POOL A | GRUPO A


PORTUGAL


Portugal have competed in the FIVB World Championship only twice - their best ranking an 8th place in 2002. They have yet to qualify for an Olympic Games. Their best ever ranking in the European Championships remains a fourth place from the inaugural edition of 1948 amongst six participants in a round-robin pool. Last time Portugal qualified to a European Championship was in 2011.
In 2007, Portugal hosted the Final Four of the European League and the team came close to claiming a first international trophy before losing 3-2 in a dramatic final against Spain. They finally managed to claim their first title three years later, when thet beat archrivals Spain in the final of the European League at Guadalajara.
The Portuguese first qualified for the World League in 1999. The team's best performance to date in the competition was the fifth place they achieved in 2005.

ESTONIA


Estonia topped the 2016 European League for the team's first title in a major international competition. They repeated the feat in the 2018 European Golden League, beating the Czech Republic in Karlovy Vary 3-0. Estonia have never qualified to the FIVB World Championships, but made it four times to the European Championships. They made the playoffs of the continental event twice, but were knocked out by Bulgaria 3-0 in 2011 and by Serbia 3-2 in 2015. They again qualified to the 2017 European Championship in Poland, but never made it out of pool play.

Estonia made an impressive appearance in the last edition of the FIVB World League in 2017, finishing pool play in Group 3 in third place, but going on to beat Mexico in the semifinals and Spain in the final of the Final Four.

KAZAKHSTAN


Kazakhstan have twice competed in the FIVB World Championships, finishing 19th in 2002 and 21st in 2006. They won their second ever medal at the Asian Championship last year in Indonesia, after losing to Japan 3-1 in the final. It was the second medal for Kazakhstan in the competition after another silver earned in their debut in the competition in 1993 - their first appearance after independence from the USSR.
Kazakhstan have also won a bronze medal in the 2014 Asian Cup which they hosted in Almaty, after losing to Korea 3-0 in the semifinals and then beating Iran 3-1 in the bronze medal game. Kazakhstan narrowly missed out on a podium finish at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, going down to China in the semifinals and to Korea in the bronze medal match - both in straight sets. In the latest edition of the Asian Games Kazakhstan finished 10th in 2014.
Kazakhstan made a total of three appearances at the FIVB World League since their best finish of 25th in their debut in 2015.

POOL B | GRUPO B

CHILE


Chile have competed just once at an FIVB World Championship, ranking 23rd amongst 24 teams in the 1982 edition in Argentina. Their only international title to date has been the gold medal at the 2013 Bolivarian Games in Turjillo, where they beat Venezuela in the deciding match to top the six-team round-robin tournament. Chile also won a silver medal at the 2014 South American Games which they hosted in Santiago. At the South American Championship Chile have a silver from 1961 and four bronze, in 1967, 1981, 1983 and 1993.

CUBA


The Cuban men's team may have been overshadowed by their female counterparts in the Olympic Games, but the men have had a fair share of glory as they gave Cuba their first-ever Olympic medal. Cuba won a bronze medal at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games and made seventh Olympic appearance at Rio 2016, where they finished 11th. The Cubans had qualified to the Olympic Games through the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament in Edmonton, Canada, after a 16-year absence. Cuba also have two silver and two bronze World Championship medals and have won the NORCECA Championship 15 times.

Cuba showed their best and most reliable form in the decade following their FIVB World League debut in 1991, when they finished second in the competition. In the following eight years, they were never out of the top four and won the title in 1998, as well as finishing as runners-up another four times. In their last World League appearance, in 2016, Cuba ranked ninth in Group 2 and 21st overall.

CZECH REPUBLIC


Although as Czechoslovakia they amassed two gold and four silver medals in the FIVB World Championships in the 1950s and 1960s, the Czech Republic has not been on the podium of the competition since the breakup with Slovakia. Their best finish was 10th in 2010, though they failed to qualify to the 2014 and 2018 editions.

Czechoslovakia also took silver at Tokyo 1964 when volleyball made its Olympic debut and followed that with the bronze four years later in Mexico City. They also took part in the Munich 1972 (6th), Montreal 1976 (5th) and Moscow 1980 (8th) Olympic Games. At continental level Czechoslovakia had been crowned European champions three times in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Their best finish as Czech Republic was 4th place twice, in 1999 and 2001. Most recently they placed 7th in 2017. The Czech Republic first competed in the FIVB World League for a single season in 2003, but did not fully return to the competition until 11 years later, when they joined Group 2 where they played until the competition was discontinued in 2017. Their best fourth place from 2013 remained their best finish ever.


 

 

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