The CEV qualification for the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship saw member nations compete for seven places at the finals in Italy and Bulgaria.[1]
39 CEV national teams entered qualification.[2]
7 Small Countries Division teams participated in the first round. The first round also acted as the 2017 European Championship Small Countries Division qualification round. Teams were seeded following the serpentine system according to their final ranking of 2015 European Championship Small Countries Division. But, Northern Ireland and Iceland were switched between the pools as Iceland were drawn as the 2nd hosts alongside Luxembourg who applied to hosts.[3] Rankings are shown in brackets.
| width=50% | Pool A | width=50% | Pool B |
|---|---|---|---|
| (1) | (2) | ||
| (4) | (3) | ||
| (6) | (5) | ||
| (7) |
The six hosts were drawn as heads of series in one of the six pools (from left to right, A–B–C–D–E–F). The remaining participating teams were grouped in five sub-groups – each one including six teams – according to the CEV National Team Ranking as of 19 October 2015[4] – i.e. when National Federations registered for participation in the World Championship qualification – and drawn accordingly into one of the six pools (from left to right, A–B–C–D–E–F). Rankings are shown in brackets except hosts. The pools were confirmed on 26 October 2016.[5]
| width=16% | Pool A | width=16% | Pool B | width=16% | Pool C | width=16% | Pool D | width=16% | Pool E | width=16% | Pool F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Hosts) | (Hosts) | (Hosts) | (Hosts) | (Hosts) | (Hosts) | ||||||
| (4) | (11) | (9) | (2) | (6) | (8) | ||||||
| (14) | (18) | (15) | (21) | (20) | (17) | ||||||
| (23) | (28) | (25) | (26) | (24) | (27) | ||||||
| (33) | (31) | (29) | (30) | (34) | (31) | ||||||
| (41) | (35) | (41) | (–) | (36) | (43) |
| Pool G | |
|---|---|
| Second Round Pool A 2nd | |
| Second Round Pool B 2nd | |
| Second Round Pool C 2nd | |
| Second Round Pool D 2nd | |
| Second Round Pool E 2nd | |
| Second Round Pool F 2nd |
Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 match points for the winner, 0 match points for the loser
Match won 3–2: 2 match points for the winner, 1 match point for the loser
| width=10px bgcolor=#ccffcc | Qualified for the | ||
| width=10px bgcolor=#dfefff | Qualified for the Third round |