1956 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship

The 1956 FIVB Women's World Championship was the second edition of the tournament, contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. It was held from 30 August to 12 September 1956 in France.^[1]

1956 FIVB Women's World Championship

Championnat du monde féminin France 1956
Official poster
Tournament details
Host nation	France
City	Paris
Dates	30 August – 12 September
Teams	17
Venue(s)	3 (in 1 host city)
Champions	Soviet Union (2nd title)
Runners-up	Romania
Third place	Poland
Fourth place	Czechoslovakia
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Teams

•  Austria (debut)
•  Belgium (debut)
•  Brazil (debut)
•  Bulgaria
•  China (debut)
•  Czechoslovakia (debut)
•  East Germany (debut)
•  France (host)
•  Israel (debut)
•  Luxembourg (debut)
•  Netherlands (debut)
•  North Korea (debut)
•  Poland
•  Romania
•  Soviet Union (reigning champion)
•  United States (debut)
•  West Germany (debut)

Squads

Main article: 1956 FIVB Women's World Championship squads

Source:^[2]

Venues

Paris Paris (France)	Paris
	Stade Pierre de Coubertin	Salle Japy	Palais des Sports
	Capacity: 4,016	Capacity: 1,500	Capacity: 4,600

Format

The tournament was played in two different stages (first and final rounds). In the First round, the 17 participants were divided in five groups (two groups of four teams and three groups of three teams). A single round-robin format was played within each group to determine the teams group position, all teams progressed to the next round.

In the Final round, two groups were created (1st-10th and 11th-17th), teams were allocated to a group according to their First round group position (best two teams of each group going to 1st-10th and the remaining teams to 11th-17th). A single round-robin format was played within each group with matches already played between teams in the First round also counted in this round.^[1]

Pools composition

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D	Pool E
Israel	Austria	Belgium	Bulgaria	Brazil
Luxembourg	China	Czechoslovakia	East Germany	North Korea
Soviet Union	Poland	Netherlands	France	Romania
United States	West Germany

Results

First round

Pool A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Soviet Union	3	3	0	6	9	0	MAX	135	25	5.400	Final places
2	United States	3	2	1	5	6	3	2.000	107	54	1.981
3	Israel	3	1	2	4	3	6	0.500	56	108	0.519	11th–17th places
4	Luxembourg	3	0	3	3	0	9	0.000	24	135	0.178

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
30 Aug	Soviet Union	3–0	Luxembourg	15–1	15–2	15–1			45–4
30 Aug	United States	3–0	Israel	15–1	15–4	15–2			45–7
31 Aug	Israel	3–0	Luxembourg	15–7	15–5	15–6			45–18
31 Aug	Soviet Union	3–0	United States	15–7	15–4	15–6			45–17
1 Sep	Soviet Union	3–0	Israel	15–2	15–2	15–0			45–4
1 Sep	United States	3–0	Luxembourg	15–0	15–1	15–1			45–2

Pool B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Poland	3	3	0	6	9	1	9.000	151	53	2.849	Final places
2	China	3	2	1	5	7	3	2.333	133	72	1.847
3	Austria	3	1	2	4	3	6	0.500	59	107	0.551	11th–17th places
4	West Germany	3	0	3	3	0	9	0.000	24	135	0.178

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
30 Aug	Poland	3–0	West Germany	15–0	15–0	15–1			45–1
30 Aug	China	3–0	Austria	15–1	15–2	15–2			45–5
31 Aug	Austria	3–0	West Germany	15–10	15–7	15–0			45–17
31 Aug	Poland	3–1	China	17–15	14–16	15–6	15–6		61–43
1 Sep	China	3–0	West Germany	15–1	15–3	15–2			45–6
1 Sep	Poland	3–0	Austria	15–5	15–3	15–1			45–9

Pool C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Czechoslovakia	2	2	0	4	6	0	MAX	90	13	6.923	Final places
2	Netherlands	2	1	1	3	3	3	1.000	52	67	0.776
3	Belgium	2	0	2	2	0	6	0.000	28	90	0.311	11th–17th places

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
30 Aug	Czechoslovakia	3–0	Belgium	15–1	15–1	15–4			45–6
31 Aug	Netherlands	3–0	Belgium	15–10	15–7	15–5			45–22
1 Sep	Czechoslovakia	3–0	Netherlands	15–3	15–4	15–0			45–7

Pool D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Bulgaria	2	2	0	4	6	1	6.000	104	59	1.763	Final places
2	East Germany	2	1	1	3	3	3	1.000	66	81	0.815
3	France	2	0	2	2	1	6	0.167	74	104	0.712	11th–17th places

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
30 Aug	East Germany	3–0	France	15–13	15–11	15–12			45–36
31 Aug	Bulgaria	3–1	France	15–3	15–8	14–16	15–11		59–38
1 Sep	Bulgaria	3–0	East Germany	15–7	15–7	15–7			45–21

Pool E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Romania	2	2	0	4	6	0	MAX	92	54	1.704	Final places
2	North Korea	2	1	1	3	3	4	0.750	88	78	1.128
3	Brazil	2	0	2	2	1	6	0.167	55	103	0.534	11th–17th places

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
30 Aug	North Korea	3–1	Brazil	15–6	11–15	15–3	15–9		56–33
31 Aug	Romania	3–0	Brazil	17–15	15–4	15–3			47–22
1 Sep	Romania	3–0	North Korea	15–11	15–11	15–10			45–32

Final round

The results and the points of the matches between the same teams that were already played during the first round are taken into account for the final round.

11th–17th places

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR
11	Brazil	6	6	0	12	18	1	18.000	286	100	2.860
12	France	6	5	1	11	16	3	5.333	275	129	2.132
13	Belgium	6	4	2	10	12	7	1.714	233	206	1.131
14	Israel	6	3	3	9	10	10	1.000	215	216	0.995
15	Austria	6	2	4	8	7	12	0.583	183	227	0.806
16	West Germany	6	1	5	7	3	16	0.188	132	274	0.482
17	Luxembourg	6	0	6	6	1	18	0.056	108	280	0.386

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
2 Sep	Belgium	3–1	Israel	15–9	17–15	5–15	15–11		52–50
2 Sep	France	3–0	Luxembourg	15–1	15–0	15–1			45–2
2 Sep	Brazil	3–0	West Germany	15–1	15–0	15–4			45–5
3 Sep	France	3–0	Austria	15–6	15–6	15–4			45–16
3 Sep	Belgium	3–0	West Germany	15–10	15–2	15–8			45–20
3 Sep	Brazil	3–0	Luxembourg	15–1	15–1	15–0			45–2
5 Sep	Israel	3–0	West Germany	15–11	15–7	15–3			45–21
5 Sep	Belgium	3–0	Luxembourg	15–0	15–8	15–5			45–13
5 Sep	Brazil	3–0	Austria	15–0	15–6	15–3			45–9
6 Sep	Belgium	3–0	Austria	15–6	15–13	16–14			46–33
6 Sep	Brazil	3–1	France	15–13	17–15	14–16	15–6		61–50
8 Sep	France	3–0	Belgium	15–7	15–8	15–6			45–21
8 Sep	West Germany	3–1	Luxembourg	15–5	15–13	7–15	18–16		55–49
8 Sep	Israel	3–1	Austria	5–15	15–3	15–8	15–9		50–35
9 Sep	France	3–0	Israel	15–2	15–11	15–2			45–15
9 Sep	Brazil	3–0	Belgium	15–5	15–10	15–9			45–24
10 Sep	Austria	3–0	Luxembourg	15–3	15–9	15–12			45–24
10 Sep	Brazil	3–0	Israel	15–5	15–3	15–2			45–10
10 Sep	France	3–0	West Germany	15–4	15–5	15–5			45–14

Final places

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR
1	Soviet Union	9	9	0	18	27	2	13.500	439	218	2.014
2	Romania	9	8	1	17	26	11	2.364	510	382	1.335
3	Poland	9	6	3	15	22	13	1.692	461	386	1.194
4	Czechoslovakia	9	6	3	15	22	10	2.200	423	285	1.484
5	Bulgaria	9	5	4	14	18	14	1.286	390	359	1.086
6	China	9	3	6	12	14	21	0.667	366	446	0.821
7	North Korea	9	3	6	12	10	23	0.435	368	434	0.848
8	East Germany	9	3	6	12	13	21	0.619	337	451	0.747
9	United States	9	2	7	11	11	23	0.478	329	448	0.734
10	Netherlands	9	0	9	9	3	27	0.111	222	436	0.509

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Date		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total
2 Sep	United States	3–0	Netherlands	15–3	15–6	15–9			45–18
2 Sep	Czechoslovakia	3–1	Bulgaria	15–3	7–15	15–12	15–12		52–42
2 Sep	East Germany	3–1	Poland	15–12	15–12	13–15	16–14		59–53
2 Sep	Soviet Union	3–0	China	15–8	15–0	15–9			45–17
3 Sep	Poland	3–2	Czechoslovakia	10–15	15–6	15–13	7–15	16–14	63–63
3 Sep	Romania	3–0	East Germany	15–6	16–14	15–7			46–27
3 Sep	North Korea	3–1	Netherlands	15–5	15–12	9–15	15–8		54–40
3 Sep	Bulgaria	3–1	China	8–15	15–5	15–5	15–12		53–37
5 Sep	Soviet Union	3–0	North Korea	15–6	15–6	17–15			47–27
5 Sep	Bulgaria	3–1	United States	15–3	15–17	15–5	15–5		60–30
5 Sep	Czechoslovakia	3–0	East Germany	15–5	15–7	15–5			45–17
5 Sep	Romania	3–0	Netherlands	15–6	15–10	15–5			45–21
6 Sep	Poland	3–0	United States	15–4	15–10	15–6			45–20
6 Sep	East Germany	3–1	Netherlands	15–9	15–9	10–15	15–6		55–39
6 Sep	Soviet Union	3–2	Romania	12–15	11–15	15–6	15–12	15–8	68–56
6 Sep	Bulgaria	3–0	North Korea	15–9	15–13	15–9			45–31
6 Sep	Czechoslovakia	3–0	China	15–0	15–2	15–4			45–6
8 Sep	Poland	3–1	North Korea	14–16	15–8	15–10	15–4		59–38
8 Sep	Soviet Union	3–0	Netherlands	15–2	15–4	15–3			45–9
8 Sep	Czechoslovakia	3–0	United States	15–5	15–10	15–3			45–18
8 Sep	Romania	3–2	Bulgaria	10–15	13–15	15–9	15–9	15–8	68–56
8 Sep	China	3–2	East Germany	15–1	4–15	14–16	15–9	15–10	63–51
9 Sep	Czechoslovakia	3–0	North Korea	15–3	15–13	15–5			45–21
9 Sep	Soviet Union	3–0	East Germany	15–1	15–3	15–1			45–5
9 Sep	United States	3–2	China	10–15	10–15	15–12	15–8	15–9	65–59
9 Sep	Bulgaria	3–0	Netherlands	15–11	15–7	15–12			45–30
9 Sep	Romania	3–2	Poland	15–11	12–15	15–4	13–15	16–14	71–59
10 Sep	Romania	3–2	Czechoslovakia	10–15	11–15	15–6	15–8	15–13	66–57
10 Sep	China	3–0	North Korea	16–14	15–10	15–12			46–36
10 Sep	Soviet Union	3–0	Bulgaria	15–13	15–7	15–10			45–30
10 Sep	East Germany	3–1	United States	15–13	16–14	7–15	15–10		53–52
10 Sep	Poland	3–0	Netherlands	15–9	15–3	15–12			45–24
11 Sep	North Korea	3–2	United States	15–13	15–3	7–15	14–16	15–11	66–58
11 Sep	Romania	3–1	China	15–8	15–8	11–15	15–7		56–38
11 Sep	Soviet Union	3–1	Poland	15–4	9–15	15–6	15–6		54–31
12 Sep	Poland	3–0	Bulgaria	15–3	15–9	15–2			45–14
12 Sep	Romania	3–1	United States	12–15	15–2	15–4	15–3		57–24
12 Sep	North Korea	3–2	East Germany	15–5	5–15	13–15	15–8	15–6	63–49
12 Sep	China	3–1	Netherlands	15–3	15–11	12–15	15–5		57–34
12 Sep	Soviet Union	3–0	Czechoslovakia	15–13	15–8	15–5			45–26

Final standing

Rank Team  Soviet Union  Romania  Poland 4  Czechoslovakia 5  Bulgaria 6  China 7  North Korea 8  East Germany 9  United States 10  Netherlands 11  Brazil 12  France 13  Belgium 14  Israel 15  Austria 16  West Germany 17  Luxembourg

1956 Women's World champions  Soviet Union 2nd title Team roster Lidia Boldireva, Ludmila Buldakova, Aleksandra Tschudina, Skaidra Galachova, Kira Gorbachova, Sofia Gorbunova, Lidia Ivanetskaya, Militia Kononova, Lidia Kalenjik, Ludmila Metscheryakova, Antonina Moiseyeva, Lidia Strelnikova, Valentina Varkevitsch Head coach Alexey Yakushev