship: a direct qualification through the 2023 Continental Championships and a qualification based on the FIVB World Ranking at the end of August 2024. The qualification process commenced on 20 August 2022, initially with the qualifiers for the 2023 European Championship. In contrast, four other Continental Championships did not implement a qualification process. The Continental Championships took place between August and September 2023.
The World Ranking qualification pathway was calculated based on each team's performance in the FIVB world-level competitions and the confederation's continental tournaments. During the 2023-2024 national team window, there were a total of twenty-two events contributing to World Ranking points. This started from the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Nations League in May 2023 and continued until the 2026 European Championship qualifiers on 29 August 2024. Each competition had a different factor value for calculating points. The Olympic Games had the highest point factor of 50, with points decreasing progressively based on the importance of the tournament. The point calculation only considered senior national teams, in cases of overlapping tournaments.[9][10][11]
Continental Championships
The following five Continental Championships held to select and qualify teams for the tournament:
Of FIVB's 222 national federations, 62 women's national teams entered or qualified for the Continental Championships in 2023, while Russia and Belarus were barred due to suspension from CEV and FIVB competitions following their country's invasion of Ukraine.[12][13] For Europe, eleven additional teams entered the qualifiers of their Continental Championship. The other nine teams were listed in the FIVB World Ranking at the end of August 2024, but were not compete in their Continental Championships.[14]
The entries, listed by confederation, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the FIVB World Ranking at the end of August 2024 were:
αEntered in the Continental Championships but were not listed in the World Ranking.
βNot entered in the Continental Championships but were listed in the World Ranking.
Automatic berths
FIVB reserved two berths for the host country and the defending champion to participate in the tournament. Serbia qualified automatically as they won their second title in 2022, beating Brazil in three straight sets.[15] On 30 August 2024, the FIVB and the Volleyball World announced that Thailand selected as the sole host of the tournament.[16][17]Thailand originally qualified on 5 September 2023 as the Asian champions. Its spot was allocated to Vietnam, after being awarded hosting rights.
Continental Championships
As a principal route for the tournament, the top three in each of the five Continental Championships secured the quota places.
On 5 September 2023, Thailand and China advanced to the final of the 2023 Asian Championship and qualified directly for the World Championship. Japan followed them after beating Vietnam in the bronze medal match the next day.[18][19] However, when Thailand was named the host country on 30 August 2024, Vietnam qualified instead, making its debut in the tournament.[20][21]
On 23 August 2023, Kenya and Egypt won their semifinals of the 2023 African Championship in Yaoundé and secured the CAVB spots. Egypt returned to the World Championship after being absent since 2006. The other spot was awarded to the tournament's host Cameroon, which defeated Rwanda in the bronze medal match the next day.[22]
Defending championsSerbia qualified automatically.[15] Therefore, its performance in the 2023 European Championship were not taken into account for the CEV slots. On 30 August 2023, the semifinalists, including Turkey, the Netherlands and Italy qualified for the World Championship, as Serbia reached the semifinals of the 2023 European Championship.[23][24][25]
The remaining fifteen places were allocated to the highest-ranked teams according to the FIVB World Rankings at the end of August 2024.[14] All of these teams were from CEV and NORCECA, with twelve from CEV and three from NORCECA.[31]Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden made their World Championship debut. Meanwhile, France, Spain, Ukraine and Greece returned to the tournament after long absences, having last participated in 1974, 1982, 1994, and 2002, respectively. Additionally, Cuba and Mexico returned to the tournament after missing the 2022 edition. In contrast, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Croatia, all of whom qualified for the 2022 edition, failed to qualify due to insufficient rankings.
