Brazil won over Italy in the gold medal match of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Lausanne, Switzerland, August 29, 2016 – Brazil strengthened their position at the top of the FIVB Senior World Ranking – Men after their gold medal finish at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, while world champions Poland also cemented their hold on second spot.
The Brazilians’ solid act in the World League earned them a silver medal in the competition; they then followed that up with a much stronger performance a month later, winning gold on home soil.
They returned to the top podium of the Olympic Games, 12 years after they claimed the same spot in Athens 2004. They got two silver medals in between these gold medal finishes at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
The reigning world champions, on the other hand, made it to the quarterfinals of Rio 2016 before they bowed out to the United States in straight sets. The joint-fifth finish was enough to hold their grip on the No.2 position.
Meanwhile, USA moved three places up in the world ranking after they finished with a bronze medal in Rio 2016, while Olympic silver medallists Italy held on to the No.4 position.
London 2012 gold medallists Russia failed to get a medal in Rio de Janeiro, as they lost grip of the bronze medal against USA; and dropped two places to No.5.
Argentina reached the Olympic quarterfinals but lost to their South American rivals Brazil. However, they retained their hold on the No.6 position with their joint-fifth finish in Rio 2016.
Iran and Canada also made it to the Rio 2016 quarterfinals and gained the No.7 and No.8 positions, with a leap of three and four places, respectively.
After a breakthrough performance in 2015, France somehow lost their drive as they only managed a joint-ninth finish in the Olympic Games. The European squad, however, still moved up two places in the world ranking at No.9.
Egypt had the biggest leap in the rankings as they scaled eight places to reach No.12, while Cuba also jumped from No.17 to No.14.
NORCECA squad Mexico also made a break-through, as they entered the top 20, which was a leap of seven places.
African team Ghana made the biggest drop of 17 places in the men’s world ranking.