South American elite competes for an Olympic berth in Rio

Two days after seeing hosts Brazil earn their spot at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, the Maracanãzinho stadium in Rio de Janeiro will be the stage for another decisive moment of the race to qualify for the next Olympic edition this week, this time with the men getting on the court in Brazil's most popular city.

The six-day 2026 South American Championship will be held from Tuesday to Sunday and will see one of the six participating national teams - Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela - qualify for the LA 2028 Games and three of them earn spots at the 2027 FIVB Volleyball World Cup.

Like the women's event, the Men's South American Championship will be played in a round-robin format, having three matches daily on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and a day off on Friday. At the end, the top-ranked team takes the title and the Olympic berth, while the second and third-place finishers join it at the 2027 World Cup.

The first day of matches will have defending champions Argentina facing Venezuela at 14:00 local time (17:00 UTC), Colombia playing Bolivia three hours later and hosts Brazil and Chile ending the day at 20:00 (23:00 UTC).

South American Championship - Match Schedule

Playing at home, Brazil, which appear in eighth place in the FIVB World Rankings, will try to return to the top of the podium at the continental level after seeing their streak of 28 South American titles end in 2023. Coached by the legendary Bernardo 'Bernardinho' Rezende, the team has opposite Darlan Souza, Olympic champion outside hitter Ricardo Lucarelli and middle blocker Flavio Gualberto as some of its main stars.

Ranked 14th in the world, Argentina, which returned to the top of the podium after 56 years in 2023, will try to defend their title and earn a spot at LA 2028 despite facing their main rivals in front of their home fans. First-year head coach Horacio Dileo named an experienced roster that features star setter Luciano De Cecco, middle blocker Agustín Loser and outside hitter Luciano Palonsky, to make a strong push to win gold for the third time.

"We have very high expectations, but we know it's going to be a difficult tournament," Loser said. "Playing in Brazil means the fans will be against us in every match, but the team is prepared and very motivaded, and we'll go after the Olympic berth."

Currently in 30th place in the FIVB World Rankings, Chile have five medals at the South American Championship and will look to add to it, so they qualify for the World Cup and potentially make their Olympic debut. The outside hitter duo of Vicente Parraguirre and Dusan Bonacic is one of the strengths of the team, which also counts on the experience of setter Matías Banda to cause an upset.

Colombia are a rising team on the continent and currently occupy 41st place in the world. Coming from a bronze medal in 2023, they count on good performances from opposite Miguel Ángel Martínez, outside hitter Andrés Piza and middle blocker Daniel Carabali to challenge for a podium spot again.

Venezuela, which have a pair of Olympic appearances in Beijing 2008 and Tokyo 2020 and multiple South American medals, look to return to their best days. Ranked 51st in the world, they have setter Armando Escalante, opposite Emerson González and outside hitter Jesús Gómez as pillars of their team.

Set to play in the South American Championship for the first time since 2019, Bolivia will also be determined to win World Ranking points and move up from their current 58th place. Setter Dennis Vera and middle blocker Yerko Fernandez are among the top players on the team.

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