Last week of 2026 VNL started in Belgrade – a very important win for Slovenia, Ukraine down Iran and Türkiye stun the hosts!

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The third and last week of the Preliminary Phase of Volleyball Nations League 2026 starts today in three cities across the world – Osaka (Japan), Belgrade (Serbia) and Chicago (USA) – hosting a total of 36 matches, which will determine the final standings but also the top seven teams who will
play the quarterfinals in Ningbo together with hosts China.

In the day’s opener, Slovenia achieved an extremely important victory in the battle for a ticket for the Final Eight of.
Fabio Soli’s team defeated Germany 1-3 (17:25, 17:25, 25:23, 26:28) to record their seventh success in nine matches without major problems in first two sets, dominating in all elements.
Germany managed to re-open the game after winning the third set, and the fourth set offered a dramatic outcome. The Germans saved several match points, but in the end, Slovenia closed the match with an exciting 28:26.
Interestingly, Slovenia achieved the success without libero Jani Kovačič and opposite Tonček Stern, who missed the match due to minor injuries.
The most prolific player for the winners was Nik Mujanović who left the court with 29 points including three aces and four blocks, while Rok Možič added another 26 including two of each. For Germany, Erik Röhrs finished with 22 points, and Tobias Brand scored 11.

Meanwhile, Ukraine recorded their sixth win in this year’s Nations League, after deteating Iran 3-1 (25:22, 25:21, 29:31, 25:19). Thus, Raul Lozano’s team solidified its position in the battle for a spot into the finals.
The Ukrainians started strong and controlled the first two sets thanks to excellent blocking, serving, and good play from Oleh Plotnytskyi, Iliya Kovalov, and Yurii Semeniuk, claiming a 2-0 lead.
The third set was the most contested and, in a dramatic finish, Iran prevailed 31-29 after two consecutive successful blocks.
In the fourth set, Ukraine finally broke their opponent. At 16:14, Vasyl Tupchii made an impressive series of four consecutive aces, with which the team pulled away to 20:14 and effortlessly closed the match at 25:19.
Kovalov was the top scorer for the winners with 22 points, while Plotnytskyi added 16.
Iran’s leading scorer, Poriya Khanzadeh, had to be carried off the court after an awkward landing following a back-row attack.
We’re hoping it’s nothing serious and wish him a speedy recovery.

Close the picture an unexpected 0-3 (23:25, 19:25, 18:25) win of Türkiye over hosts Serbia.
However, Serbian middle blocker Aleksandar Nedeljkovic reached an important milestone during this match as, during the third set, he raised his 100th career kill block in the VNL, also emerging as his team’s best scorer of the game! Türkiye, on the other hand, made a solid back-up to their intentions to reach the VNL Finals for the first time in history!
With that result, they improved to a 6-3 win-loss record and 17 points in sixth place, keeping their spot in the qualifying zone of the current standings for now. The winners outplayed Serbia in all elements, especially in serving with five aces against none. Three of those were authored by the top scorer of the match, opposite Adis Lagumdzija, who finished with a total of 18 points.
His younger brother, outside hitter Mirza, added another 13, and the two added two blocks each.

“It was incredible to win here against Serbia on their home court. We had a great game, both as a team and individually,” Mirza Lagumdzija told after the game.
“It’s wonderful to play here. We have three more games left. We are hoping to win at least two and we are hoping to make the final eight. Since we had a new coach last year, he installed in us a mentality to go for the win in every game, no matter whom we play against. So, big thanks to him!”

Aleksandar Nedeljkovic led Serbia with 11 points with an impressive 91% success rate in attack, including the coveted one kill block that put him right on the 100 VNL record.
Interestingly, he became the second Serbian player in history to reach that milestone, after the legendary Marko Podrascanin, who has 102 VNL blocking points! Outside hitter Veljko Masulovic also reached the double digits, with 10 points, all in attack.

The action here in Belgrade will continue tomorrow with other two games: Iran will face Germany, while Serbia will play against Ukraine in the evening.

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

— Wednesday | July 15, 2026—

| Pool 9 – Week 3 – Osaka 🇯🇵
• 12.00 (Local Time) | Canada – Argentina 2-3 (26:24, 25:22, 23:25, 13:25, 17:19)
• 15.30 (Local Time) | Belgium – Cuba 0-3 (23:25, 19:25, 20:25)
• 19.20 (Local Time) | Japan – Italy 3-2 (24:26, 25:19, 25:20, 23:25, 15:12)

👉🏼 Pool 7 – Week 3 – Belgrade 🇷🇸
• 13.00 (Local Time) | Germany – Slovenia 1-3 (17:25, 17:25, 25:23, 26:28)
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Ukraine – Iran 3-1 (25:22, 25:21, 29:31, 25:19)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Serbia – Türkiye 0-3 (23:25, 19:25, 18:25)

| Pool 8 – Week 3 – Chicago 🇺🇸
• 12.00 (Local Time) | Bulgaria – Poland 0-3 (19:25, 17:25, 17:25)
• 16.00 (Local Time) | France – Brazil 0-3 (23:25, 23:25, 19:25)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | USA – China 3-0 (25:19, 25:23, 25:20)

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Japan 22
2. USA 22
3. Poland 20
4. Ukraine 19
5. Slovenia 17
6. Türkiye 17
7. Italy 17
8. Brazil 16
9. Bulgaria 14
10. Germany 12
11. Serbia 12
12. France 10
13. Argentina 9
14. Belgium 9
15. Iran 9
16. Canada 9
17. Cuba 5
18. China 4

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🏐| NEXT GAMES

— Thursday | July 16, 2026—

| Pool 9 – Week 3 – Osaka 🇯🇵
• 15.30 (Local Time) | Belgium – Italy
• 19.20 (Local Time) | Japan – Canada

| Pool 7 – Week 3 – Belgrade 🇷🇸
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Iran – Germany
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Serbia – Ukraine

| Pool 8 – Week 3 – Chicago 🇺🇸
• 16.00 (Local Time) | China – France
• 20.00 (Local Time) | USA – Brazil

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