South America’s road to LA 2028 and World Cup 2027 starts in Rio

The last of the five women’s volleyball continental championships awarding tickets to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and the 2027 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Cup is set to get underway on Tuesday. The CSV Women's Volleyball South American Championship will take place at the Maracanazinho in Rio de Janeiro from September 8 to 13, with the continental champions earning a berth at LA 2028 and all three medalists qualifying for next year’s World Cup in Canada and the United States.

The six participating teams will vie for continental honors and berths at the major world-level competitions in a single round-robin tournament over five competition days, with a rest day on September 11, after the first three legs have been played.

Hosts Brazil are, of course, the heavy favorites to win the South American Championship. They are the highest placed South American team in the FIVB World Ranking, currently number two in the world. They are the defending 15-time back-to-back continental champions and the most decorated nation in the history of the competition, with a total of 23 titles and 11 silvers. They are three-time Olympic champions and six-time World Championship medalists, arriving with bronze from the most recent World Championship last year. This year, they earned their fifth silver in the Volleyball Nations League.

Argentina are the next highest ranked South American team, currently occupying the number 20 position in the world chart. In 2023, they finished continental runners-up, collecting their seventh silver and 20^th medal in the history of the competition. However, they have never made it all the way to the top of the South American podium.

Trending Colombia have been among the medalists at each of the five most recent editions of the South American Championship, with bronze in 2023. Overall, they have three silvers and three bronzes on their continental medal record. They are currently ranked number 21 in the world.

Former international powerhouse Peru are now the number 42 team in the World Ranking. They are the second most decorated team in the history of the South American Championships, with 12 crowns, 11 silvers and nine bronzes, and the only one other than Brazil to have ever won the competition. However, they did not make the podium in the two most recent editions and their last title dates back to 1993. Peru’s highest achievement in volleyball was their Olympic silver at Seoul 1988.

The world’s number 68 Chile, whose best result from the South American Championships were the five fourth-place finishes in the 1960s and the 1970s, which they matched again at the last edition in 2023, and number 107 Venezuela, who collected five continental bronzes between 1985 and 2007, are the other two teams to compete in Rio this week.

The 2026 CSV Women's Volleyball South American Championship will open on Tuesday with a game between Colombia and Chile, serving off at 14:00 local time (17:00 UTC).

CSV Women's Volleyball South American Championship: schedule and results

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