Four Bulgarian cities will host matches from the 2018 men's volleyball World Championship, which will be co-hosted by Bulgaria and Italy.

Twelve teams will play their matches in Bulgaria, with the host cities being Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Ruse.

Bulgaria and Italy were selected as co-hosts by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) last week.

This will be the first time in the history of the championship that two countries will co-host the competition.

Both countries have experience in hosting world championships, with Bulgaria having hosted the men's and women's competitions in 1970, while Italy has hosted the men's championships in 1978 and 2010 and the women's competition in 2014.

Bulgaria and Italy demonstrated good cooperation in co-hosting the 2015 men's volleyball European Championship, which was held in two Bulgarian (Sofia and Varna) and two Italian cities (Turin and Busto Arsizio) between October 9 and 18.

The final stage of the championship will be played in Italy, which will share  the larger burden of the expenses, with Bulgaria expected to contribute EUR 5 M.

The minimum number of teams to paticipate in the 19th edition of the championship will be 24, but there is possibility that FIVB might decide to increase their number.