The Volleyball Nations League got this year's international season started. Enjoy this look back at some of the highlights of the competition.
VNL 2022
Looking back: Men’s VNL 2022 in pictures
Published 08:00, 24 Dec 2022
Southern European neighbours Serbia and Bulgaria met in Ottawa for the opening match of VNL 2022
In the biggest upset of the first competition week, China shut out Brazil in Brasilia
Poland were still reigning world champions when a young Italian squad managed to beat them in Canada
USA celebrated four victories in Brasilia to remain the only undefeated team in the competition after week one
In a hard-fought five-setter in Quezon City, Nimir Abdel-Aziz played a key role in the Netherlands’ win over Argentina - he went on to become the tournament’s best scorer, spiker and server
Japan’s Yuji Nishida scored five aces towards a five-set win over Italy in the Philippines
Amin Esmaeilnezhad led Iran to a 3-0 victory over USA in Sofia, handing the Americans their first defeat of the competition
Bartosz Kurek was the man of the day as Poland also beat USA to collect a full set of four wins from week two in the Bulgarian capital
Argentina surprised Olympic champions France with a 3-1 win in Osaka, but it was not enough to qualify for the Finals
The Polish fans packed the week three venue in Gdansk...
... but the home favourites were stunned by Iran in a spectacular five-setter
Italy cruised through four victories in Gdansk to top the Preliminary Phase standings
The United States dethroned defending champs Brazil 3-1 in the first quarterfinal in Bologna
Hosts Italy started the Finals with a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over the Netherlands
Jean Patry led France to a straight-set quarterfinal win over Japan
Poland and Iran put together another five-set thriller, this time the European side came out on top to advance to the semis
Torey Defalco aced six times in USA’s shutout of Poland in the first semifinal
France were merciless in disappointing the home crowd with a 3-0 semifinal victory over Italy
Poland’s captain Bartosz Kurek rejoiced at the end of a victorious bronze medal match against Italy
Earvin Ngapeth broke loose when it mattered most in the five-set final against USA, to claim a historic gold and the MVP award
