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Article wrote by Ivan from Chicago for Volleytimes, please respect his job.
Third and last week of the Preliminary Phase of 2026 Volleyball Nations League continued today in three cities, Osaka (Japan), Belgrade (Serbia) and here in Chicago (USA), with a total of 36 matches, which will determine the standings but also the other seven teams who will play the quarterfinals in Macao with hosts China, already qualified Japan and USA.
Bulgaria achieved an extremely important 3-1 (22:25, 25:14, 25:20, 25:20) victory over China in their second match of the third week in Chicago.
After losing the first set, Gianlorenzo Blenginiβs side dominated the net until the end of the match, recording their sixth success in the tournament.
Coach Blengini made one change to the starting lineup compared to the first match against Poland, Denislav Bardarov instead of Martin Atanasov.
After losing first set, Alex Nikolov scored four consecutive aces early on second set, giving his team a 6:1 lead. The Bulgarians completely controlled the events on the court, extended their lead with more strong serves from Alex Grozdanov and Iliya Petkov, and without any problems equalized after a convincing 25:14.
In the third set, Bulgaria started stronger again, but China managed to turn the score to 9:7. Bulgaria again reacted excellently, turning the tide of the set with a serving run by Alex Nikolov, several strong blocks, and aces from Simeon Nikolov and Zhasmin Velichkov, eventualy closing the contest 25:20.
The fourth set was the most contested at the beginning. China took a 7:5 lead, but Bulgaria quickly equalized, and then, with an excellent series of blocks and attacks through Denislav Bardarov, Preslav Petkov, and Alex Nikolov, built up a 16:12 advantage and never looked back. Until the end, completely controlled the game and ended the contest 25:20.
Nikolov was the top scorer for the winners with as many as 28 points (including 64% attack efficiency, 4 aces, and 1 block), while Asparuh Asparuhov and Denislav Bardarov added 15 points each. Setter Simeon Nikolov also contributed with 7 points.
In the evening in Chicago, or in European night, Poland made a huge step towards participating in the Nations League Finals after convincingly beating Brazil 3-0 (25:22, 28:26, 25:19). With this success, Nikola Grbicβs side recorded their eighth victory, accumulated 23 points, and climbed to third place in the standings, just two points behind second-placed USA, while Brazil remains ninth with 6 wins, 4 losses, and 16 points, seriously complicating their battle for qualification to the final tournament. The Seleção has one more match remaining against China.
The first two sets were hard-fought, but in the decisive moments, the Poles showed stronger nerves and closed the sets with 25:22 and 28:26. After that, the third set proceeded entirely under their dictation, and after 25:19, they sealed the final 3:0.
The top scorers for Poland were Kamil Semeniuk and Tomasz Fornal with 13 points each, while for Brazil, Darlan and Lucarelli finished with 12 each.
Poland did not dominate in attack but compensated with excellent serving, effective blocking, and more stable reception. These elements proved decisive for the final result over one of their direct competitors.
The victory also brought 6.47 points for the FIVB world ranking. Poland now has 388.71 points and extended their lead at the top. Italy remains second with 363.37 points, and Russia, which was recently reinstated in the world ranking, is third with 352.10 points. Brazil lost 6.47 points and remains seventh with 310.20 points.
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π| FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2026 | Games of the day
β Friday | July 17, 2026β
| Pool 9 β Week 3 β Osaka π―π΅
β’ 13.00 (Local Time) | Cuba β Argentina 3-2 (17:25, 25:19, 22:25, 25:21, 15:12)
β’ 19.20 (Local Time) | Japan β Belgium 3-0 (25:20, 25:22, 25:16)
| Pool 7 β Week 3 β Belgrade π·πΈ
β’ 16.30 (Local Time) | TΓΌrkiye β Ukraine 3-2 (25:27, 20:25, 25:23, 25:16, 15:11)
β’ 20.00 (Local Time) | Iran β Slovenia 0-3 (25:27, 19:25, 24:26)
ππΌ Pool 8 β Week 3 β Chicago πΊπΈ
β’ 16.00 (Local Time) | China β Bulgaria 1-3 (25:22, 14:25, 20:25, 20:25)
β’ 20.00 (Local Time) | Brazil β Poland 0-3 (22:25, 26:28, 19:25)
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π| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Japan 27
2. USA 25
3. Poland 23
4. Slovenia 20
5. TΓΌrkiye 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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π| NEXT GAMES
β Saturday | July 18, 2026β
| Pool 9 β Week 3 β Osaka π―π΅
β’ 13.00 (Local Time) | Canada β Cuba
β’ 19.20 (Local Time) | Argentina β Italy
| Pool 7 β Week 3 β Belgrade π·πΈ
β’ 16.30 (Local Time) | TΓΌrkiye β Slovenia
β’ 20.00 (Local Time) | Serbia β Germany
| Pool 8 β Week 3 β Chicago πΊπΈ
β’ 16.00 (Local Time) | France β Poland
β’ 20.00 (Local Time) | USA β Bulgaria
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