The FIVB Senior World Rankings is a ranking system for men's and women's national teams in volleyball. The teams of the member nations of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), volleyball's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A points system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of all FIVB-recognised full international matches. The rankings are used in international competitions to define the seeded teams and arrange them in pools. Specific procedures for seeding and pooling are established by the FIVB in each competition's formula, but the method usually employed is the serpentine system.
The ranking system has been revamped in 2020, responding to criticism that the preceding calculation method did not effectively reflect the relative strengths of the national teams. The old version of the ranking system was finally used on 31 January 2020.
As of 28 July 2026, the highest ranked team in the men's category is Poland, while in the women's category is Italy.
Previous calculation method
The system of point attribution for the selected FIVB World and Official Competitions below is as follows: Olympic Games and qualifying tournaments: included for 4 years and points are also granted for the qualification matches, to the best non-qualified teams. World Championship and qualifying tournaments: included for 4 years and points are also granted for the qualification matches, to the best non-qualified teams. World Cup: included for 4 years World Grand Prix: included for 1 year World League: included for 1 year
Current calculation method In 2019, FIVB collaborated with Hypercube Business Innovation of the Netherlands to design a new world ranking platform. The previous calculation method had a problem of circularity in the international volleyball calendar: only countries who participated in the major volleyball events could earn ranking points, whilst the number of ranking points of countries also determined the seeding and access to major events. This unfair principle did not contribute to the sporting and commercial quality of volleyball.
On 1 February 2020, the new ranking system was implemented and took into account all results from 1 January 2019 and later. The system is consistently updated to reflect the latest results and performances. The ranking considers the match results from: Olympic Games and qualifying tournaments FIVB World Championship FIVB World Cup FIVB Nations League and Challenger Cup Confederations' Championship and qualifying tournaments Annual Official Continental Confederations' Events Annual Official Zonal Associations' Events
Notes: Olympic qualifying tournaments, FIVB World Cup and FIVB Challenger Cup are discontinued tournaments (as of 2025). Official competitions must feature a minimum of four senior national teams to be eligible for world ranking points. Matches played in multi-sport events, friendly matches or unofficial competitions are not eligible for world ranking points. From 2023: Matches from Annual Continental and Zonal Events are not considered for the world ranking if they involve teams that are also participating in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) in the same year. From 2025: Each Continental Confederation may include up to two Annual Continental Events in the world ranking. From 2025: Each Zonal Association may include one Annual Zonal Event in the world ranking.
The rankings outcome of each match depends on two main factors: The playing strength of the teams competing. The actual match performance or final result of the match.
Ranking Procedure It is based on the zero-sum system, like CONCACAF Ranking Index or FIFA World ranking, where, after each game, points will be added to or subtracted from a team's rating according to the formula:
where: – the team's number of World Ranking scores after the game – the team's number of World Ranking scores before the game – the match weight factor; see below – the result of the game depended on match and sets won (3–0, 3–1, 3–2, 2–3, 1–3 or 0–3); see below – the expected result of the game has the value between -2 and +2. If the match is completely balanced, the expected result is 0. The bigger the surprise, the more points are transferred; see below for calculation details.
A key principle of the world ranking is that a team winning a match cannot lose ranking points and a team losing a match cannot gain ranking points. Hence, if a team wins a match but the result is lower than expected, with , the team will be rewarded with the minimum ranking points (0.01), i.e.
The team that lost the match will instead lose the minimum ranking points (0.01), i.e.
Match weight factor The match weight factor is set to reflect the prestige of the tournament. In 2025, FIVB changed the match weight factors for some events and introduced ranking points for events organized by zonal associations. In 2026, the match weight factor for zonal events was reduced. Event Match weight factor 2019–2024 2025 2026– Annual Official Zonal Events – 30.0 20.0 Annual Official Continental Events 10.0 30.0 30.0 Continental Championship qualifying 17.5 – – FIVB Challenger Cup 20.0 – – Olympic Games qualifying / FIVB World Cup 35.0 – – Continental Championship 35.0 40.0 40.0 FIVB Nations League 40.0 40.0 40.0 FIVB World Championship/Cup 45.0 50.0 50.0 Olympic Games 50.0 50.0 50.0
Match result
We set the result , where is the index of the actual result (set score) – A win 3–0 – A win 3–1 – A win 3–2 – A lose 2–3 – A lose 1–3 – A lose 0–3
Match Result A win 3–0 +2 A win 3–1 +1.5 A win 3–2 +1 A lose 2–3 -1 A lose 1–3 -1.5 A lose 0–3 -2
Expected match result The expected results is then calculated as
where is the probability of the outcome obtained using the following model (known as Ordered probit):
Team A win 3–0
Team A win 3–1
Team A win 3–2
Team A lose 2–3
Team A lose 1–3
Team A lose 0–3
where is the Cumulative distribution function of the Normal distribution, and are the cut-points
set so that is the probability of the outcome between two equal strength opponents (that is when ), which is derived from the actual match results of the past decade.
The parameter represents the scaled difference of the teams rankings
where: – the team A's number of World Ranking scores before the game – the team B's number of World Ranking scores before the game
Examples Before the match at the FIVB Volleyball World Championship (K = 50), Brazil (Team A) is ranked number 1 with a 415 WR score and Japan (Team B) is ranked number 11 with a 192 WR score.
Strength difference between Brazil and Japan
Expected match result
Expected match result for Brazil:
Expected match result for Japan:
World Ranking scores after Brazil win 3–0 World Ranking scores for Brazil:
World Ranking scores for Japan:
World Ranking scores after Brazil win 3–1 World Ranking scores for Brazil: and , thus so
World Ranking scores for Japan: and , thus so
World Ranking scores after Brazil win 3–2 World Ranking scores for Brazil: and , thus so
World Ranking scores for Japan: and , thus so
World Ranking scores after Brazil lose 0–3 World Ranking scores for Brazil:
World Ranking scores for Japan:
World Ranking scores after Brazil lose 1–3 World Ranking scores for Brazil:
World Ranking scores for Japan:
World Ranking scores after Brazil lose 2–3 World Ranking scores for Brazil:
World Ranking scores for Japan:
Inactive teams Previously, inactive teams would lose 50 ranking points, but the inactivity sanction was removed in February 2026. Until 2025, teams were considered inactive after one year without participating in competitions eligible for ranking points. In April 2025, this was extended to two years.
Between 2020 and 2025, new teams with no match history entered the official ranking list with 50 ranking points when they played their first match eligible for ranking points (the original 100 points all teams received in 2019 minus the 50 points inactivity penalty). From 2026, new teams with no match history enter the ranking list with 0 ranking points.
World and Continental Rankings
The five Continental Rankings filter the World Ranking points won and lost in matches played between teams from the same Continental Confederation. Intercontinental Tournaments – calculated in World Rankings, but some matches can be calculated in Continental Rankings Olympic Games final and intercontinental qualification tournaments FIVB World Championship final and intercontinental qualification tournaments FIVB World Cup FIVB Volleyball Nations League and Challenger Cup some Continental Cups: Pan-America some FIVB recognised international events, e.g. Pan American Games, Montreux Volley Masters
Continental Tournaments – calculated in World and Continental Rankings Olympic Games continental qualification tournaments FIVB World Championship continental qualification tournaments FIVB Challenger Cup qualification tournaments Continental Championships: Asia (AVC), Africa (CAVB), Europe (CEV), North America (NORCECA), and South America (CSV) some Continental Cups: Asia (both AVC Cup and Challenge Cup) Zonal Championships, e.g. Eastern Asia, ASEAN, Central America some FIVB recognised international events, e.g. African Games, Asian Games, European Games
Examples Japan (Asian Volleyball Confederation) vs Italy (Confédération Européenne de Volleyball) The points calculated in FIVB World Rankings.
Japan (Asian Volleyball Confederation) vs South Korea (Asian Volleyball Confederation) The points calculated in FIVB World Rankings, and AVC Continental Rankings.
FIVB World Rankings
Current men's top teams
Current women's top teams
Historic men's leaders For historical men's FIVB rankings from October 2005 to present.
Historic women's leaders For historical women's FIVB rankings from September 2005 to present.
List of men's number one ranked nations No.TeamStart dateEnd dateDaysTotal1 Brazil609860982 Poland110411043 Italy11 Poland 3271431 Italy 1213 Poland 1591590 Last update: 30 November 2026
List of women's number one ranked nations No.TeamStart dateEnd dateDaysTotal1 China3973972 Russia3643643 Brazil146114614 United States670670 Brazil 3961857 United States 6701340 China 79111885 Serbia334334 China 6051793 United States 4961836 Brazil 418616 Italy44 Brazil 21863 Serbia 2756097 Turkey340340 Italy 801805 Last update: 31 August 2026
See also
FIVB Senior Continental Rankings FIVB Youth and Junior World Rankings
Notes
References