Dominican Republic and Cuba grab first continental tickets to World Cup 2027

The 2026 NORCECA Women's Volleyball Continental Championship has already reached its semifinal stage and two of the three teams to earn tickets for the 2027 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup are already known. Cuba and the Dominican Republic are set to join tournament hosts Canada and USA, as well as defending champions Italy, in the line-up for volleyball’s premier event next year. The third ticket available will be issued on Wednesday in the fifth-place match at the ongoing NORCECA tournament in Santo Domingo.

Both Cuba and hosts Dominican Republic reached the semifinals of the NORCECA Championship. As World Cup co-hosts Canada and United States, who are not among the continental berth candidates, were the other two teams to progress to the last four, that means that the Dominican Republic and Cuba are now guaranteed tickets to next year’s global event.

The other four participating teams are all still in contention for the third quota. In the race for the fifth place at the NORCECA Championship, Trinidad & Tobago will meet Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica will take on Mexico on Tuesday. The winners of these two games will meet in the final playoff for the fifth place on Wednesday, which will propel one of them to next year’s World Cup.

The Dominican Republic won all three of their Pool B matches in Santo Domingo. The home team and Cuba each beat the other two teams in the pool – Puerto Rico and Costa Rica – and the head-to-head encounter between them practically decided the first place in the pool. The Dominicans produced a 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-22) sweep of that game and reserved their direct passage to the semifinals.

Cuba moved on to a quarterfinal meeting with Mexico and delivered a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-20) shutout, also advancing to the semis.

In the last match of Pool A, Canada battled it out for a 3-2 (22-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13) victory over USA to top the standings undefeated. The Americans finished pool runners-up on a 2-1 win-loss record and advanced to a quarterfinal encounter with Puerto Rico, which they won by an emphatic 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-17).

NORCECA Women's Volleyball Continental Championship: schedule and results

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