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 8 January 2025, the highest ranked team in the men's category is Poland, while in the women's category is Italy.
The system of point attribution for the selected FIVB World and Official Competitions below is as follows:
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:
Notes:
The rankings outcome of each match depends on two main factors:
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:
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.
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.
We set the result , where is the index of the actual result (set score)
The expected results is then calculated as
where is the probability of the outcome obtained using the following model (known as Ordered probit):
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:
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.
Expected match result for Brazil:
Expected match result for Japan:
World Ranking scores for Brazil:
World Ranking scores for Japan:
World Ranking scores for Brazil:
World Ranking scores for Japan:
World Ranking scores for Brazil:
World Ranking scores for Japan:
World Ranking scores for Brazil:
World Ranking scores for Japan:
World Ranking scores for Brazil:
World Ranking scores for Japan:
World Ranking scores for Brazil:
World Ranking scores for Japan:
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.
The five Continental Rankings filter the World Ranking points won and lost in matches played between teams from the same Continental Confederation.
Japan (Asian Volleyball Confederation) vs Italy (Confédération Européenne de Volleyball)<Br> The points calculated in FIVB World Rankings.
Japan (Asian Volleyball Confederation) vs South Korea (Asian Volleyball Confederation)<Br> The points calculated in FIVB World Rankings, and AVC Continental Rankings.
For historical men's FIVB rankings from October 2005 to present.
For historical women's FIVB rankings from September 2005 to present.