AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental 2026

Japan and Iran on to continental final, book World Cup berths

Watch the AVC Men's Volleyball Asian Championship, an Olympic and a World Cup qualifier, live on VBTV

Published 12:21, 12 Sept 2026

Japan (JPN) vs. Korea (KOR) - Semifinals #124159457

Japan’s Yuki Ishikawa in attack against Korea

Japan and Iran lived up to the pre-tournament expectations and reached the final of the AVC Men's Volleyball Asian Championship in Fukuoka. Securing a top-three finish, they also booked their tickets to the 2027 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Cup in Poland. The third continental ticket will go to the winner of Sunday’s bronze medal match between Australia and Korea, while the new Asian champion will also qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games men’s volleyball event. The tournament is streamed live and on demand on VBTV.

Watch the AVC Men's Volleyball Asian Championship on VBTV

In Saturday’s first semifinal in Japan, Australia pushed Iran to a four-set match, but in the end, it was the western Asian team that celebrated a 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 25-17, 25-22) victory. 22-year-old outside hitter Poriya Khanzadeh, with three aces to his name, and opposite Ali Hajipour (Haji), with a 63% success rate in attack, shared the top scorer honors of the match, each contributing 20 points to Iran’s success. The team’s other outside, Morteza Sharifi, added another 13 points, including three aces and a kill block. Australian counterpart Lorenzo Pope led his team with 18 points, including two blocks, while opposite Lincoln Alexander Williams signed off with 16, including two blocks and two aces.

In front of over six and a half thousand fans in the stands in Fukuoka, hosts Japan took out Korea in emphatic straight sets, 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-14), to snatch the second berth in Sunday’s gold medal showdown. This time, Japan’s outside and captain Yuki Ishikawa led the team as the most prolific scorer of the match, putting away 15 points, including three aces and a block. He registered a 65% success rate in offense. His cross-court teammate Ran Takahashi delivered two aces and two kill blocks to finish with 14 points. Opposite Yuki Nishida produced 10 points, all in swings at a 71% success rate. Korea’s best scorer, outside Subong Heo, finished with six points.

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Sunday’s last competition day will serve off at 15:30 local time (06:30 UTC) with the third-place duel between Korea and Australia and will peak with the big final between Japan and Iran set to get underway at 19:30 (10:30).