Men's Volleyball World Cup 2015: Dates, Schedule and Teams
The FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Cup gets underway on Tuesday, as the best teams in the business descend on Japan looking to qualify for the 2016 Olympics.
Twelve nations battle it out for just two qualification spots over the next fortnight, with the privilege of joining hosts Brazil at next year’s Games awaiting the victors.
World champions Poland come into the tournament as favourites, but with the highly rated USA and World Cup pioneers Russia sniffing around, it’s all to play for.
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Dates: Tuesday, September 8 – Wednesday, September 23
Groups:
| Group A | Group B |
| Japan | Russia |
| Italy | Poland |
| USA | Argentina |
| Australia | Iran |
| Canada | Venezuela |
| Egypt | Tunisia |
Schedule:
The 2015 World Cup will be played as a round-robin tournament, so the 12 competing nations will play against each other once.
Teams from Groups A and B will face off against their fellow group competitors during Round 1, while Rounds 2 and 3 will see the groups intertwine.
Here’s a look at the full World Cup schedule:
| Date | Team A | vs. | Team B |
| September 8 | Canada | vs. | Italy |
| September 8 | United States | vs. | Australia |
| September 8 | Japan | vs. | Egypt |
| September 9 | Australia | vs. | Italy |
| September 9 | Egypt | vs. | Canada |
| September 9 | United States | vs. | Japan |
| September 10 | Italy | vs. | Egypt |
| September 10 | Canada | vs. | United States |
| September 10 | Japan | vs. | Australia |
| September 12 | United States | vs. | Italy |
| September 12 | Australia | vs. | Egypt |
| September 12 | Japan | vs. | Canada |
| September 13 | Egypt | vs. | United States |
| September 13 | Canada | vs. | Australia |
| September 13 | Italy | vs. | Japan |
| Date | Team A | vs. | Team B |
| September 8 | Argentina | vs. | Iran |
| September 8 | Russia | vs. | Venezuela |
| September 8 | Poland | vs. | Tunisia |
| September 9 | Venezuela | vs. | Argentina |
| September 9 | Tunisia | vs. | Iran |
| September 9 | Poland | vs. | Russia |
| September 10 | Iran | vs. | Venezuela |
| September 10 | Argentina | vs. | Poland |
| September 10 | Russia | vs. | Tunisia |
| September 12 | Poland | vs. | Iran |
| September 12 | Tunisia | vs. | Venezuela |
| September 12 | Russia | vs. | Argentina |
| September 13 | Venezuela | vs. | Poland |
| September 13 | Argentina | vs. | Tunisia |
| September 13 | Iran | vs. | Russia |
| Date | Team A | vs. | Team B |
| September 16 | United States | vs. | Venezuela |
| September 16 | Italy | vs. | Iran |
| September 16 | Japan | vs. | Tunisia |
| September 17 | United States | vs. | Iran |
| September 17 | Italy | vs. | Tunisia |
| September 17 | Japan | vs. | Venezuela |
| September 18 | United States | vs. | Tunisia |
| September 18 | Italy | vs. | Venezuela |
| September 18 | Japan | vs. | Iran |
| Date | Team A | vs. | Team B |
| September 16 | Egypt | vs. | Argentina |
| September 16 | Canada | vs. | Poland |
| September 16 | Australia | vs. | Russia |
| September 17 | Egypt | vs. | Poland |
| September 17 | Canada | vs. | Russia |
| September 17 | Australia | vs. | Argentina |
| September 18 | Egypt | vs. | Russia |
| September 18 | Canada | vs. | Argentina |
| September 18 | Australia | vs. | Poland |
| Date | Team A | vs. | Team B |
| September 21 | Italy | vs. | Russia |
| September 21 | Japan | vs. | Argentina |
| September 21 | United States | vs. | Poland |
| September 22 | Italy | vs. | Argentina |
| September 22 | Japan | vs. | Poland |
| September 22 | United States | vs. | Russia |
| September 23 | Italy | vs. | Poland |
| September 23 | Japan | vs. | Russia |
| September 23 | United States | vs. | Argentina |
| Date | Team A | vs. | Team B |
| September 21 | Egypt | vs. | Tunisia |
| September 21 | Canada | vs. | Venezuela |
| September 21 | Australia | vs. | Iran |
| September 22 | Egypt | vs. | Venezuela |
| September 22 | Canada | vs. | Iran |
| September 22 | Australia | vs. | Tunisia |
| September 23 | Egypt | vs. | Iran |
| September 23 | Canada | vs. | Tunisia |
| September 23 | Australia | vs. | Venezuela |
Holders Looking to Repeat History
Russia have enjoyed ample success in the World Cup over the years, winning six times and taking 10 medals from just 12 tournaments.
The Russians dominated the 2011 tournament, winning 10 of their 11 matches and finishing all of three points ahead of Poland in the final standings.
They kick off against Venezuela, who reached the World Cup due to Brazil’s absence from the South American qualifiers, and they’ll fancy their chances of getting the ball rolling with a victory.
Still, the Russians haven’t been in the best of form in the World League and come into the tournament looking for redemption.
But that’s exactly what star man Dmitriy Muserskiy believes they’ll achieve, as he told the FIVB Volleyball World Cup’s official website:
"In the Russian team there is always only one goal: first place. At the very least, to play in the final. It does not matter whether it is the World Cup, World League or a friendly tournament.
The desire to rehabilitate ourselves after a bad performance in the World League is not our priority. We are only focused on a successful performance at the World Cup.
"
All eyes will be on the Russians on September 9, as they take on world champions Poland.
The Poles have dominated the World Cup holders during the World League, winning four matches on the spin, and come into the tournament off the back of three impressive warm-up victories against France, Japan and dark horses Iran.
Elsewhere, the USA can never be written off, while 1995 World Cup winners Italy always play a part.
Either way, only two nations will be handed tickets to Rio next year. With so much on the line, it’s all set to be incredibly tense from the first serve to the last.
There’s no such thing as an easy game at the Volleyball World Cup, and although the likes of Russia, Poland and USA will be favourites to qualify for Brazil, the tournament has served up many a shock down the years.
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