By Mississauga Volleyball Research Team
The volleyball Olympic tournament was played in 2024 the last time and the next volleyball Olympic tournament will be played in 2028. The 2028 Summer Olympics are known as Los Angeles 2028 and LA 28. The national volleyball teams have already started preparing for Summer Olympic Games 2028.
Summer Olympic Games 2028 will be held in Los Angeles, USA. Totally, 12 women’s volleyball teams and 12 men’s volleyball teams will participate in the Summer Olympic Games. Nowadays, the main task for national volleyball teams is to qualify for the Olympic tournament.
In fact, there are several ways to get into the Olympics for volleyball: the host country gets the right to participate in the volleyball Olympic tournament (the United States men’s and women’s national volleyball teams already have Olympic places); FIVB Olympic qualification tournaments offer 5 Olympic places; the World Championship offers 3 Olympic places and the world FIVB rankings offer 3 places at the Summer Olympics.
Today, we are going to dig deeper into the Olympic volleyball tournament that will be held in Los Angeles in 2028. We are going to talk about the Olympic volleyball qualification process, qualification tournaments, rankings, etc. This will help us make predictions for Olympic volleyball in 2028.
So, let’s get started.
Volleyball Continental Competitions 2026
Volleyball continental competitions provide men’s and women’s volleyball teams with 5 Olympic spots. Such qualification tournaments give a chance for the best nations from different continents to participate in the Olympic tournament.
The main goal of volleyball continental competitions is to select the best men’s and women’s national teams from various continents (Asia, Europe, North and Central America, South Africa and Africa).
Volleyball confederations such as CEV, SCV, NORCEA, AVC and CAVB organize tournaments for the nations of their continents. The winners of these volleyball tournaments get the right to participate in the Summer Olympic Games.
CEV EuroVolley 2026
CEV EuroVolley championships bring together the best men’s and women’s volleyball teams. The winners of CEV EuroVolley 2026 can secure one spot for Summer Olympic Games 2028.
The men’s championships will be held in Bulgaria, Italy, Finland and Romania. The women’s championships will be held in Azerbaijan, Czechia, Turkish and Sweden.
Totally, 24 men’s teams and 24 women’s teams will participate in CEV EuroVolley 2026 and 76 matches will be played. CEV EuroVolley 2026 men’s championships will begin on September 9 and last until September 27. CEV EuroVolley 2026 women’s championships will begin on August 21 and last until September 6.
CSV 2026
Confederación Sudamericana de Voleibol organizes the volleyball tournament for the countries of South Africa. The tournament gives volleyball teams a chance to participate in Summer Olympic Games 2026.
NORCECA 2026
NORCECA has the volleyball Olympic qualifying tournament. The tournament unites the best men’s and women’s national volleyball teams from North and Central America. The winners of NORCECA 2026 volleyball competition will get the right to participate in the Summer Olympic Games.
AVC 2026
Asian Volleyball Confederation organizes the tournament that makes it possible for volleyball teams to win the spot in the Olympic Games. The tournament organized by AVC brings together the best national volleyball teams from Asia. The AVC men’s and women’s Volleyball Nations Cup tournaments are organized annually.
CAVB 2026
CAVB organizes volleyball tournaments for African nations. African Volleyball Confederation has 1 Olympic spot. The champion of CAVB will participate in the Olympic Games.
World Championship 2027
World Championship is a volleyball competition that’s organized by the FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) once per 4 years. This competition gives volleyball players an opportunity to get valuable experience and prepare for the volleyball Olympic tournament and improve their performance.
It’s also important to note that volleyball players, who participate in the World Championship 2027, have a chance to earn the spot for the Olympic Games 2028.
Men’s and women’s volleyball teams that didn’t win the tournaments organized by volleyball confederations still have a chance to get into the Olympic Games. It’s necessary to demonstrate the best results at the World Championship 2027.
The World Championship is an international volleyball competition that brings the best men’s and women’s national volleyball teams in the world. The best 3 national teams of the World Championship 2027 will be selected for the Olympic Games 2028.
The volleyball World Championship will be played in the Philippines in 2025. The men’s volleyball competition will start on September 12 and last until September 2028. The men’s volleyball competition will start on August 22 and last until September 7.
Volleyball matches will be played in such cities as Pasay and Quezon City, Metro Manila. After that, the place for hosting the World Championship 2027 will be determined.
World Best FIVB Ranked Teams
National teams which didn’t win volleyball continental competitions and were not among the best 3 teams of the World Championship still have a chance to get a spot at the Olympics.
FIVB have its own rankings of volleyball teams. The rankings depend on the results that volleyball teams demonstrate in the international competitions. These rankings give non-qualified national volleyball teams the last chance to participate in the Olympic volleyball tournament.
If all team’s attempts to qualify for the Olympic volleyball tournament 2028 have failed, the best thing that volleyball players can do is to improve their FIVB rankings.
What National Volleyball Teams Have a Chance to Win the Olympic Games?
Of course, it’s too early to think about this question. Volleyball Olympic qualification tournaments haven’t started yet. It’s still not clear what nations will qualify for Olympic Games in 2028. However, we will try to make some predictions based on the statistics of the Olympic volleyball 2024.
Among the men’s volleyball teams that demonstrated successful results at the Olympic Games 2024 are: France, Poland, United States, Italy and Slovenia. Among the women’s volleyball teams that demonstrated successful results at the Olympic Games 2024 are: Italy, United States, Brazil, Turkey and China.
Such countries as Brazil, Italy, France, Poland and United States demonstrated the best results and earned medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Volleyball in these countries is on rise these days. So, we can predict that national volleyball teams from these countries will continue to demonstrate excellent results on the court and will participate in the Olympic Games 2028. Of course, the situation may change in the future. Time will show!
Final Thoughts
The Olympic medal is the number one goal for every volleyball team and for every volleyball player! We are 3 years away from the Summer Olympic Games 2028. It’s time for the national volleyball teams to prepare for the Olympic tournament today!
The sooner volleyball players start preparing for Olympic Games – the better. In this case, volleyball players will have more time to spend on preparation for the volleyball Olympic tournament. When preparing for the Olympic volleyball tournament, athletes get valuable experience that allows them to improve their performance on the court.
Volleyball players should train hard, train effectively, train regularly and try to get the most out of practices. By doing so, they will be able to make a significant progress and achieve the best possible results. And most importantly, following an effective training program helps an athlete become a better volleyball player.