VNL 2026: last week in Belgrade continues – Türkiye won a dramatic game vs. Ukraine, straight sets win for Slovenia and ticket for Finals!

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The third and last week of the Preliminary Phase of Volleyball Nations League 2026 continued 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, undefeated Japan and USA, that claimed their tickets yesterday.

Here in Serbia, reverse sweep done!
Türkiye claimed a massive victory in the race for the VNL Finals, edging out Ukraine via a reverse sweep: 25:27, 20:25, 25:23, 25:16, 15:11
With the win, Türkiye improves to 7-3, strengthening its bid for a Finals berth, while Ukraine drops to 6-5, putting its qualification hopes under increasing pressure.
Turkiye’s opposite Adis Lagumdzija and Ukraine’s outside hitter Illa Kovalov split the match top scorer honors with 18 points each.

Meanwhile, also Slovenia punched its ticket to the Finals after defeating Iran in a hard-fought straight-set battle: 27:25, 25:19, 26:24.
With the victory, Slovenia improves to 8-2, officially securing its place in the Finals in Nigbo, China.
Meanwhile, Iran drops to 3-8.
Slovenian outside hitter Rok Mozic lead his team with a match-high 19 points, including five blocks and an ace, while Opposite Ali Hajipour (Haji) was Iran’s top scorer with 11 points.

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

— Friday | July 17, 2026—

| Pool 9 – Week 3 – Osaka 🇯🇵
• 13.00 (Local Time) | Cuba – Argentina 3-2 (17:25, 25:19, 22:25, 25:21, 15:12)
• 19.20 (Local Time) | Japan – Belgium 3-0 (25:20, 25:22, 25:16)

👉🏼 Pool 7 – Week 3 – Belgrade 🇷🇸
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Türkiye – Ukraine 3-2 (25:27, 20:25, 25:23, 25:16, 15:11)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Iran – Slovenia 0-3 (25:27, 19:25, 24:26)

| Pool 8 – Week 3 – Chicago 🇺🇸
• 16.00 (Local Time) | China – Bulgaria 1-3 (25:22, 14:25, 20:25, 20:25)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Brazil – Poland 0-3 (22:25, 26:28, 19:25)

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Japan 27
2. USA 25
3. Poland 23
4. Slovenia 20
5. Türkiye 19
6. Italy 20
7. Ukraine 20
8. Bulgaria 17
9. Brazil 16
10. Serbia 15
11. France 13
12. Germany 13
13. Iran 11
14. Argentina 10
15. Belgium 9
16. Cuba 7
17. Canada 10
18. China 4

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🏐| NEXT GAMES

— Saturday | July 18, 2026—

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

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

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

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