Brazil beat Argentina 3-0 on Sunday morning at the Maracanãzinho arena in Rio de Janeiro to win the South American men's volleyball championship and secure their place at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The set scores were 25-20, 25-23 and 25-20.
It is the national team's 34th continental title, according to Agência Brasil. The side coached by Bernardinho finished the competition with five wins from five matches. Argentina took second place with four wins and a single defeat — the one that mattered.
The berth that used to go through a qualifying tournament
Brazil qualified directly from the continental event because the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) scrapped the Olympic qualifying tournaments for this cycle and now distributes part of the places through each continental confederation's championship. In practice, Sunday's final was the passport to Los Angeles — and it was settled in a little over ninety minutes.
The change cuts the number of routes to the Games. Until the previous cycle, a team that stumbled at continental level could still chase a berth at a world Olympic qualifier held months later. This time, the home tournament was the only door.
Since volleyball made its Olympic debut in 1964, Brazil's men's team has never missed an edition of the Games.
Darlan, 23 points
Opposite Darlan was the top scorer in the final with 23 points, in attack and in defence. The crowd at the Maracanãzinho numbered 11,968, Agência Brasil reported.
The tournament's all-star team drew on all three countries that contested the podium: Darlan as opposite and Cachopa as setter, both Brazilian; Adriano (Brazil) and Aravena (Chile) as outside hitters; Flávio (Brazil) and Loser (Argentina) as middle blockers; and Massimino (Argentina) as libero.
What comes next
Alongside the Olympic berth, Brazil and Argentina both booked their place at the 2027 World Championship, to be held in Poland.
With information from Agência Brasil and CNN Brasil.
