The Netherlands and Poland shared the honour of hosting the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship 2022, which reunited the 24 best national teams on the planet for 23 days of competition. Enjoy these images from the 19th edition of the tournament.
The opening day featured two matches in Arnhem - in one of them, co-hosts the Netherlands topped Kenya to the delight of their fans
The first upset of the event took place on the second day, when Thailand defeated Türkiye in a tie-breaker
Defending champions Serbia debuted on the third day and swept Canada with 23 points from star opposite Tijana Boškovic
Poland played in front of their fans for the first time on the fifth day of Phase 1 and repaid their support with a solid victory over Thailand
Belgian star Britt Herbots had one of the most impressive individual performances of the tournament - in Phase 1, she delivered an incredible 41 points in a 3-1 win over the Netherlands
With 20 points from star opposite Paola Egonu, Italy downed the Netherlands 3-1 and ended Phase 1 with the best campaign among all 24 teams
The Italian winning streak would last for just another two days as, led by a brilliant Gabriela 'Gabi' Guimaraes, Brazil claimed a five-set win against the Europeans in their first Phase 2 match
Playing in Łódź, Poland stunned Olympic champions the United States to claim a three-set victory
Serbia swept Türkiye and secured their ninth victory, advancing to the quarterfinals as the only undefeated team in the tournament
Japanese players and coaching staff members danced to celebrate a win over the Netherlands that secured their presence in the quarterfinals
Brazil won an incredible five-setter against Japan and moved forward to face Italy in the semifinals
On the same night, Serbia also needed five sets to move past Poland
The defending champions were back on the court the next night, when they defeated USA to find their way back to the final, four years after their previous victory
In the second semifinal, Brazil produced a 3-1 win to top Italy for the second time in the tournament and make it to the final
The Italians bounced back to top the USA in the bronze medal match and secure their second-straight podium appearance
With Boskovic on fire, Serbia swept Brazil to retain the world title
The Serbian roster featured nine players that had helped the team take gold in 2018
Boskovic earned her second MVP award and joined Serbian teammates and players from Brazil and Italy on the tournament's Dream Team