VNL 2026: Poland to Finals! Bulgaria stun already qualified USA
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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 Nigbo with hosts China, from July 29 to August 2, already qualified Japan, USA, Slovenia and now also Italy and Poland!
Geeat Saturday for European sides,
with Poland, Slovenia and Italy are guaranteed among the seven best teams in the Preliminary Phase, while Bulgaria, Türkiye and Ukraine fight for the last two spots!
Playing in Chicago this week, Poland needed to win only one set against Olympic champions France on Saturday to qualify, but they went beyond, also taking the match 3-1 (17:25, 25:22, 25:21, 25:18) after dropping the first set.
Opposite Bartlomiej Bołądź topped all scorers with 18 points including four blocks, while outside hitters Wilfredo León and Kamil Semeniuk scored 13 each. Not a good news for France, as for first time in history, France will not play the VNL Finals!
In European night, or in U.S. evening, Bulgaria took a huge step towards qualifying for the Final Eight. Gianlorenzo Blengini’s side defeated hosts USA 1-3 (25:27, 25:24, 24:26, 18:25) in their third match of the tournament in Group 8 and climbed to 6th place in the provisional standings.
The match offered an exceptionally high level and many thrilling great moments, with the winners who showed resilience in key situations, snatching the first and third sets after tense finishes, and completely outplaying the Americans in the fourth part.
The first set featured constant turnarounds.
After the USA led by three points several times, the Bulgarians invariably found a way to come back. At 25:25, Iliya Petkov recorded an ace, and then Aleksandar Nikolov finished an important counter-attack for 26:25, with which Bulgaria closed the set at 27:25.
The Americans managed to equalize the score after capitalizing on several Bulgarian errors at the end of the second set. Bulgaria overcame a four-point deficit and even led 21:20 after an ace by Aleksandar Nikolov, but the hosts won the last rallies and equalized at 25:22.
The third set proved decisive for the outcome of the match. Bulgaria controlled much of it, but the USA managed to turn it around to 21:19. It was then that a new strong run by Bulgaria, followed with an excellent block, stable serve, and an impeccable Aleksandar Nikolov in attack. Bulgaria won 26:24 after a monster block by lliya Petkov.
And then they completely dominated the fourth set. After 10:10, a series of excellent serves and blocks followed, and they never looked back, putting down a decisive 21:14, until they convincingly closed the match with a clear 25:18.
The winners made the difference in blocking, with an impredsive 14:5, while Aleksandar Nikolov was once again the
man of the match scoring an impressive 32 points, including 3 aces and 2 blocks. Asparuh Asparuhov added 12 points, Denislav Bardarov finished with 10, Aleks Grozdanov scored 9, and Iliya Petkov and Simeon Nikolov left the court with 6 and 5 points respectively. For the USA, the top scorers were Jake Hanes with 19 and Matt Anderson with 17 points.
And with this result, also Brazil will not compete in Final 8 for the first time in history!
The last day of the VNL 2026 Preliminary Phase, on Sunday, will have a full schedule of nine matches, with three taking place in each host city.
In Osaka Belgium and Canada starting the day at 12:00 local time (3:00 GMT), Cuba and Italy following at 15:30 (6:30 GMT) and Japan and Argentina closing the day at 19:20 (10:20 GMT).
In Belgrade, Türkiye and Iran face off at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT), Ukraine and Germany will face each others at 16:30 (14:30 GMT) and Serbia and Slovenia will meet at 20:00 (18:00 GMT).
Chicago will have China and Brazil playing at 12:00 local time (17:00 GMT), Bulgaria and France facing eanch others at 16:00 (21:00 GMT) while, in the very last game of VNL Preliminary Phase, already qualified United States and Poland will close the picture at 20:00 (3:00 GMT, Monday).
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🏐| FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2026 | Games of the day
— Saturday | July 18, 2026—
| Pool 9 – Week 3 – Osaka 🇯🇵
• 13.00 (Local Time) | Canada – Cuba 0-3 (22:25, 21:25, 27:29)
• 19.20 (Local Time) | Argentina – Italy 0-3 (22:25, 22:25, 22:25)
| Pool 7 – Week 3 – Belgrade 🇷🇸
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Türkiye – Slovenia 1-3 (22:25, 25:20, 21:25, 23:25)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Serbia – Germany 2-3 (25:21, 28:26, 16:25, 18:25, 13:15)
👉🏼 Pool 8 – Week 3 – Chicago 🇺🇸
• 16.00 (Local Time) | France – Poland 1-3 (25:17, 22:25, 21:25, 18:25)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | USA – Bulgaria 1-3 (25:27, 25:24, 24:26, 18:25)
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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Japan 27
2. Poland 26
3. Slovenia 23
4. USA 25
5. Italy 23
6. Bulgaria 20
7. Türkiye 19
8. Ukraine 20
9. Brazil 16
10. Serbia 16
11. Germany 15
12. France 13
13. Belgium 12
14. Iran 11
15. Argentina 10
16. Cuba 10
17. Canada 10
18. China 4
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🏐| NEXT GAMES
— Sunday | July 19, 2026—
| Pool 9 – Week 3 – Osaka 🇯🇵
• 12.00 (Local Time) | Belgium – Canada
• 15.30 (Local Time) | Cuba – Italy
• 19.20 (Local Time) | Japan – Argentina
| Pool 7 – Week 3 – Belgrade 🇷🇸
• 13.00 (Local Time) | Türkiye – Iran
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Ukraine – Germany
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Serbia – Slovenia
| Pool 8 – Week 3 – Chicago 🇺🇸
• 12.00 (Local Time) | China – Brazil
• 16.00 (Local Time) | Bulgaria – France
• 20.00 (Local Time) | USA – Poland
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