VNL 2026: Second week continues in Orléans! Japan rejected Iran’s comeback to stay undefeated. 3 points for Serbia

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Second week of Volleyball Nations League 2026 continued today in Gliwice (Poland), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Orléans (France) featuring 2 games in each European city.

In Friday’s opening match in Orléans, Iran recover from a two-set deficit against Japan to push their match to a fifth-set resolution, but a resilient (and still undefeated) Asian team won
the decisive tie-break to celebrate a 3-2 (25:19, 25:19, 20:25, 23:25, 15:12) victory, their sixth in sixth matches played in the tournent so far!
As the only team still unbeaten in the competition, they surged to the first place in the table on a 6-0 win-loss record and 16 points, while Iran improved to 6 points, but are still third from the bottom, in 16th place on 1-6.
Japan outplayed Iran mainly with their excellent attack, registering an impressive overall 66% success rate, led by outside hitter and captain Yuki Ishikawa, the top scorer of the match with 22 points to his name including an ace. His cross-court Ran Takahashi also contributed with 19, including two aces and a block, as well as the match winner. Middle blocker Larry Ik Evbade-Dan, opposites Kento Miyaura and Yuji Nishida, also finished in double digit with 15, 15 and 13 points, respectively.

“I think we played well,” Ran said after the game. “Maybe we lost our concentration after the second set and this was a problem. But we bounced back in the final set and we won – this was important for us.”

Outside hitter Ali Haghparast was Iran’s most prolific player with 19 points, while captain Morteza Sharifi fired three aces and raised two kill blocks to finish with 16 points. Opposite Mobin Nasri tallied 13 points, while middle blocker Seyed Eisa also reached the double digits with 12.

In the evening, Serbia lined up right between Italy and Brazil (who faced each others today in Ljubljana) in the current standings, taking sixth place on 4-2 and 12, after a 3-1 (25:19, 13:25, 25:23, 25:22) win over Cuba. The team from the Caribbean is still struggling to find the way to first win and continue to trail bottom, in 18th place on 0-7 and only 2 points. Outside hitter Lazar Marinovic led the winners with a match-high 18 points, while opposite Pavle Peric added 14. Middle blocker and captain Aleksandar Nedeljkovic, announced right today by Italy’s Itas Trentino, shined with four blocks and is now just another four away from the 100 milestone in the VNL.
Cuban outside Miguel Lopez recorded a team-high 15 points.

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🏐| FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2026 | Games of the day

— Friday | June 26, 2026—

| Pool 5 – Week 2 – Gliwice 🇵🇱
• 16.30 (Local Time) | China – Argentina 0-3 (22:25, 19:25, 22:25)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Belgium – Germany 1-3 (22:25, 25:19, 23:25, 19:25)

| Pool 6 – Week 2 – Ljubljana 🇸🇮
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Ukraine – Canada 3-1 (25:19, 25:23, 18:25, 25:23)
📸| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Brazil – Italy 1-3 (19:25, 23:25, 25:22, 23:25)
📸| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

👉🏼 Pool 4 – Week 2 – Orléans 🇫🇷
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Iran – Japan 2-3 (19:25, 19:25, 25:20, 25:23, 12:15)
• 20.30 (Local Time) | Serbia – Cuba 3-1 (25:19, 13:25, 25:23, 25:22)

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Japan 16
2. Ukraine 16
3. USA 15
4. Italy 13
5. Serbia 12
6. Slovenia 11
7. Brazil 11
8. Poland 11
9. Türkiye 9
10. Bulgaria 9
11. Germany 9
12. Belgium 9
13. France 6
14. Argentina 6
15. Canada 6
16. Iran 6
17. China 4
18. Cuba 2