Brazil with Gabi ready to face full-force Turkiye in Istanbul

Unbeaten Turkiye are ready to delight the home fans in Istanbul this week as they will enter the second competition week of the women’s Volleyball Nations League in full force. Coach Daniele Santarelli has summoned the brightest stars of the team for the battles in Pool 4 by the Bosporus. The week in Istanbul will be highlighted by the home team’s clash with Brazil, reinforced with none other than their iconic captain Gabriela Guimaraes (Gabi). Canada, the Dominican Republic, Belgium and Korea are the other four teams to compete in Turkiye this week, listed here in the order of their positions in the current VNL standings.

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Each of these six teams will play four matches in Istanbul this week. The daily programs for Wednesday and Sunday feature three games each, while Thursday, Friday and Saturday will offer two matches a day.

The most anticipated duel of the pool, between Turkiye and Brazil, is set to take place on Sunday at 19:30 local time (16:30 UTC) and will be the closing match of the week in Istanbul.

2023 VNL champions and three-time medalists Turkiye did not reach the 2024 VNL semifinals for the first time in the competition’s history. Eager to compensate for that setback, they stormed the 2025 edition with four consecutive victories in competition week one. Playing in Beijing, they started off with three-point wins over France and Thailand and followed up with tie-breaker victories over mighty Poland and China to emerge in third place at the end of the week on a 4-0 win-loss record and 10 points as only one of three undefeated teams in the league. For the second competition week, the squad will be joined by some of the country’s brightest stars like scoring machines Melissa Vargas and Ebrar Karakurt, outstanding middle blocker Zehra Gunes, leading setter Cansu Ozbay, or stable liberos Simge Akoz and Gizem Orge, which means coach Santarelli really means business this week in front of the home fans.

Amazingly, Brazil have never won the VNL. However, they have reached three consecutive finals to add three silvers to their tally. Last year they failed to make the podium and finished fourth. Playing at home, in Rio de Janeiro, during the first competition week of the new season, they started with 3-0 wins over Czechia and USA. Then, they persevered to win a five-set duel with Germany, but finished the week with a straight-set defeat at the hands of defending champions Italy, and in fifth place in the standings on 3-1 and 8. Now the squad has been joined by the country’s brightest star Gabi, ready to boost the team’s performance in the important upcoming matches.

There are another 11 exciting matches to be played in Istanbul before Sunday’s big one between Turkiye and Brazil. The competition will serve off on Wednesday at 12:30 (09:30) with a game between Canada and Korea. The North Americans stand in 11^th place on 2-2 and 4, after celebrating five-set wins over Bulgaria and reigning world champions Serbia during the first week at home in Ottawa, but also failing to claim any points against the Netherlands and Japan. The Asian team is still winless at the bottom of the table with one point, which they earned in a five-set duel with VNL rookies Czechia in Rio. The Koreans did not win any sets against Germany, Italy or USA.

In the second match on opening day in Istanbul, Brazil will take on Belgium at 16:00 (13:00). The western European side arrives in Turkiye as the 14^th-placed team in the current standings, on 1-3 and 3. Two weeks ago in Beijing, they beat Thailand in four sets, but lost to China, France and Poland.

Hosts Turkiye are set to open their home campaign with Wednesday’s game against the Dominican Republic starting at 19:30 (16:30). The Caribbean Queens are in 12^th place on 2-2 and 4. They started the season with a 3-2 upset of Serbia in Ottawa. Then, they lost to Bulgaria in four sets, beat the Netherlands in five, and lost to Japan in three.

The VNL Preliminary Phase features three competition weeks, with each of the 18 teams playing a total of 12 matches. The eight best-ranked national teams in the Preliminary Phase will qualify for the Finals, which will be held in Lodz, Poland from July 23 to 27, with the host country already with a guaranteed spot.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

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