If you wish to publish an Italian translation of this article, any of our other articles, or any part of them, please cite the original source. Plagiarism is illegal!
Article wrote by Danilo from Brazil for Volleytimes, please respect his job.
2026 Volleyball Nations League continued today with two games in China, won by Ukraine and Slovenia, who down defending champions Poland at tie break, Canada and Brazil.
Bulgaria Earns first VNL win with a straight-sets success over Iran, 3-0 (25:23, 25:18, 25:21) in BrasΓlia, Brazil.
After opening the tournament with an unexpected loss to Belgium, the team coached by italian expert Gianlorenzo Blengini replied with a composed and efficient performance, edging a closely contested first set before taking control of the match.
Aleksandar Nikolov led the winners with 24 points to his name, while Aleks Grozdanov added 11 and Asparuh Asparuhov contributed eight.
For Iran, Poriya Hossein Khanzadeh and Ali Hajipour were the top scorers with 11 points each.
Brazil collected second win in as many games to fly to the top of the standings with six points thanks to a 3-1 (25:19, 23:25, 25:15, 25:20) over Belgium.
Canada gave their home fans a night to remember in Ottawa, Canada, stunning reigning Olympic champions France 3-1 (25:20, 25:18, 21:25, 27:25) in one of the biggest surprises of the 2026 Volleyball Nations League.
After suffering a five-set loss to Germany in their opening match, they responded with an impressive performance to overcome the gold medalists from Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, improving their record to 1-1 and boosting the team up the standings, while France drops to 1-1 after opening the tournament with a dramatic win over world champions Italy.
Canadaβs success was built on a dominant display at the net, with 15 blocks compared to Franceβs only seven. Opposite Xander Ketrzynski led all scorers with 20 points, while Eric Loeppky added 18 and Stephen Maar also contributed with 12.
For France, Stephen Boyer finished with 19 points and Mathis Henno added 16.
βIβm obviously super grateful. We have a lot of skills that we have been working on and were able to put those on display tonight,β said Stephen Maar. βWe were able to sit with it down the stretch and go point by point with a really strong, technical team. And Iβm glad we were able to outlast them. The performance yesterday wasnβt what anyone wanted, but with a crowd like this, itβs easy to find the motivation to get back at it.β
On the same Pool, Italy bounced back from its opening defeat to France with a 1-3 (20:25, 25:20, 21:25, 31:33) victory over Germany with points from Alessandro Bovolenta.
__________________
π| FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2026 | Games of the day
β Thursday | June 11, 2026 β
| Pool 3 β Week 1 β Linyi π¨π³
β’ 16.30 (Local Time) | China β Ukraine 1-3 (17:25, 25:21, 20:25, 22:25)
β’ 20.00 (Local Time) | Slovenia β Poland 3-2 (27:25, 23:25, 26:24, 21:25, 19:17)
ππΌ Pool 1 β Week 1 β Ottawa π¨π¦
β’ 16.00 (Local Time) | Germany β Italy 1-3 (20:25, 25:20, 21:25, 31:33)
β’ 19.30 (Local Time) | Canada β France 3-1 (25:20, 25:18, 21:25, 27:25)
ππΌ Pool 2 β Week 1 β Brasilia π§π·
β’ 16.30 (Local Time) | Bulgaria β Iran 3-0 (25:23, 25:19, 25:21)
β’ 20.00 (Local Time) | Brazil β Belgium 3-1 (25:19, 23:25, 25:15, 25:20)
__________________
π| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Brazil 6
2. Slovenia 4
3. Poland 4
4. Italy 4
5. Canada 4
6. Japan 3
7. Serbia 3
8. USA 3
9. Belgium 3
10. Bulgaria 3
11. Ukraine 3
12. France 2
13. Germany 2
14. China 1
15. TΓΌrkiye 0
16. Argentina 0
17. Cuba 0
18. Iran 0
__________________
π| NEXT GAMES
β Friday | June 12, 2026 β
| Pool 3 β Week 1 β Linyi π¨π³
β’ 16.30 (Local Time) | Ukraine β Cuba
β’ 20.00 (Local Time) | Japan β Poland
| Pool 2 β Week 1 β Brasilia π§π·
β’ 16.30 (Local Time) | Belgium β Serbia
β’ 20.00 (Local Time) | Iran β Argentina
| Pool 1 β Week 1 β Ottawa π¨π¦
β’ 16.00 (Local Time) | Germany β USA
β’ 19.30 (Local Time) | TΓΌrkiye β France
__________
Quick Links:
β’ AGENDAπ
β’ All international news
β’ FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2026 β Calendar
β’ VNL 2026 β All News
β’ Multimedia
β’ Facebook
β’ Instagram
__________