A Monday morning drawing of lots determined the schedule for the Final 6 of the 2018 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship tournament. While the 6 teams were known as of the conclusion of the match between Poland and Serbia on Sunday, their order was not – because rules dictate that a drawing of lots would determine which 2nd-round pool winners would play in each 3rd-round pool.
Italy and Brazil, as winners of Pool E and F, respectively, were destined for opposite 3rd-round pools. That means that no rematch of the Olympic final will happen until at least the semis of the tournament.
Brazil was drawn into Pool I, where they’ll be matched with the Nations League champions Russia, and 8-0 United States. For the first time in a long time, Brazil might actually be an underdog to advance to the semi-finals of a major international tournament.
The other pool will feature Italy, defending champions Poland, and Serbia. The fate of this pool will largely depend on Poland’s focus and health – when they were on-key early in this tournament and the Nations League earlier this summer, they were nearly unbeatable. As illness and complaints of food quality crept in, they suddenly couldn’t win. They again looked dominant on Sunday (where they swept Serbia 3-0, including the first 2 sets against Serbia’s starters) with captain Michal Kubiak back on the floor after losing 2 matches without him.
Those teams will rematch on September 27th (Thursday).
Each team in the 3-team pools will play 2 matches in the Final 6 round (round-robin style). Unlike the 2nd round, results are not carried over into the Final 6. The winners of each pool are determined in the same manner as they were in earlier rounds, with wins, then points, then sets ratio, then points ratio as the tie-breakers.
The winner of each pool will play the runner-up of the opposite pool in the semi-finals. 3rd place teams in each pool will be eliminated from championship contention, but will play a 5th-place match.
Watch the Drawing of Lots here:
Pool I
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  Brazil |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MAX | 0 | 0 | MAX |
| 1 |  United States |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MAX | 0 | 0 | MAX |
| 1 |  Russia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MAX | 0 | 0 | MAX |
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep | 17:00 | Brazil |
– | Russia |
|||||||
| 27 Sep | 17:00 | United States |
– | Russia |
|||||||
| 28 Sep | 17:00 | Brazil |
– | United States |
Pool J
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  Italy |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MAX | 0 | 0 | MAX |
| 1 |  Poland |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MAX | 0 | 0 | MAX |
| 1 |  Serbia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MAX | 0 | 0 | MAX |
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep | 21:15 | Italy |
– | Serbia |
|||||||
| 27 Sep | 20:30 | Poland |
– | Serbia |
|||||||
| 28 Sep | 21:15 | Italy |
– | Poland |
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