VNL 2026: Italy sweep Belgium, hosts Japan survive to Canada in second day of last week in Osaka!

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The third (and last) competition week of the Preliminary Phase in the Volleyball Nations League 2026 starts today with three cities across the world – Osaka in Japan, Belgrade in Serbia and Chicago in the United States – hosting a total of 36 matches, which will finalize the standings as well as the top seven teams to the quarterfinals in Ningbo along with hosts China.
Each of the 18 participating teams will play another four games this week, while the match schedule in each of the three pools features three games on Wednesday, two each on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and another three on Sunday.

After a tie break defeat against hosts Japan in their debut in Osaka, World champion Italy achieved a convincing 0-3 (20:25, 22:25, 22:25) victory over Belgium.
The success was the sixth for Ferdinando De Giorgi’s team, which now has 20 points in the standings, while Belgium remains in 14th position for now with 3 wins and 9 points.
The Italians controlled the entire match and did not allow their opponent to put them under serious pressure. Only in the third set the Belgians manage to stay in contention until 22:22, but in the decisive rallies, Italy showed greater resilience to close the match in three sets.
The most effective player for the winners was middle blocker Pardo Mati with 13 points to his name, while Yuri Romano added 12, and Mattia Bottolo also contributed with 11.
For Belgium, Ferre Reggers finished with 14 points, closely followed by Simon Plaskie with 13.
In their next two matches, Italy will face Argentina and Cuba, and successes will be crucial for qualification for the Final Eigh in Nigbo, China.

MORE TO FOLLOW

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

— Thursday | July 16, 2026—

👉🏼 Pool 9 – Week 3 – Osaka 🇯🇵
• 15.30 (Local Time) | Belgium – Italy 0-3 (20:25, 22:25, 22:25)
• 19.20 (Local Time) | Japan – Canada 3-2 (18:25, 24:26, 29:27, 25:19, 15:11)

| 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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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Japan 24
2. USA 22
3. Poland 20
4. Italy 20
5. Ukraine 19
6. Slovenia 17
7. Türkiye 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 10
17. Cuba 5
18. China 4

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🏐| NEXT GAMES

— Friday | July 17, 2026—

| Pool 9 – Week 3 – Osaka 🇯🇵
• 13.00 (Local Time) | Cuba – Argentina
• 19.20 (Local Time) | Japan – Belgium

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

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

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