VNL 2026

Bulgaria take revenge from Italy, strip them of world’s number one status

In a remake of the World Championship final, the Balkan team achieves its first-ever VNL victory over this opponent

Published 02:35, 24 Jun 2026

Bulgaria (BUL) vs. Italy (ITA) - Pool 6 - Preliminary Phase #109065033

Bulgarian teen star Moni Nikolov in action against Italy

The Ljubljana pool of the second competition week in the men’s Volleyball Nations League 2026 started off with a bang! In a remake of last year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, Bulgaria not only got back at Italy with a tie-breaker win, not only stripped them of their world’s number one team status, but also registered a historic success by defeating this opponent for the first time in the VNL and actually for the first time in official competition since 2015.

Watch the Volleyball Nations League 2026 on VBTV

In Wednesday’s rollercoaster battle in Slovenia, the Bulgarians won this southern European clash by 3-2 (18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 19-25, 15-9), improving to a 3-2 win-loss record and 8 points, which places them seventh in the current VNL standings. Italy are still in third place on 3-2 and 10. As many as 11.32 FIVB World Ranking points switched hands following this result and that cost the Italians their number one spot in the chart, as they dropped back down below Poland, from whom they took it away during the first competition week of VNL 2026. Bulgaria climbed up two positions, to number eight.

The Lions showed a solid teamwork game and outperformed the opponents in both attack by 53-44 in spike kills and net defense by 15-12 in kill blocks. 22-year-old outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov, the best scorer of the World Championship and currently of VNL 2026, led the way with a match-high 19 points, including two kill blocks. His 19-year-old brother, setter Simeon Nikolov, had a strong performance too, and not only helped his other four attackers reach the double digits as well, but also contributed nine points himself, of which three serving aces, five successful swings and one kill block.

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Outside Martin Atanasov chipped in with 14 points, including two aces and two blocks. Opposite Asparuh Asparuhov added another 13, including the match winner, while middle blockers Iliya Petkov (three blocks, two aces) and Aleks Grozdanov (five blocks) finished with 10 points each.

“This win means a lot! We had some difficult moments last tournament. We also had to fix, let’s say, the mental part. To start like this in the second tournament is amazing and I’m so happy!” Bulgarian captain Grozdanov told VBTV. “The team is amazing, the spirit is amazing – fingers crossed that we keep it! I am so happy to be part of all of this!”

Italy put up quite a fight. They actually outdid their opponents in serving by 12-8 in aces and made only 26 unforced errors, eight fewer than those on the other side of the net. Opposite Kamil Rychlicki authored four of those aces to tally up a team-high 18 points, including two blocks. Middle Giovanni Sanguinetti’s great game resulted in 13 points, while outsides Luca Porro (three aces) and Mattia Bottolo put away 10 points each.

“It was a very difficult game. We are happy with this game and this 3-2 against an amazing team like Bulgaria,” said Italian outside hitter and captain Daniele Lavia. “I am very happy to be here in this amazing atmosphere, and we will see what happens in the next games.”