Who are the favorites on the men’s volleyball Rio 2016 tournament?

Find out who are the favorites and the underdogs of this year men’s volleyball Rio 2016 tournament

Man’s volleyball has been on on the Olympic programs since the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964. Ever since it gained an amazing world reputation being currently ranked on the fifth place on the list of most popular sports in the world according to the number of fans. This year’s men’s volleyball Rio 2016 tournament will again offer the excitement that only volleyball can give. For volleyball fans, national team fans, or simply those of you who bet on sports in Brasil, GamingZion gives you a quick introduction into the volleyball competition for men on the Olympic Games in Rio 2016.

Volleyball on the Olympics: brief history in key numbers

From the promotion of volleyball as an Olympic sport at the games in Tokyo in 1964 until today there have been eight different Olympic champions. The Soviet Union and the USA team went three times each on the top of the Olympic podium, being thus the most successful nations in this sport category. This year’s hosts Brazil have so far noted two golds, while one went to Yugoslavia, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland and Russia. After the Olympics in Seoul in 1988, no Olympic champion in man’s volleyball have succeeded to defend the title.

Group A at the men’s Volleyball Rio 2016 tournament

As usual, 12 teams in two groups will compete for the title “Olympic champion”. Group A is the group of death on this year’s Olympic volleyball competition. Brazil, Italy, United States, Canada, France and Mexico will all strive for the top 4 positions in the group that lead to the desired quarter final. Among then, the biggest chances for ending the group on the first position certainly go to the host, Brazil.

Online sportsbooks in Australia estimate the odds of Brazil’s men volleyball team at 2.20, marking them thus as one of the two greatest favorites for the final. The clear underdogs in the group seems to be the Mexican team, whose odds are set around 501.00. The rest of the teams, however enter the competitions with more or less similar odds: 4.22 for Italy, 5.25 for USA and 3.76 for the French team.

Group B at the men’s Volleyball Rio 2016 tournament

An easy pass in the next phase for the favorites Russia and Poland is predicted in the Group B. The actual Olympic Champions from London 2012, Russia, seems to have only one serious match for securing the top position in the group, but one against an old good opponent: Poland. Bartos Kurek & Co. will try to finally bring the Polish team in a position to fight for the medal after 36 years. The Russians on the other side are eager to prove that London was not just a happy coincidence.

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The rest of the teams in Group B seem to have a more or less episodic role. A possible threat and surprise might come from the national team of Argentina, but their chances are considerably lower than those of the favorites, Russia and Poland. This situation makes the struggle for the first two positions in the group A even more important, since that clearly means an easy pass to the semi-final for those teams. The clear underdogs in this group according to providers of internet betting in US are Egypt, whose odds are set on 501.00.

GamingZion’s volleyball prognosis

Although Brazil and Russia have the biggest chances for the gold, GamingZion would still place its wager on another team: the national team of France. After the win of the 2015 World League we are expecting the French team to enter the competition with much confidence. Leaded by the “bad boy” in world’s volleyball Earvin N’Gapeth as well as the brilliant opposite Antonin Rouzier, the French team has the capacity to win any opponent. If these two are at their best, with the sufficient support of their team mates the gold, we believe, can only go in French hands.