Serbia men's national volleyball team facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Serbia

Nickname(s)	Orlovi (The Eagles)
Association	Volleyball Federation of Serbia
Confederation	CEV
Head coach	Igor Kolaković
FIVB ranking	6 (as of September 2014)
Uniforms
Home 　 Away
Summer Olympics
Appearances	5 (First in 1996)
Best result	(2000)
World Championship
Appearances	7 (First in 1998)
Best result	(1998)
FIVB World Cup
Appearances	2 (First in 2003)
Best result	(2003)
European Championship
Appearances	12 (First in 1995)
Best result	(2001, 2011, 2019)

The Serbia men's national volleyball team is the national team of Serbia. FIVB and CEV considers Serbia the inheritor of the records of SFR Yugoslavia (1948–1991) and Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006). Serbia won gold at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia and bronze at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

The Yugoslav Olympic Committee declared the national volleyball team to be the best male team of the year in 2000, and the Olympic Committee of Serbia did the same in 2010 and 2013.

History

Serbia's most proud moment came at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when under the name Yugoslavia it won Olympic gold. A heavy favourite was team Italy, who won the last three World Championships and the European title in 1995 and 1999, but they had yet to win an Olympic gold medal. They swept through Group B undefeated and won their quarter-final match over Australia. In the semifinals, Serbia & Montenegro (Yugoslavia), runners-up at the 1998 Worlds, and bronze medalists at the 1999 Europeans, triumphed in straight sets, again denying Italy an Olympic gold medal. Serbia & Montenegro had struggled in the pools, finishing only third behind Italy and Russia, but they defeated Russia in straight sets in the final to win the gold medal. As in 1996, all medalists came from the same pool, this time Group B.

Volleyball was brought to Serbia by g. William Viland, a professor of folklore and folk sports from Oakland, California, when the Red Cross held a series of lectures and demonstrations of American sports in Belgrade and Novi Sad. It is believed that his arrival marked the beginning of volleyball in this area, and in 1924 is considered the year when the first volleyball ball came to Serbia. During the period of occupation, between 1941 and 1944, volleyball was played very actively, numerous competitions were held, and more sports clubs/society's had established its volleyball section.

The Serbian/Yugoslav Volleyball Federation was founded in 1946 by the Alliance for Physical Education of Yugoslavia. A year later, in 1947, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) was founded and the former Yugoslavia was one of the 14 founders. From 13 February 1949, the Volleyball Federation became an independent sports organization. Two years later, at the European Championships held in Paris, the women's volleyball team of Yugoslavia won the bronze medal for the first time. This success was repeated with the men's event in 1975, when Serbia for the first time in history hosted the biggest European competition, both the men's and women's events. The Serbian team in the last match of the final group defeated Bulgaria in the crowded hall of "Pioneer" in Belgrade and won the bronze medal.

2011 – 2019

In 2011 Serbia became European champion and in 2016 the champion of FIVB World League for the first time, with Marko Ivović being crowned MVP of the tournament and Srećko Lisinac being chosen as the Best Middle Blocker.

2019 – 2021

After two bronze medal 2013 and 2017, Serbia become European champion again in 2019 with Uroš Kovačević being crowned MVP of the tournament.

Medals

Results

Serbia team in 2008 Olympic

Olympic Games

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Games	Round	Position	Pld	W	L	SF	SA	RT	Squad
1964 to 1988	part of Yugoslavia
1992 Barcelona	suspended
1996 Atlanta	Semifinals	3rd	8	5	3	16	14	1.143	Squad
2000 Sydney	Final	1st	8	6	2	21	11	1.909	Squad
2004 Athens	Quarterfinals	5th	6	4	2	13	9	1.444	Squad
2008 Beijing	Quarterfinals	5th	6	2	4	11	13	0.846	Squad
2012 London	Preliminary round	9th	5	1	4	7	13	0.538	Squad
2016 Rio de Janeiro	did not qualify
2020 Tokyo
2024 Paris	future events
2028 Los Angeles
2032 Brisbane
Total	5/7	1 Title	33	18	15	68	60	1.133

World Championship

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Games	Round	Position	Pld	W	L	SF	SA	RT	Squad
1949 to 1990	part of Yugoslavia
1994	suspended
1998	Final	2nd	12	10	2	31	10	3.100	Squad
2002	Semifinals	4th	9	7	2	22	8	2.750	Squad
2006	Semifinals	4th	11	8	3	26	13	2.000	Squad
2010	Semifinals	3rd	9	6	3	22	13	1.692	Squad
2014	Second round	9th	9	5	4	18	15	1.200	Squad
2018	Semifinals	4th	12	7	5	24	21	1.142	Squad
2022	Round of 16	9th place	4	3	1	9	3	3.000	Squad
2025	future event								Squad
Total	7/9	0 Titles	66	46	20	152	83	1.831	—

World Cup

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1965 to 1991	part of Yugoslavia
1995	did not qualify
1999
2003	3rd place	11	9	2	29	10
2007	did not qualify
2011	8th place	11	5	6	20	23
2015	did not qualify
2019
2023	5th place	7	3	4	10	13
Total	3/8	29	17	12	59	46

Squads

• 2003 Japan – Bronze medal

  Marić, Janić, Boškan, Mijić, N. Grbić (C), V. Grbić, Bjelica, Gerić, Vujević, Miljković, Ilić, Vusurović. Head coach: Travica

World Grand Champions Cup

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1993	suspended
1997	did not qualify
2001	3rd place	5	3	2	9	7
2005	did not qualify
2009
2013
2017
2021	not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2025	future event
Total	1/7	5	3	2	9	7

• 2001 – Bronze medal

  Jokanović, Majdak, Škorić, Boškan, Mijić, N. Grbić (C), V. Grbić, Gerić, Vujević, Miljković, Vusurović. Head coach: Gajić

World League

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1990	part of Yugoslavia
1991
1992	suspended
1993
1994
1995	did not enter
1996
1997	7th place	12	8	4	29	15
1998	6th place	14	4	10	23	32
1999	withdrew
2000	4th place	18	12	6	43	26
2001	4th place	17	11	6	39	23
2002	3rd place	17	11	6	42	24
2003	2nd place	17	12	5	44	24
2004	3rd place	15	11	4	37	20
2005	2nd place	15	8	7	31	31
2006	5th place	15	10	5	32	26
2007	9th place	12	7	5	24	18
2008	2nd place	16	10	6	39	24
2009	2nd place	16	11	5	38	25
2010	3rd place	16	11	5	40	26
2011	9th place	12	7	5	26	21
2012	9th place	12	6	6	27	24
2013	8th place	10	5	5	22	22
2014	7th place	12	7	5	24	20
2015	2nd place	16	9	7	38	32
2016	1st place	13	10	3	34	17
2017	5th place	11	6	5	24	20
Total	21/28	286	176	110	656	470

Squads

Serbia fans in 2009 world league

Nations League

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Year	Rank	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	Squad
2018	5th place	17	11	6	33	30	Squad
2019	11th place	15	6	9	28	36	Squad
2021	6th place	15	10	5	35	27	Squad
2022	11th place	12	5	7	19	27	Squad
2023	9th place	12	6	6	23	23	Squad
Total	5/5	71	38	33	138	143	—

European Championship

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1948 to 1991	part of Yugoslavia
1993	suspended
1995	Semifinals		7	5	2	16	7
1997	Final		7	5	2	16	7
1999	Semifinals		5	3	2	11	8
2001	Final		7	6	1	20	6
2003	Semifinals	4th	7	4	3	17	11
2005	Semifinals		7	6	1	20	6
2007	Semifinals		8	5	3	18	13
2009	Second Round	5th	6	4	2	15	8
2011	Final		6	6	0	18	5
2013	Semifinals		7	5	2	17	9
2015	Quarterfinals	7th	5	3	2	11	10
2017	Semifinals		6	5	1	17	7
2019	Final		9	9	0	27	6
2021	Semifinals	4th	9	6	3	21	15
2023	Quarterfinals	6th	7	5	2	16	8
Total	Qualified: 16/17		103	77	26	260	126

Squads

European Games

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
2015 Baku	5th	6	2	4	11	9
2019 Minsk	volleyball tournament not held
2023 Kraków
Total	1/1	6	2	4	11	9

Mediterranean Games

     Champions       Runners up       Third place       Fourth place

Year	Rank	Pld	W	L	SW	SL
1993	suspended
1997	did not enter
2001	6th place	-	-	-	-	-
2005	3rd place	5	4	1	13	6
2009	did not enter
2013
2018
2022	9th place	3	0	3	2	9
2026	future event
Total	2/8	8	4	4	15	15

Results and fixtures

Previous matches

2021 (W–L 17–10)
Date	Time	Opponent			Result
2020 European Olympic Qualification Tournament
5 Jan	13:30	France	3–0	SRB	25–21	25–21	25–22			75–64	Report
6 Jan	14:00	Netherlands	0–3	SRB	18–25	18–25	17–25			53–75	Report
8 Jan	14:30	Serbia	2–3	BUL	21–25	26–24	22–25	25–20	13–15	107–109	Report
2021 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League
28 May	15:00	Serbia	3–1	SLO	22–25	25–18	36–34	25–18		108–95	P2Report
29 May	16:00	Poland	3–1	SRB	26–24	25–19	21–25	25–15		97–83	P2Report
30 May	21:00	Serbia	3–1	ITA	25–23	22–25	25–22	25–18		97–88	P2Report
3 Jun	13:00	Japan	1–3	SRB	25–18	23–25	22–25	13–25		83–93	P2Report
4 Jun	15:00	Serbia	3–2	FRA	22–25	24–26	25–22	25–23	15–9	111–105	P2Report
5 Jun	15:00	Brazil	3–1	SRB	23–25	25–23	25–15	25–22		98–85	P2Report
9 Jun	10:00	Serbia	3–1	GER	19–25	25–22	25–18	25–15		94–80	P2Report
10 Jun	10:00	Serbia	3–2	IRI	21–25	25–15	26–28	25–22	15–8	112–98	P2Report
11 Jun	18:00	United States	1–3	SRB	23–25	17–25	25–19	25–27		90–96	P2Report
15 Jun	10:00	Russia	3–1	SER	25–23	25–22	22–25	25–21		97–91	P2Report
16 Jun	12:00	Serbia	3–0	BUL	25–20	25–17	25–17			75–54	P2Report
17 Jun	10:00	Argentina	3–0	SRB	27–25	25–20	26–24			78–69	P2Report
21 Jun	10:00	Australia	1–3	SRB	16–25	13–25	25–19	15–25		69–94	P2Report
22 Jun	12:00	Serbia	3–2	NED	25–21	21–25	25–18	21–25	17–15	109–104	P2Report
23 Jun	12:00	Canada	3–2	SRB	17–25	21–25	25–17	25–20	17–15	105–102	P2Report
2021 Men's European Volleyball Championship
2 Sep	20:30	Belgium	1–3	SRB	13–25	18–25	25–21	20–25		76–96	Report
3 Sep	20:30	Ukraine	0–3	SRB	25–27	24–26	21–25			70–78	Report
4 Sep	20:30	Serbia	2–3	POL	21–25	25–23	25–20	20–25	14–16	105–109	Report
6 Sep	17:30	Portugal	1–3	SRB	15–25	21–25	25–22	17–25		78–97	Report
7 Sep	17:30	Serbia	3–2	GRE	25–23	22–25	25–16	28–30	15–5	115–99	Report
12 Sep	20:30	Serbia	3–2	TUR	25–18	22–25	22–25	25–23	15–12	109–103	Report
14 Sep	17:30	Netherlands	0–3	SRB	23–25	20–25	25–27			68–77	Report
18 Sep	21:00	Serbia	1–3	ITA	27–29	22–25	25–23	18–25		92–102	Report
19 Sep	17:30	Poland	3–0	SRB	25–22	25–16	25–22			75–60	Report

2022 (W–L 9–10)
Date	Time	Opponent			Result
2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League
7 Jun	16:30	Bulgaria	1–3	SRB	25–19	19–25	22–25	20–25		86–94	P2 Report
9 Jun	16:30	Serbia	1–3	FRA	25–21	22–25	23–25	23–25		93–96	P2 Report
10 Jun	11:00	Serbia	3–2	ARG	25–16	25–18	17–25	12–25	15–6	94–90	P2 Report
11 Jun	13:00	Germany	3–2	SRB	27–25	25–27	18–25	28–26	18–16	116–119	P2 Report
22 Jun	20:00	Serbia	1–3	USA	24–26	25–23	23–25	20–25		92–99	P2 Report
23 Jun	16:30	Serbia	0–3	BRA	18–25	24–26	17–25			59–76	P2 Report
24 Jun	13:30	Serbia	3–2	CAN	20–25	19–25	25–20	26–24	15–11	105–105	P2 Report
26 Jun	13:30	Serbia	3–0	AUS	25–17	25–20	25–22			75–59	P2 Report
6 Jul	20:00	Slovenia	3–0	SRB	25–15	25–19	25–23			75–57	P2 Report
8 Jul	20:00	Italy	3–0	SRB	25–21	25–14	25–23			75–58	P2 Report
9 Jul	17:00	Iran	3–0	SRB	35–33	25–21	25–12			85–66	P2 Report
10 Jul	14:00	China	1–3	SRB	17–25	17–25	25–23	22–25		81–98	P2 Report
2022 Hubert Jerzy Wagner Memorial
18 Aug	17:30	Argentina	3–1	SRB	25–21	19–25	25–22	25–18		94–86	Report
19 Aug	17:30	Iran	2–3	SRB	21–25	25–20	20–25	26–24	10–15	102–109	Report
20 Aug	18:30	Poland	3–0	SRB	25–22	25–23	25–22			75–67	Report
2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship
27 Aug	20:30	Ukraine	0–3	SRB	26–28	21–25	20–25			67–78	P2 Report
29 Aug	17:30	Serbia	3–0	PUR	26–24	25–21	25–16			76–61	P2 Report
31 Aug	17:30	Serbia	3–0	TUN	29–27	25–15	25–17			79–59	P2 Report
6 Sep	17:30	Serbia	0–3	ARG	23–25	21–25	23–25			67–75	P2 Report

2023 (W–L 14–12)
Date	Time	Opponent			Result
2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League
7 Jun	15:00	Slovenia	3–1	SRB	31–29	19–25	25–20	25–21		100–95	P2 Report
8 Jun	15:00	Serbia	3–0	CHN	34–32	25–16	25–20			84–68	P2 Report
9 Jun	19:40	Japan	3–1	SRB	22–25	25–21	25–23	25–20		97–89	P2 Report
11 Jun	15:40	Serbia	3–0	POL	25–21	25–19	25–14			75–54	P2 Report
20 Jun	16:30	United States	3–1	SRB	22–25	25–19	25–19	25–21		97–84	P2 Report
22 Jun	16:30	Serbia	3–1	GER	25–21	20–25	25–23	25–23		95–92	P2 Report
23 Jun	20:00	Serbia	0–3	ITA	11–25	21–25	20–25			52–75	P2 Report
25 Jun	16:00	Netherlands	2–3	SRB	25–22	21–25	25–21	33–35	9–15	113–118	P2 Report
4 Jul	13:00	Argentina	3–1	SRB	19–25	25–16	25–19	25–18		94–78	P2 Report
6 Jul	17:00	Serbia	3–2	CUB	19–25	25–23	25–21	22–25	15–11	106–105	P2 Report
7 Jul	13:30	Serbia	1–3	FRA	25–20	23–25	20–25	26–28		94–98	P2 Report
8 Jul	13:30	Bulgaria	0–3	SRB	19–25	22–25	22–25			63–75	P2 Report
2023 Men's European Volleyball Championship
30 Aug	21:00	Switzerland	0–3	SRB	19–25	16–25	19–25			54–75	P2 Report
31 Aug	18:00	Serbia	3–1	BEL	25–22	18–25	25–20	25–20		93–87	P2 Report
1 Sep	21:00	Serbia	0–3	ITA	15–25	19–25	21–25			55–75	P2 Report
4 Sep	18:00	Serbia	3–0	EST	25–16	25–23	25–22			75–61	P2 Report
5 Sep	21:00	Germany	1–3	SRB	22–25	25–20	22–25	19–25		88–95	P2 Report
10 Sep	18:00	Serbia	3–0	CZE	25–21	26–24	25–21			76–66	P2 Report
12 Sep	18:00	Poland	3–1	SRB	26–28	25–15	36–34	25–17		112–94	P2 Report
2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup
30 Sep	13:00	Serbia	1–3	TUR	22–25	25–20	14–25	20–25		81–95	P2 Report
1 Oct	13:00	Serbia	3–0	TUN	25–21	25–16	25–21			75–58	P2 Report
3 Oct	13:00	Serbia	3–1	EGY	18–25	25–19	25–14	25–16		93–74	P2 Report
4 Oct	13:00	Serbia	3–0	FIN	25–21	25–22	25–22			75–65	P2 Report
6 Oct	19:25	Japan	3–0	SRB	25–17	25–14	25–22			75–53	P2 Report
7 Oct	16:00	United States	3–0	SRB	25–18	25–18	25–17			75–53	P2 Report
8 Oct	16:00	Slovenia	3–0	SRB	25–22	25–23	25–21			75–66	P2 Report

Forthcoming matches

Team

Current squad

The following is the Serbia roster in the 2023 Men's European Volleyball Championship.

Head coach: Igor Kolaković

No.	Name	Date of birth	Height	Weight	Spike	Block	2022–23 club
02 2	Kovačević, UrošUroš Kovačević	6 May 1993	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	355 cm (140 in)	338 cm (133 in)	Aluron Zawiercie
03 3	Kapur, MiloradMilorad Kapur	5 March 1991	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	75 kg (165 lb)	305 cm (120 in)	300 cm (120 in)	Partizan
07 7	Krsmanović, PetarPetar Krsmanović	1 June 1990	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	101 kg (223 lb)	354 cm (139 in)	349 cm (137 in)	Vojvodina
08 8	Ivović, MarkoMarko Ivović	22 December 1990	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	365 cm (144 in)	330 cm (130 in)	Dynamo-LO
10 10	Kujundžić, MiranMiran Kujundžić	19 June 1997	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	350 cm (140 in)	320 cm (130 in)	Ślepsk Suwałki
11 11	Batak, AleksaAleksa Batak	18 January 2000	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	82 kg (181 lb)	346 cm (136 in)	337 cm (133 in)	Partizan
12 12	Perić, PavlePavle Perić	7 August 1998	2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)	96 kg (212 lb)	355 cm (140 in)	335 cm (132 in)	Fenerbahçe
14 14	Atanasijević, AleksandarAleksandar Atanasijević	4 September 1991	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	99 kg (218 lb)	360 cm (140 in)	338 cm (133 in)	PGE Skra Bełchatów
15 15	Mašulović, NemanjaNemanja Mašulović	5 October 1995	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	92 kg (203 lb)	350 cm (140 in)	340 cm (130 in)	ACH Volley
16 16	Luburić, DraženDražen Luburić	2 November 1993	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	337 cm (133 in)	331 cm (130 in)	Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
17 17	Krsteski, MilošMiloš Krsteski	24 February 1993	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	75 kg (165 lb)	300 cm (120 in)	300 cm (120 in)	Ribnica
18 18	Podraščanin, MarkoMarko Podraščanin (C)	29 August 1987	2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)	101 kg (223 lb)	358 cm (141 in)	340 cm (130 in)	Itas Trentino
21 21	Todorović, VukVuk Todorović	23 April 1998	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	315 cm (124 in)	305 cm (120 in)	ACH Volley
29 29	Nedeljković, AleksandarAleksandar Nedeljković	27 October 1997	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	90 kg (200 lb)	350 cm (140 in)	335 cm (132 in)	VfB Friedrichshafen

Coach history

• Zoran Gajić (1995–2002)
• Veselin Vuković (2002–2003)
• Ljubomir Travica (2003–2006)
• Igor Kolaković (2006–2014)
• Nikola Grbić (2015–2019)
• Slobodan Kovač (2019–2021)
• Igor Kolaković (2022–present)

Notable players

• Ivan Miljković
• Nikola Grbić
• Andrija Gerić

Ivan Miljković, one of the most notable players

• Slobodan Boškan
• Vladimir Grbić
• Slobodan Kovač
• Dejan Brđović
• Rajko Jokanović
• Goran Vujević
• Đula Mešter
• Vasa Mijić
• Žarko Petrović
• Igor Vušurović
• Bojan Janić
• Edin Škorić
• Veljko Petković
• Željko Tanasković

Kit providers

The table below shows the history of kit providers for the Serbia national volleyball team.

Sponsorship

Primary sponsors include: main sponsors like Poštanska štedionica. other sponsors: Škoda Auto, Radio Television of Serbia, Žurnal, Srbijagas, Posta, EPS and Blic.

See also

In Spanish: Selección de voleibol de Serbia para niños

• Serbia women's national volleyball team
• Yugoslavia men's national volleyball team
• Yugoslavia women's national volleyball team