After three intense weeks of Preliminary Phase matches, only the eight best men’s national teams of the Volleyball Nations League 2024 remain alive in the race for the title and it will all come down to four days of action in Łódź, Poland, from Thursday to Sunday, when the VNL Finals will take place.
VNL 2024
Łódź welcomes the volleyball elite for the VNL Finals
Split between Thursday and Friday, the quarterfinals open the final round in Poland
Published 09:00, 25 Jun 2024
Captain Yuki Ishikawa and his Japanese teammates will face Canada in the quarterfinals
- Watch Volleyball Nations League 2024 live on VBTV
The quarterfinals come first and they will begin with the duel between Japan and Canada, on Thursday, at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT). Three hours later, defending champions Poland will meet Brazil. On Friday, world champions Italy and Olympic champions France battle at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT). The fourth and last semifinalists will emerge from the match involving Slovenia and Argentina, which is set to start at 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT).
SEE YOU AT THE MEN’S VNL FINALS! 🔥
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) June 24, 2024
These 8 teams will compete from June 27-30 in Łódź, Poland 🇹🇭 to battle for VNL glory!
🤯 QUARTERFINALS:
June 27
Japan 🇯🇵 🆚 🇨🇦 Canada
Poland 🇵🇱 🆚 🇧🇷 Brazil
June 28
Italy 🇮🇹 🆚 🇫🇷 France
Slovenia 🇸🇮 🆚 🇦🇷
🤯 SEMIFINALS: June 29
🏆… pic.twitter.com/kdrCXuU3WI
Japan aiming for another Final Four appearance
The bronze medalists of last year’s VNL, Japan will meet Canada, who are set to compete in the Finals for the first time, in the first quarterfinal duel. The Asians were the fourth-best team in the Preliminary Phase with nine wins (25 points) and had star opposite Yuji Nishida as their leading scorer with 149 points. The Canadians were fifth with eight victories (23 points) and had outside hitter Stephen Maar ranking third in points in the VNL with 211 and Luke Herr appearing in second in successful sets with 280. Japan won three of the last five matches between the teams, but Canada triumphed in the most recent one, prevailing in five sets on June 18, in Manila, during the Preliminary Phase.
Poland and Brazil meet in a rematch of last year’s quarterfinals
Reigning VNL champions Poland will be at home to defend the title they won last year and their campaign in the Finals will start against Brazil, the same opponents they faced in the quarterfinals in 2023. The top team in the FIVB World Rankings, the Polish had the second-best record in the Preliminary Phase despite heavily rotating their squad, getting ten wins (29 points) – outside hitter Aleksander Śliwka was their leading scorer with 69 points. Brazil qualified for the Finals on the last day of the Preliminary Phase, ending in seventh place with six wins (21 points), and had opposite Darlan de Souza as their top scorer with 143 points and middle Flavio Gualberto appearing in second place among the blockers with 30 stuffs. After four straight Polish victories, Brazil triumphed 3-1 in the second week of the Preliminary Phase, in Fukuoka.
World and Olympic champions to clash on Friday
Friday’s schedule in Łódź will begin with a continental derby reuniting world champions Italy and Olympic champions France. Pushed by 94 points from star outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto, the Italians ranked third in the VNL Preliminary Phase with nine wins (27 points). The French were sixth with eight wins (23 points) and had opposite Jean Patry as their leading scorer with 137 points and libero Jenia Grebennikov ranking third in digs in the VNL with 87. Following France’s 3-2 victory in the second week of the VNL 2024, in Ottawa, the recent record between the two European powerhouses has three Italian wins and two French triumphs.
Slovenians looking to continue in top form
Just a few days after qualifying for the Olympics for the first time, Slovenia will try to continue their great form in the VNL 2024 against Tokyo Olympic medalists Argentina. The Slovenians were the best team in the Preliminary Phase with 11 wins (28 points) and had several individual standouts, including opposite Tonček Štern – second in points (212) and aces (27) -, setter Gregor Ropret – first in successful sets (302) – and libero Jani Kovačič – second in digs (91) and passes (65). Their Argentinean opponents were eighth in the Preliminary Phase with six wins (18 points) and had middle Agustin Loser top the blocking charts (32) and libero Santiago Danani lead in digs (113). Besides their good form, Slovenia also have a positive recent record against the South Americans, having won the last four encounters, including the one held last week, in the Preliminary Phase, in their homecourt in Ljubljana.
Following the conclusion of the quarterfinals on Friday, the VNL Finals will progress with the semifinals on Saturday, at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT) and 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT). The medal matches will take place on Sunday at the same times, with the contest for bronze taking place first and the dispute for gold coming up later.
Before the start of the VNL Finals, the city of Łódź will host another major event, the Drawing of Lots for the Paris Olympics. It will take place on Wednesday, June 26, at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT), and it will be streamed live on Volleyball World's YouTube channel.
