Moscow- Qatar were drawn in Pool B along with world no. 1 Brazil, former world champions Japan and two-time runners-up Cuba for next year’s FIVB Men’s World Championship.
The official draw ceremony held in Moscow on Thursday determined the pools and venues of the first phase of the tournament which will take place from August 26 to September 11 across a total of 10 cities in Russia.
The other Asian nations China and Iran were pitted in Pool E and F respectively. China will face Italy, Canada and Turkey in Pool E in the first round of the tournament while Asian champions Iran will meer Argentina, Netherlands and Egypt.
The hosts of the event, Volleyball Federation of Russia (VFR) will open the World Championship campaign against reigning African champions Tunisia on August 26 at Saint Petersburg Ice Palace.
Alongside Tunisia, VFR will also face Serbia and Puerto Rico in Pool A which (other than the opening match) will be hosted in Moscow. Reigning back-to-back world champions Poland (in 2014 and 2018), meanwhile, have been placed in Pool C, to be held in the city of Novosibirsk, where they will meet USA, Mexico and Bulgaria.
Legendary volleyball heroes Lyubov Sokolova, Ekaterina Gamova and Taras Khtey of Russia, alongside Vladimir Grbic of Serbia were all involved in determining the fate of the participating teams, as they drew the lots from the bowls.
Earlier, four-time Olympic medallist Sergei Tetyukhin and former captain of the Russian national team presented the trophy of the 2022 World Championship.
The 24 participating teams were drawn into six pools of four each for the preliminary phase of the competition.
Source: Qatar Olympic Committee