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The World Cup is contested every four years.
Since 1991 the World Cup has been played in the year preceding the Olympics.
The World Cup serves as an Olympic Qualifier, and is the first olympic qualifier for Men's and Women's Volleyball.
The top three Mens and Womens finishers in the World Cup qualify for the Olympics.
Image Copyright © FIVB.
JAPAN CITIES (WOMEN): Tokyo, Okayama, Sapporo, Toyama, Sendai, Kanayana, Nagoya, Osaka CITIES (MEN) : Tokyo, Kagoshima, Hiroshima, Kumamoto, Osaka, Nagano
WOMEN Nov 2-16, 1999 MEN Nov 18-Dec 2, 1999
WOMEN
World
Country Ranking How Qualified
RUSSIA (RUS) - #1 - Europe #1
CHINA (CHN) - #2 - Asia #1
BRAZIL (BRA) - #3 - South America #1
CUBA (CUB) - #4 - Norceca #2
ITALY (ITA) - #5 - Wild Card
KOREA (KOR) - #6 - Asia #2
CROATIA (CRO) - #7 - Europe #2
JAPAN (JPN) - #9 - Host
USA (USA) - #10 - Norceca #1
PERU (PER) - #11 - Wild Card
ARGENTINA (ARG) - #13 - South America #2
TUNISIA (TUN) - #18 - Africa #1
MEN
World
Country Ranking How Qualified
ITALY (ITA) - #1 - Europe #1
BRAZIL (BRA) - #2 - South America #1
CUBA (CUB) - #3 - Norceca #1
RUSSIA (RUS) - #4 - Europe #2
USA (USA) - #8 - Norceca #2
SPAIN (ESP) - #9 - Wild Card
JAPAN (JPN) - #19 - Host
ARGENTINA (ARG) - #7 - South America #2
CANADA (CAN) - #11 - Wild Card
CHINA (CHN) - #13 - Asia #1
KOREA (KOR) - #15 - Asia #3 (Australia finished 2nd, already in Olympics-Host)
TUNISIA (TUN) - #21 - Africa #1
1st CUBA 2nd RUSSIA 3rd BRAZIL 4th Korea 5th China 6th Japan 7th Italy 8th Crotia 9th USA 10th Peru 11th Argentina 12th TunisiaFINAL - MEN:
1st RUSSIA 2nd CUBA 3rd ITALY 4th USA 5th Brazil 6th Spain 7th Korea 8th Canada 9th Argentina 10th Japan 11th China 12th Tunisia
The TOP THREE teams qualify for the Olympic Games 2000 in Sydney.
Detailed Match Results - WOMEN
The women's World Cup was inaugurated in 1973.
In 1991, the international calendar was modified, moving the quadrennial competition to a year prior to the Olympic Games.
Since 1991 the World Cup has served as as an Olympic qualifier, and the host country has been Japan.
The USSR men's team holds the record of 4 gold medals (with a team absence in 1995).
The CUBA women's team holds the record of 3 gold medals.
YEAR LOCATION 1999 Japan 1995 Japan 1991 Japan 1989 Japan 1985 Japan 1981 Japan 1977 Japan 1973 Chechoslavakia 1969 Germany 1965 Poland
YEAR LOCATION 1995 Japan 1991 Japan 1989 Japan 1985 Tokyo 1981 Osaka 1977 Tokyo 1973 USSR