The charismatic setters of both FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship 2022 hosts, Laura Dijkema of the Netherlands and Joanna Wolosz of Poland, arguably the most prominent players of their teams, will both wear the same jersey number (14) at the upcoming tournament.
Women's World Championship 2022
Women’s World Championship by the numbers
The Netherlands and Poland will welcome 24 teams from September 23 to October 15
Published 10:00, 20 Sept 2022
Poland’s Joanna Wolosz
Here are some other numbers to look out for at volleyball’s premier event, set to take place from September 23 through October 15.
204 – Only four World Championship gold medal matches lasted five sets, and they all took place over the last five editions of the competition. Two registered a total of 204 points each, the highest number ever scored in a World Championship gold medal match. At Japan 2006, Russia defeated Brazil 3-2 (15–25, 25–23, 25–18, 20–25, 15–13), and at the most recent edition of the competition in 2018, also in Japan, Serbia claimed a 3-2 (21–25, 25–14, 23–25, 25–19, 15–12) victory over Italy.
100 – A total of 100 matches will be played at the 2022 World Championship. Forty will be hosted by Poland. The other 60, including the two medal matches, will take place in the Netherlands.
70 – This year the Women’s World Championship celebrates its 70th anniversary. The inaugural edition was organised in Moscow back in 1952. Hosts the Soviet Union won the title. Poland claimed silver and the bronze went to Czechoslovakia.
24 – The first time 24 teams took part in a World Championship was at Germany 2002, beating the previous record of 23. The number of participants has not changed since, and Netherlands-Poland 2022 will also welcome 24 squads.
17 – For four of the teams competing at Netherlands-Poland 2022, it will be the 17th appearance at a World Championship. Brazil, Germany, Japan and the United States have each participated in 16 of the previous 18 editions.
16 – The 24 participating teams will begin the 2022 World Championship split into four round-robin pools of six. The top four from each pool - 16 in total - will advance to the second pool phase.
![WWCH 2022_Competition Formula[68]](https://images.volleyballworld.com/image/private/t_editorial_landscape_12_desktop_3x/f_png/fivb-prd/a0zmlixads8z2anyo2ns.png)
14 – A total of 14 nations have won World Championship medals. They are Brazil, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Japan, North Korea, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia (also as the Soviet Union), Serbia (also as Serbia and Montenegro), South Korea and the United States.
11 – The previous editions of the World Championship were hosted by 11 different countries – Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru and the Soviet Union. 2022 co-hosts the Netherlands and Poland will be the 12th and the 13th countries to stage World Championship matches.
The final of the 1990 World Championship, the last time USSR as such won the title
7 – Only seven countries have won a World Championship. They are the Soviet Union (later also as Russia), Japan, Cuba, China, Italy, the United States and Serbia, in chronological order of their first world title. Seven is also the number of titles won by USSR (five) and Russia (two) combined. Japan (three trophies), Cuba (three) and China (two) are the other multiple winners.
6 – For the first time in history, the Women’s World Championship will be co-hosted by more than one country. A total of six cities will welcome the matches of the tournament – Apeldoorn (5 games), Arnhem (39) and Rotterdam (16) in the Netherlands, and Gdansk (12), Gliwice (3) and Lodz (25) in Poland. Just days ago, Gliwice was also one of the host cities of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2022.
Fantastic atmosphere in Gliwice for the Men’s World Championship 2022
5 – Japan organised as many as five World Championship editions – in 1967, 1998, 2006, 2010 and most recently in 2018. The Soviet Union (1952, 1962, 1978) and Brazil (1960, 1994) were the only other countries to welcome the tournament more than once.
4 – The 1967 World Championship was held with only four participating teams. Initially, it was supposed to take place in Lima in 1966, but after Peru’s withdrawal as organisers, it was postponed until Japan took on the responsibility of hosting the event. However, due to international political tensions, communist bloc countries did not participate, so eventually only Peru, South Korea and USA joined the hosts in January 1967.
1967 world champions Japan
1 – Only one team will make a first appearance at this year's World Championship. Colombia, who qualified as 2021 South American Championship runners-up, are the only newcomers to the competition.
· Watch all FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship 2022 matches live on Volleyball TV.
