2018 FIVB World Championship Women
At the first glance, it seems that only Pool A has one team as the favorite while the other three pools have at least two sides that will fight for the top spot. For instance, the defending champions USA will face fierce rivals Russia, two rising Asian sides Korea and Thailand, the 2017 CEV European Championship semifinalists Azerbaijan and Trinidad and Tobago from Africa.
Pools composition for the First Round of the 2018 FIVB Women’s World Championship:
Pool A
Japan, The Netherlands, Argentina, Germany, Cameroon, Mexico
Pool B
China, Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba
Pool C
USA, Russia, Korea, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Trinidad and Tobago
Pool D
Serbia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Kazakhstan, Kenya
The hosts Japan and Argentina will open the tournament in Yokohama, on September 29. Beside Yokohama, five more cities will put their gymnasiums at the disposal of the best 24 teams in the world.
As for the format of the tournament, the top four teams from each First Round pool will advance to the Second Round. These 16 teams will be split into two pools of eight (four best teams from Pool A and Pool D into one pool, and four best teams from Pool C and Pool B into the other one). Then, the top three teams from each of the two Second Round pools will go to the Third Round (two pools of three). The top two teams in each pool will advance to the semifinals. The tournament will end on October 20.
Recall the pools composition for the Men’s tournament.
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