After five unsuccessful bids at gold which resulted in as many silver medals, Serbia finally made history in 2016, winning their first FIVB World League gold medal with a straight-set win over Brazil in the final at Krakow’s Tauron Arena. Previously, between 2003 and 2015 they appeared in five finals and lost on each occasion. In 2003, 2005 (both times participating as Serbia and Montenegro) and 2009 their tormentors were Brazil, while in 2008 the United States beat them 3-1, before France shut them out in 2015.
Several standout players earned individual awards during this era, including Ivan Miljkovic, who remains the only player to be named the World League’s MVP four times. Serbia won gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, after a bronze in Atlanta 1996, but failed to qualify for the Rio 2016 Games for the first time in a quarter of a century.
A gold at the FIVB World Championships still eludes Serbia, though they have won a silver in 1998 and a bronze in 2010. Nonetheless, they have been crowned European champions twice in 2001 and 2011.