German volleyball players caught a tough group at the world championships in the Netherlands and Poland. Everything you need to know about the tournament.

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The hosts of the World Cup tournament are Netherlands and Poland. The opening match will take place on 23 September, the final on 15 October. 24 teams take part in the final round. There are four groups of six teams each. The top four teams in each group advance to the second round.

There are two groups, each with eight participants. Teams take points from the first round with them. The four best teams from each group advance to the knockout stage, which begins with the quarter-finals.

Normal international scoring applies. In a 3-0 or 3-1 win, the winner gets three points and the loser gets nothing. A 3:2 gets two points for the winner and one point for the loser.

German opponents

National coach Vital Heinen’s team will take on Bulgaria in Arnhem on 25 September. Other opponents in the tough Group C are Olympic champions USA and world champions Serbia, as well as Canada and Kazakhstan. Henen sees the group as “the strongest in the tournament, with two world-class teams battling to win the group. Canada, Bulgaria and Germany will be the three teams battling for progress.”

German team form

The team won the final endurance test before the World Cup and made an impressive comeback. In the last dress rehearsal the team defeated Brazil, who finished second at the Olympics, 3:2 (23:25, 16:25, 25:21, 25:19, 15:13). Germany was already 0:2 behind in Berlin, but then managed to catch up. However, the team missed out on reaching the final round of the Nations League in July.

favorite

Olympic champions USA and world champions Serbia are the top favorites for the title. China, Italy, hosts Netherlands, Brazil and Japan also definitely have a chance.

The German team is not one of the favourites. Captain Jennifer Janiska insisted that the team “clearly wants to go through the preliminary rounds” at the World Cup.

Significance of the tournament for Coach Heinen

Heinen sees the World Cup as an important step on the way to the Olympic Games in 2024. It is important that “we play well and realize that we are a team that after the World Cup says it was only a step forward”, said Belgium. “The big goal,” Heenan explained, “is to be back at the Olympics in three years.”

German volleyball players last participated in the Games in 2004. The result of the World Cup, “whether we finish seventh, 16th or 23rd is important, but most importantly the team says yes, we are on our way to the Olympics”.

German performance in World Cup tournament

Since 1974, Germany has always been present in the World Cup, which is held every four years. The biggest success was the fifth place in 1994. In Japan in 2018, the team failed in the second round.

Source: sportschau.de