So far, six African teams have played in the Volleyball World Cup final. Tunisia holds the record (11 matches), followed by Egypt (10), Cameroon (5), Algeria (2), Guinea (1) and Libya (1). Since the 2010 World Cup, Africa has had three places in the tournament, previously the continent was represented by one or two teams.
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Tunisia was the first African national team to play in the Volleyball World Cup final. She made her debut in 1962 during a tournament in the USSR. In the first phase, they lost three matches, 0-3 each (against the USSR, China and the Netherlands). In the second, they lost 0: 3 against Albania and won a historic victory for African volleyball – 3: 0 with Austria. However, she was subsequently expelled from the championship for refusing to play with the Israeli national team.
The Tunisians then competed fairly regularly in the world championships, including four consecutive championships (1970, 1974, 1978 and 1982). They failed to qualify in 1986-1998, but played in all subsequent tournaments since 2002. Usually they found themselves in the first round. Their greatest success dates back to 2006, when they managed to pass the first group stage, after beating South Korea (3-2) and Kazakhstan (3-0). In the second round, they beat Puerto Rico (3:2) and eventually went 15-16.
It was Tunisia’s best performance, and probably even the African representative in the Volleyball World Cup. It should be remembered that in this tournament, the Tunisians, in addition to the above-mentioned victories, lost several matches with their rivals (Canada, Japan, Argentina) only after the tie-breaks.
In the 2022 World Cup, Tunisia repeated this feat, but this time a victory – 3-0 over Puerto Rico for the inauguration was enough to reach the top sixteen. In subsequent clashes, the Tunisians succumbed to Ukraine and Serbia, 0:3; in fact only in the first set of the meeting with the Serbs they fought for a victory until the end, but they succumbed 27:29. They managed to qualify for the top 16 of the tournament as the fourth team among those who took third place in the groups, and in this situation they found themselves in the 1/8 finals against the Poles “1” first in the series.
The victory against Puerto Rico could therefore be Tunisia’s first and last success in this edition of the World Cup. In a clash with the rushing Polish national team, playing in front of their own home crowd, no one gives this team a bigger chance. Even the Tunisian media speak directly of “mission impossible”.
See also: Tunisian media before the game against Poland
The two mentioned promotions of Tunisians can therefore be counted among the successful performances of African teams in the Volleyball World Cup. There weren’t many places in the top sixteen, except for the 1986, 1990 and 1994 tournaments, where 16 teams played in the final.
Egypt took 14th place in 1986 thanks to their victory over Chinese Taipei. Four years later, Cameroon beat Venezuela, giving the team 15th place. The following successes were the promotion of two teams from Africa to the second round, reminiscent of the “strange” rules of the 2010 World Cup. Both won a match in the first phase – Cameroon beat Australia 3: 1, the Egyptians beat Iran 3:0.
Matches of the Polish national team with teams from Africa
The Polish national team has faced African teams four times in the history of their performances in the World Cup finals. The first game was at the Mexico City 1974 World Cup. It was coach Hubert Wagner’s team’s first game for world championship gold and… actually, it was the only thing he remembered. The game itself didn’t have a big story, the Poles probably won in straight sets and the Egyptians only broke 14 points. As Wagner admitted after the match, the rival then presented the level of the team from the border of the Polish 1st and 2nd league.
Another confrontation with African teams was the World Cup in Japan in 2006. In the first phase, the Poles beat Egypt 3-0 (although the third set ended with an advantage), in the second , they also beat Tunisia 3-0.
The fourth match, played at the 2014 World Cup in the Wrocław Centenary Hall, brought a big surprise. Remember that the Polish team started the tournament very well, beating Serbia 3-0 each (at the National Stadium in Warsaw), Australia and Venezuela. In the clash with Cameroon, they were to continue this streak, meanwhile they played weaker than in previous matches and unexpectedly lost the first game (25:27). In the following sets, the rivals still faced the favorites, but the Polish team played better and eventually won 3:1.
Thus, Polish volleyball players faced African opponents at the 1974, 2006 and 2014 world championships. They then won a medal in each of these events, will the good tradition be maintained at the 2022 world championships?
Appearances of African teams at the Volleyball World Cup:
[1962]: 21. Tunisia (disqualification) / 21 teams[1970]: 22. Tunisia24. Guinea / 24
[1974]: 17. Egypt18. Tunisia / 24
[1978]: 23. Egypt24. Tunisia / 24
[1982]: 21. Tunisia24. Libya / 24
[1986]: 14. Egypt / 16
[1990]: 15. Cameroon / 16
[1994]: 13-16. Algeria / 16
[1998]: 19-24. Algeria, Egypt / 24
[2002]: 21-24. Egypt, Tunisia / 24
[2006]: 15-16. Tunisia21-24. Egypt / 24
[2010]: 13-18. Egypt, Cameroon19-24. Tunisia / 24
[2014]: 21-24. Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia / 24
[2018]: 19. Cameroontwenty. Egypt23. Tunisia / 24
[2022]:?. Tunisia19. Egypt23. Cameroon / 24.
Matches of the Polish national team with African teams during the Volleyball World Cup:
[1974] Egypt 3-0 (15:3, 15:6, 15:5) / 1st group stage[2006] Egypt 3-0 (25:13, 25:19, 26:24) / 1st group stage
[2006] Tunisia 3-0 (25:22, 25:18, 25:23) / Group stage II
[2014] Cameroon 3:1 (25:27, 25:23, 25:16, 25:22) / 1st group stage.
Match report: 4-0, sets 12-1.
Go to Polsatsport.pl
