The Volleyball Nations League (VNL) will be played based on a new competition formula as of the 2022 edition. The annual league for men's and women's national volleyball teams will again see the best 16 teams per gender compete for the title of VNL Champion, however the number of matches, locations and team travels have been reduced to optimize the performance of the teams, the quality of the events and promotion worldwide.

With a total of 104 matches per gender throughout the Preliminary Phase and the Final Phase, every team plays a minimum of 12 matches.

Following the end of the previous VNL edition, the 16 participating teams were ranked from 1st to 16th as per the FIVB Volleyball World Ranking. In 2022, each team will play 12 matches over 3 weeks against equally strong opponents in the Preliminary Phase – against 3 teams ranked from 1st to 4th, 3 teams ranked from 5th to 8th, 3 teams ranked 9th to 12th and 3 teams ranked from 13th to 16th.

Women participating teams:

11 core teams: BRA / CHN / GER / ITA / JPN / KOR / NED / SRB / THA / TUR / USA

5 Challenger teams: BEL / BUL / CAN / DOM / POL

Men participating teams:

10 core teams: ARG / BRA / FRA / GER / IRI / ITA / JPN / POL / SRB / USA

6 Challenger teams: AUS / BUL / CAN / CHN / NED / SLO

Preliminary Phase

a. 16 teams

b. Preliminary Phase played over 3 weeks

c. 12 matches per team

d. 96 matches in total per gender in the VNL Preliminary Phase

Qualification for the Final Phase

The top eight teams as per the Teams Ranking System at the end of the Preliminary Phase advance to the Final Phase (quarterfinals). The national team of the hosting territory of the event will have a guaranteed berth for the Final Phase.

Final Phase

Final Phase will be played in a Final 8 direct elimination formula:

1. The 1st ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the 8th ranked team, the 2nd ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the 7th ranked team, the 3rd ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the 6th ranked team, the 4th ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the 5th ranked team.

2. The Host Team is placed in 1st position if the team is among the top eight (8) teams in the Final Standings after the VNL Preliminary Phase.

Quarterfinal 1: Host Team vs 8th Ranked Team

Quarterfinal 2: 2nd Ranked Team vs 7th Ranked Team

Quarterfinal 3: 3rd Ranked Team vs 6th Ranked Team

Quarterfinal 4: 4th Ranked Team vs 5th Ranked Team

3. The Host Team is placed in 8th position if the team is not among the top eight (8) teams in the Final Standings after the VNL Preliminary Phase:

Quarterfinal 1: 1st Ranked Team vs Host Team

Quarterfinal 2: 2nd Ranked Team vs 7th Ranked Team

Quarterfinal 3: 3rd Ranked Team vs 6th Ranked Team

Quarterfinal 4: 4th Ranked Team vs 5th Ranked Team

* Order of the quarterfinals can be changed based on a request from the Media Rights Holders.

1. The teams that do not win the quarterfinals will be ranked 5th to 8th in the Final Standing of the VNL 2022 as per the Teams Ranking System (including result of the Preliminary Phase).

2. The winner of the quarterfinal 1 will play a semifinal match against the winner of the quarterfinal 4 and the winner of the quarterfinal 2 will play a semifinal match against the winner of the quarterfinal 3.

Semifinal 1: Winner QF1 vs Winner QF4

Semifinal 2: Winner QF2 vs Winner QF3

* Order of the semifinals can be changed based on the request of the Media Rights Holders.

Winners of the semifinals will play for the VNL Champion title whilst the teams that do not win the semifinals will play for 3rd place in the competition:

Final for Bronze: Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2

Final for Gold: Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2

In 2021, 16 teams per gender participated in a round robin and the Final 4 consisted of the top 4 teams per gender playing semifinals and finals.