Japan survive five-set battle with Iran to stay unbeaten and top VNL table

Japan survived a tie-breaker scare against Iran to stay undefeated in the men’s Volleyball Nations League 2026 and take over the top of the current VNL standings, while Ukraine continued their impressive victorious march in Ljubljana and ascended to second place in the table.

• Watch the Volleyball Nations League 2026 on VBTV

In Friday’s opening match in Orleans, Iran wiped out a two-set deficit against Japan to push their match to a fifth-set resolution, but the Asian team persevered through the tie-breaker to celebrate a 3-2 (25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 23-25, 15-12) victory, their sixth in sixth matches played in VNL 2026. As the only team still unbeaten in the competition, they surged to the first place in the table on a 6-0 win-loss record and 16 points. Iran improved to 6 points, but are still third from the bottom, in 16^th place on 1-6.

Japan outplayed Iran mainly with their excellent offense. The team registered an impressive overall 66% success rate in attack. Their outside hitter and captain Yuki Ishikawa was the best scorer of the match with 22 points, including an ace. His cross-court teammate Ran Takahashi contributed another 19, including two aces and a block, as well as the match winner. Middle blocker Larry Ik Evbade-Dan (five stuffs) and opposites Kento Miyaura and Yuji Nishida, who split their time on the court, finished with 15, 15 and 13 points, respectively.

“I think we played well,” Ran told VBTV. “Maybe we lost our concentration after the second set and this was a problem. But we bounced back in the final set and we won – this was important for us.”

21-year-old outside Ali Haghparast was Iran’s leading scorer with 19 points. Captain Morteza Sharifi fired three aces and raised two kill blocks to finish with 16 points. Opposite Mobin Nasri signed off with 13 points, while middle blocker Seyed Eisa also reached the double digits with 12.

Ukraine scored their third consecutive win in Ljubljana and rose to the second place in the table on 5-2 and 16. They put together a 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 18-25, 25-23) victory over Canada. The North Americans are in 15^th place on 1-5 and 6. Opposite Vasyl Tupchii led the way with a match-high 20 points – 18 spike kills at a 55% success rate and two kill blocks. Middle blocker and captain Yurii Semeniuk put away three kill blocks and an ace to finish with 10 points. Outside hitter Oleh Plotnytskyi added 17 points to match those of Canada’s leading scorer, opposite Xander Ketrzynski.

Italy bounced back from the two consecutive losses with a big win over Brazil in Ljubljana. With a match-high 20 points, including four kill blocks and two aces, from 22-year-old opposite Alessandro Bovolenta and another 19 points from Mattia Bottolo, they celebrated a 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23) victory and rose to fifth place on 4-3 and 13, leaving Brazil in seventh on 4-2 and 12, right on the edge of the qualification zone for the Finals in China. Outside hitter and captain Ricardo Lucarelli was Brazil’s most prolific scorer of the match with 14 points.

Serbia lined up right between Italy and Brazil in the current standings, taking sixth place on 4-2 and 12, after a 3-1 (25-19, 13-25, 25-23, 25-22) win over Cuba in Friday’s closing match, played in Orleans. The squad from the Caribbean is still struggling to find the way to its first win and continue to trail bottom, in 18^th place on 0-7 and 2. Outside Lazar Marinovic led the winners with a match-high 18 points, while opposite Pavle Peric chipped in with another 14. Middle and captain Aleksandar Nedeljkovic shined with four kill blocks and is now just another four away from the 100 milestone in the VNL. Cuban outside Miguel Lopez put away a team-high 15 points.

The match between European neighbors Germany and Belgium in Gliwice also took four sets and went 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19) the way of Germany. Opposite Yann Bohme produced a team-high 18 points for the winners, assisted by outsides Erik Rohrs with 17 and Tobias Brand with 14. Two Belgian players – 22-year-old outside Pierre Perin and 22-year-old opposite Ferre Reggers – shared the top scorer honors of the match with 23 points apiece. Germany and Belgium are neighbors in the standings as well, in 11^th place on 3-3 and 9, and in 12^th place on 3-4 and 9, respectively, separated on set ratios.

Argentina achieved their second win since the start of the competition, beating Finals hosts China by 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-22) in Gliwice on Friday, and climbed to 14^th place in the table on 2-4 and 6. The Asian team fell to 17^th place on 1-6 and 4. Outside hitter Luciano Vicentin was the only player to reach the double digits in scoring. He contributed 15 points, all in swings at a 65% success rate.

Argentina requested to play the match with black armbands in honor of Argentinian volleyball legend Daniel Castellani, who passed away on Thursday.

On Saturday in Ljubljana, Bulgaria will meet Canada before hosts Slovenia entertain Brazil. In Gliwice, hosts Poland will open the day with a match against Germany, then Turkiye will take on Argentina. The Orleans program includes the matches between USA and Japan and between France and Serbia. Action serves off at 16:30 local time (14:30 UTC).

VNL 2026 schedule and results
VNL 2026 ticket information

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