TheSlovenia men's national volleyball team representsSlovenia in internationalvolleyball competitions and friendly matches, and is governed by the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia. The team made its debut at major tournaments in2001, when it competed at theEuropean Volleyball Championship. Between2015 and2021, Slovenia reached the final of the European Championship three times and finished as runners-up on all three occasions after losing toFrance,Serbia andItaly, respectively.
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 theEuropean Volleyball Championship in2001, where they took last place among twelve teams.[1]
In January 2017, Giani resigned as coach andSlobodan Kovač took over the team.[5][6] In the same year, Slovenia qualified for the2018 edition of theFIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, their first ever World Championship appearance, after beatingBelgium 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 byAlberto Giuliani.[9]
Slovenia hosted the2019 edition of theFIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup at home inLjubljana. The team reached the final, where they defeatedCuba 3–0 and earned the right to participate in the 2020Nations League, replacingPortugal; however, the competition was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, and Slovenia qualified for the2021 edition instead.[10] At their Nations League debut inRimini, Italy, the team reached the final round as the only challenger team, where they lost 3–0 both toPoland and France in the semifinals and in the third place match, respectively.[11][12]
At the2019 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 toSerbia, clinching their second silver medal in four years.[14] Two years later, at the2021 European Championship, Slovenia once again reached the final. After defeating hosts Poland in the semifinals, they lost the final 3–2 againstItaly to claim their third silver medal.[15]Gregor Ropret was selected in theAll 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 byMark Lebedew from February 2022.[18] After failing to reach the top 8 in the2022 Nations League, he was sacked and replaced byGheorghe Crețu in August 2022, just two weeks before the start of the2022 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship, co-hosted by Slovenia and Poland.[19][20]
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Fabio Soli
2015 EC
2019 CC
2023 EC
