Defending VNL champions Poland find their rhythm to stay undefeated at home in Gliwice

After a somewhat shaky start to the defense of their Volleyball Nations League title during the first competition week of the men’s 2026 edition, Poland capitalized on the home court advantage in Gliwice to gradually find their rhythm and go through the entire second competition week undefeated, with which they not only regained control of the number one spot in the FIVB World Ranking, but also climbed to third place in the current VNL standings, just below Japan and the United States, who also had a very successful VNL week.

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Poland’s start to the second competition week itself was also somewhat shaky. After finishing the first week in China with three consecutive five-setters, they added another two in their first two games in Gliwice to keep the home fans on their toes and extend their “tie-breaker” run to five matches in a row. In their home opener, the Poles even lost the first two sets to VNL rookies Belgium and had to mount a furious comeback to start off on a positive note. The next day, Turkiye pushed the defending champions to a tie-breaker, which the home team won. Germany also forced Poland to look for a comeback, but only from a set down, on the way to a four-set victory. So did Argentina by winning a record-breaking first-set saga that lasted 98 rallies and went 50-48 the South Americans’ way before Poland could restore the order by winning the next three sets. Well over 11 thousand fans attended each of Poland’s two weekend matches and created a fantastic atmosphere in support of the home team. With this, coach Nikola Grbic’s squad improved to a 6-2 win-loss record and 17 points to occupy third place in the table before the deciding third competition week.

For Japan, who went through the first week undefeated, the second was not an easy week either. After starting the week in Orleans off with a four-set win over Serbia, the Asian team persevered through three back-to-back five-setters and managed to stay undefeated and gain control of the top of the table on 8-0 and 20. In their second match of the week, Japan overcame a spirited Iran, who came back from two sets down to force a tie-breaker. Then, there was the big match with the United States, who were also having a very successful week. Twice in that game, Japan had to come back from a set down before winning the fifth-set decider by the narrowest of margins. And then, on Sunday, in front of a roaring crowd of over eight thousand home fans, Japan survived a two-set deficit and three opponent match points in the fourth set against two-time back-to-back Olympic champions France to overcome the home team with a spectacular reverse sweep.

Other than that tie-breaker loss to Japan, the Americans registered three three-point victories in Orleans, shutting out Cuba and Iran, and beating Serbia in four sets, which lifted them to second in the standings on 6-2 and 19, and to number three in the World Ranking.

Slovenia stand in fourth place on 6-2 and 14. They started their home-court week in Ljubljana with three wins - they beat Canada in four sets, then they survived a five-set battle to upset 2025 FIVB World Championship runners-up Bulgaria, and crowned that streak with a shiny shutout of Brazil, before falling to Italy in four sets on Sunday.

Last year’s VNL rookies Ukraine had an even more remarkable week to rise to fifth place on 5-3 and 16. They opened their program in Ljubljana with a stunning 3-1 victory over Brazil, handing the mighty South Americans their first defeat of the season. Star outside hitter Oleh Plotnytskyi played his first match for Ukraine after a long absence from the national team. As if to prove that that was not an accidental win, on the following day Ukraine mastered another shocker, a convincing straight-setter against reigning world champions Italy. Then it was no surprise to anyone, when the Ukrainians beat Canada in four sets to register their third consecutive win in the Slovenian capital. On Sunday, however, Bulgaria put an end to Ukraine’s winning streak with a four-set victory.

Bulgaria also spoiled the start of the week for Italy. In a remake of last year’s World Championship final, Bulgaria not only got back at Italy with a 3-2 win, not only stripped them of their World Ranking 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. The Italians were then stunned by Ukraine as well, but bounced back with important four-set victories over Brazil and Slovenia to finish the week in sixth place on 5-3 and 16.

The last spot above the cut-off line for the Finals in China is currently held by Turkiye. During the week, they mastered straight-set wins over China and Belgium, mounted a reverse sweep of their game with Argentina, and pushed Poland to five sets to climb to seventh place on 5-3 and 14, followed by Bulgaria on set ratios and Brazil by a point.

Germany, Serbia and France, on 4-4 each, are next down the table – all well within reach of the quarterfinal spots. Belgium are in 13^th place on 3-5, followed by Iran and Argentina on 2-6 each.

Canada stand 16^th on 1-7, above China on points, but dangerously close to the relegation spot, which is currently occupied by winless Cuba, trailing in 18^th place on 0-8.

The deciding third competition week in the men’s VNL will offer another 36 matches, split among Osaka in Japan (Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Cuba, Italy and Japan), Belgrade in Serbia (Germany, Iran, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkiye and Ukraine) and Chicago in the United States (Brazil, Bulgaria, China, France, Poland and USA) from July 15 to 19.

VNL 2026 schedule and results
VNL 2026 ticket information

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