Venezuela first competed in the FIVB World League in 2001 and have been on and off ever since. After a fiveyear absence, they rejoined the competition in 2015 following the withdrawal of Germany. They finished bottom of their Group 3 pool with only one win against Kazakhstan in that year, but in 2016 they finished on a 4-2 record and missed out on the Group 3 finals on points to Chinese Taipei. Venezuela’s best World League performance to date was seventh place in 2005.
Venezuela’s high point – and only major international title – was their gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, where they swept Cuba 3-0 in the final. Their only Olympic outing was in Beijing 2008, when they finished ninth scoring a single win over Japan – but only after taking both USA and China to five sets. Venezuela have competed 11 times in the FIVB World Championships and in their latest appearance, in 2014 in Poland, came one point short of a place in the second round.
The strengths of Brazil and Argentina have prevented Venezuela from winning the South American Championships, but they have nine silver and 12 bronze medals in an event in which they have never finished outside the top four.