Slovenia men's national volleyball team

Slovenia

Association	Volleyball Federation of Slovenia (OZS)
Confederation	CEV
Head coach	Vacant
FIVB ranking	4 (as of 8 January 2025)
Uniforms
Home Away Third
Summer Olympics
Appearances	1 (First in 2024 )
Best result	Quarterfinals (2024)
World Championship
Appearances	2 (First in 2018 )
Best result	Fourth place (2022)
European Championship
Appearances	10 (First in 2001 )
Best result	Runners-up (2015, 2019, 2021)
www.odbojka.si (in Slovene)
Honours Event 1st 2nd 3rd Challenger Cup 1 0 0 European Championship 0 3 1 European League 1 0 2 Total 2 3 3 Medal record Challenger Cup 2019 Slovenia Team European Championship 2015 Bulgaria Team 2019 France Team 2021 Poland Team 2023 Italy Team European League 2015 Poland 2011 Slovakia Team 2014 Team

The Slovenia men's national volleyball team represents Slovenia in international volleyball competitions and friendly matches, and is governed by the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia. The team made its debut at major tournaments in 2001, when it competed at the European Volleyball Championship. Between 2015 and 2021, Slovenia reached the final of the European Championship three times and finished as runners-up on all three occasions after losing to France, Serbia and Italy, respectively.

As of January 2025, Slovenia is ranked fourth in the FIVB World Rankings.

History

The Slovenia national team played its first official match on 24 April 1992, under the leadership of Viktor Krevsel. ^{[1] [2]} They first appeared at the European Volleyball Championship in 2001, where they took last place among twelve teams. ^[1]

In March 2015, Andrea Giani was appointed as the head coach of Slovenia. ^[3] He led the team to its first medal at the 2015 Men's European Volleyball Championship, when Slovenia lost 3–0 to France in the final. Tine Urnaut won one of the individual player awards for the best outside spiker. ^[4]

Slovenian team at the 2022 World Championship, hosted by Slovenia.

In January 2017, Giani resigned as coach and Slobodan Kovač took over the team. ^{[5] [6]} In the same year, Slovenia qualified for the 2018 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, their first ever World Championship appearance, after beating Belgium in the qualifiers. ^[7] Two years after his appointment, in January 2019, the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia and Kovač both agreed to part ways and terminate the contract. ^[8] He was replaced by Alberto Giuliani. ^[9]

Slovenia hosted the 2019 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup at home in Ljubljana. The team reached the final, where they defeated Cuba 3–0 and earned the right to participate in the 2020 Nations League, replacing Portugal; however, the competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Slovenia qualified for the 2021 edition instead. ^[10] At their Nations League debut in Rimini, Italy, the team reached the final round as the only challenger team, where they lost 3–0 both to Poland and France in the semifinals and in the third place match, respectively. ^{[11] [12]}

At the 2019 European Championship, Slovenia was one of the four co-hosts of the tournament. ^[13] The team reached the final again, where they lost 3–1 to Serbia, clinching their second silver medal in four years. ^[14] Two years later, at the 2021 European Championship, Slovenia once again reached the final. After defeating hosts Poland in the semifinals, they lost the final 3–2 against Italy to claim their third silver medal. ^[15] Gregor Ropret was selected in the All Star Team as the best setter through fan votes. ^[16] Giuliani decided to step down as head coach after the tournament, ^[17] and was replaced by Mark Lebedew from February 2022. ^[18] After failing to reach the top 8 in the 2022 Nations League, he was sacked and replaced by Gheorghe Crețu in August 2022, just two weeks before the start of the 2022 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship, co-hosted by Slovenia and Poland. ^{[19] [20]}

Competitive record

Key

 Champions    Runners-up    Third place     As host

Olympic Games

Main article: Volleyball at the Summer Olympics

Olympic Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	SW	SL	Squad
2024	Quarterfinals	5th place	4	3	1	10	6	Squad

World Championship

Main article: FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship

World Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	SW	SL	Squad
2018	Second round	12th place	8	4	4	17	16	Squad
2022	Semifinals	4th place	7	4	3	15	11	Squad
2025	Qualified

European Championship

Main article: Men's European Volleyball Championship

European Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	SW	SL	Squad
2001	Group stage	12th place	5	0	5	3	15	Squad
2007	Group stage	16th place	3	0	3	2	9	Squad
2009	Group stage	15th place	3	0	3	1	9	Squad
2011	Playoffs	9th place	4	2	2	9	8	Squad
2013	Group stage	13th place	3	1	2	5	7	Squad
2015	Final	Silver medalists	7	4	3	14	12	Squad
2017	Quarterfinals	8th place	5	2	3	6	9	Squad
2019	Final	Silver medalists	9	6	3	20	13	Squad
2021	Final	Silver medalists	9	6	3	21	11	Squad
2023	Semifinals	Bronze medalists	9	8	1	25	9	Squad

World League

Main article: FIVB Volleyball World League

World League record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	SW	SL
2016	G3 Final	25th place	8	7	1	22	6
2017	G2 Final	13th place	11	10	1	32	10

Nations League

Main article: FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League

Nations League record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	SW	SL	Squad
2021	Semifinals	4th place	17	12	5	40	24	Squad
2022	Preliminary round	10th place	12	5	7	18	24	Squad
2023	Quarterfinals	7th place	13	8	5	27	20	Squad
2024	Semifinals	4th place	15	12	3	37	22	Squad

Challenger Cup

Main article: FIVB Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup

Challenger Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	SW	SL
2019	Final	Champions	4	4	0	12	2

European League

Main article: Men's European Volleyball League

European League record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	SW	SL
2007	Semifinals	4th place	14	9	5	34	25
2011	Semifinals	Bronze medalists	14	10	4	33	19
2014	Semifinals	Bronze medalists	10	8	2	26	9
2015	Final	Champions	12	12	0	36	5
2018	Pool stage	12th place	6	1	5	5	17

Team

Current squad

The following is Slovenia's roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics. ^[21]

Head coach: Gheorghe Crețu

• 1 Tonček Štern O
• 2 Alen Pajenk MB
• 3 Uroš Planinšič S
• 4 Jan Kozamernik MB
• 9 Dejan Vinčić S
• 10 Sašo Štalekar MB
• 13 Jani Kovačič L
• 14 Žiga Štern OH
• 16 Gregor Ropret S
• 17 Tine Urnaut OH
• 18 Klemen Čebulj OH
• 19 Rok Možič OH
• 20 Nik Mujanović O

Head coaches

List of Slovenia's national team head coaches

Name [22]	C	From	To	Achievements
Viktor Krevsel		1992
Luka Lobnik
Viktor Krevsel		1993	1996
Vladimir Janković		1996	1997
Gregor Hribar		1997	2005
Iztok Kšela		2005	2008
Gregor Hribar		2008	2010
Veselin Vuković		2010	2012
Luka Slabe		2012	2015
Andrea Giani		2015	2017	2015 EC
Slobodan Kovač		2017	2019
Alberto Giuliani		2019	2021	2019 CC 2019 EC 2021 EC
Mark Lebedew		2022
Gheorghe Crețu		2022	2024	2023 EC

References

1. "O reprezentanci" [About the national team]. odbojka.si (in Slovenian). Volleyball Federation of Slovenia. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
2. "Poznate zanimiva dejstva o zgodovini in statistiki odbojke?" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2022. Slovenska moška odbojkarska reprezentanca je prvo uradno tekmo odigrala 24. aprila 1992.
3. "Andrea Giani został trenerem reprezentacji Słowenii siatkarzy". Onet Sport (in Polish). 16 March 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
4. "France celebrate historic European crown, Slovenia happy with silver". CEV . 18 October 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
5. T. J. (26 January 2017). "Andrea Giani ne bo več vodil slovenske reprezentance" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija . Retrieved 26 January 2017.
6. Sportal (2 March 2017). "Novi slovenski selektor je Slobodan Kovač" (in Slovenian). Siol . Retrieved 28 May 2017.
7. T. J. (28 May 2017). "Odbojkarji so si priigrali premierni nastop na svetovnem prvenstvu" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija . Retrieved 28 May 2017.
8. "SLO M: Kovac is no longer head coach of Slovenia". worldofvolley.com. WoV. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
9. "Alberto Giuliani to coach Slovenia". volleyballworld.com. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
10. "Year in review: Slovenia men, Canada women join VNL elite". volleyballworld.com. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
11. "Poland resist Slovenia challenge, advance to Men's VNL final". volleyballworld.com. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
12. "Solid France snatch bronze from Slovenia in Men's VNL for second podium appearance". volleyballworld.com. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
13. D. S. (9 September 2019). "Domači EP za Slovence dodaten motiv, želijo si polne Stožice" (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: RTV Slovenija . Retrieved 30 September 2019.
14. Okorn, Tomaž (29 September 2019). "Srebrne junake v finalu ustavila Srbija: srce je hotelo, telo ni dalo" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija . Retrieved 29 September 2019.
15. "Italija strla slovenski odpor, zmagala s 3:2 in postala evropski prvak v odbojki, Sloveniji srebro!". Dnevnik (in Slovenian). 19 September 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
16. "Fans clear on EuroVolley men All Star team". CEV . 23 September 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
17. "SLO M: Giuliani steps down as Slovenia head coach". worldofvolley.com. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
18. "Mark Lebedew takes charge of Slovenia". volleyballworld.com. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
19. "Slovenske odbojkarje bo na svetovnem prvenstvu vodil Cretu" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
20. "Lebedew ni več selektor moške reprezentance" (in Slovenian). Volleyball Federation of Slovenia. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
21. "Cretu določil 13 potnikov za olimpijske igre" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
22. "Selektorji moške reprezentance". odbojka.si (in Slovenian). Volleyball Federation of Slovenia. Retrieved 17 September 2022.

External links

• Official website (in Slovene)
• FIVB profile