Today opens up the 26th edition of FIVB Volleyball World League. 32 teams will take part in the competiton as they will be divided into three groups. These groups, on the other hand, will be divided into eight pools.
As expected, teams like Brazil, Italy, Poland, Russia and USA look like to be the main actors and with higher chances of achieving the title for this 2015 edition.
From the above mentioned teams Brazil have already reserved their spot because they are host in final tournament which will be held in Rio de Janeiro from July 15th to July 19th .
New criteria will be also applied in this year’s edition of FIVB World League. When considering the ranking the first point to follow up will be the number of wins of each team. On second position will stay the points criteria which means that points will be considered as an important factor only in cases that two or more teams have the same number of wins.
Pool B is the one that’s nobody likes to be part of. Iran, Poland, Russia and USA will face each one in a fight with no right to lose. Only two teams will survive.
The Winner of group 2 finals (That include 12 teams divided in Pools C, D & E) will complete the six finalists.
Here I present you how this teams participating in groups 1 & 2 look since 2012 on first class international competitions: (WL – World League, GC – Grand Championship Cup & WC – World Championship).
|
Teams / Event
|
2012 WL
|
2012 Olympics
|
2013 WL
|
2013
GC
|
2014
WL
|
2014 WC
|
|
Brazil
|
6th
|
Silver
|
Silver
|
Gold
|
Silver
|
Silver
|
|
Russia
|
8th
|
Gold
|
Gold
|
Silver
|
5th
|
5th
|
|
Italy
|
11th
|
Bronze
|
Bronze
|
Bronze
|
Bronze
|
13th T
|
|
Poland
|
Gold
|
5th T
|
11th
|
—-
|
7th T
|
Gold
|
|
USA
|
Silver
|
5th T
|
12th
|
5th
|
Gold
|
7th T
|
|
Serbia
|
9th
|
9th T
|
8th
|
—-
|
6th
|
9th T
|
|
Iran
|
—-
|
—-
|
9th
|
4th
|
4th
|
6th
|
|
Australia
|
—-
|
9th T
|
—-
|
—-
|
9th
|
15th
|
|
Bulgaria
|
4th
|
4th
|
4th
|
—-
|
7th T
|
13th
|
|
Argentina
|
10th
|
5th
|
6th
|
—-
|
13th T
|
11th T
|
|
Cuba
|
Bronze
|
—-
|
13th
|
—-
|
21th
|
11th T
|
|
Canada
|
12th
|
—-
|
5th
|
—-
|
13th T
|
7th T
|
|
France
|
7th
|
—-
|
10th
|
—-
|
10th
|
4th
|
|
Finland
|
13th
|
—-
|
16th
|
—-
|
16th T
|
9th T
|
|
Czech. Republic
|
—-
|
—-
|
—-
|
—-
|
16th T
|
—-
|
|
Japan
|
15th
|
—-
|
18th
|
6th
|
19th T
|
—-
|
|
Korea
|
14th
|
—-
|
15th
|
—-
|
19th T
|
17th T
|
|
Belgium
|
—-
|
—-
|
—-
|
—-
|
11th
|
17th T
|
|
Portugal
|
16th
|
—-
|
17th
|
—-
|
13th T
|
—-
|
|
Netherlands
|
—-
|
—-
|
14th
|
—-
|
12th
|
—-
|
For sure good health and prevention from injuries along the way are the most important point for the classification because of the great quality of the competitors.
My five classification teams for this event are (Brazil Not Included): Italy, Serbia, Poland, Russia and France. I like Iran & USA game a lot but the Pool that they are playing is extremely strong.
To know more, check out the 2015 FIVB World League home page:
http://www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/Competitions/WorldLeague/2015/index.asp
