The Rio 2016 goalball competition is set to be one of the hardest fought in Paralympic history.

In the men's tournament, hosts and reigning world champions Brazil are the top seed in Group A, where they will face African champions Algeria. The main challengers to the hosts look like coming from Group B, a veritable 'group of death' which contains five teams – China, Finland, Lithuania, the USA and Turkey – who are all considered contenders for medals in Rio.

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In the women's competition the hosts find themselves in a tricky Group C with the likes of defending Paralympic champions Japan and the always-competitive USA. Meanwhile China, who will be looking to make a comeback after two narrowly-lost finals at the last two Paralympic Games, go up against double Paralympic gold medallists Canada, as well as Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

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The goalball action kicks off at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games on 8 September and from the very first session there will be big games to look out for.

During the morning of the first day, in the women's tournament Brazil will take on the world champions USA in a match that should be finely poised, especially given that home support was often a decisive factor during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 

The same day, London 2012 gold medallists Japan will make their debut against Israel. Akiko Adachi will lead the Japanese team again, as she did at the Paralympics four years ago, when she scored the decisive goal against China in the final.

The clash between the USA and Japan in the group stage the following day may prove to be a preview of the Paralympic gold medal match of 16 September.

All matches will take place in the Future Arena.

Brazil in pole position for goalball glory

Goalball venue ready for Paralympic primetime

 Defending Paralympic champions Japan will be one of the teams to beat this year at Rio 2016 (Photo: Getty Images/Dennis Grombkowsky)

Some of the matches to look out for in the men's competition include defending Olympic champions Finland versus a very strong Lithuanian side on the opening day. Two days later the Finns, led by their star man Erkki Miinala, are in action again this time against the reigning European champions and surprise London 2012 bronze medallists Turkey.

Another match to keep an eye on will be when hosts and London 2012 silver medallists Brazil take on African champions Algeria, who are not considered immediate favourites but do have a reputation for causing an upset.

The Brazilians are going into the Paralympic Games in top form. In 2014 they won an emphatic world title. At the Parapan-American Games in Toronto last year, Brazil swept aside the USA in the final by 10-4 to claim gold once again.

Any game between Finland and Brazil in the knock-out stages will be a highlight of Rio 2016. The two countries have developed an intense rivalry in the sport in recent years. Finland defeated Brazil 8-1 in the final of London 2012. In the 2014 world championships, Brazil secured their revenge, hammering Finland 9-1.

 Finland have developed a recent rivalry with hosts Brazil and could up meeting them in the knock-out phase of the competition (Photo: Getty Images/Dennis Grombkowsky)

Goalball is a sport for the visually-impaired that demands intense levels of concentration, agility and strength. Devised in 1946 to help rehabilitate soldiers who were injured in World War Two, it entered the Paralympic Games in 1976 and is now played in more than 100 countries.

Get a quick preview of what is to come this September at the Future Arena with this introduction to the sport, produced by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC):