Eight of the world’s strongest men’s volleyball national teams - Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Iran, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States – have arrived in Manila to delight the Filipino fans with their matches in competition week three of the men’s 2024 Volleyball Nations League Preliminary Phase, at the end of which all the participants in next week’s VNL Finals in Lodz, Poland will be known. With six of these teams already booked for the Paris 2024 Olympics and one running a distant shot at qualifying, the spotlights in Manila will fall mainly on the heated race for the berths in the VNL quarterfinals.
VNL 2024
Manila welcomes eight strong teams as race for VNL Finals heats up
Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Iran, Japan, Netherlands and USA to play their third VNL competition week in the Filipino capital
Published 02:02, 17 Jun 2024
Fantastic ambience in the Philippines for the Japan v Netherlands game in VNL 2023
- Watch Volleyball Nations League 2024 live on VBTV
Among these eight teams, reigning Olympic champions France have the best shot at qualifying for the Finals as they are placed the highest in the current VNL standings. Occupying the fourth place on a 6-2 win-loss record and 17 points, the hosts of the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris will start their week on Wednesday at 15:00 local time (07:00 UTC) with a game against another team already qualified for the Games, Germany. The French will then take on Iran on Friday, Japan on Saturday and Brazil on Sunday, hoping to secure their place among the best eight, who will advance to the quarterfinals.
Another Paris-bound team, Japan, stand right below France in the table, in fifth place on 6-2 and 16, and are also likely to book a ticket to Lodz by the end of the week in Manila. They will first meet Canada on Tuesday at 20:30 (12:30) and then they will take on the Netherlands on Friday, France on Saturday and USA on Sunday.
Also on a positive balance of 5-3 and 16, Brazil are currently in sixth place and well within reach of a spot at the Finals. Already qualified for Paris 2024, the South Americans will focus on positioning themselves as best as possible in the bracket for Poland and that will depend on their results in Manila this week. They will face the Netherlands in the Pool 6 opening match on Tuesday at 17:00 (09:00), and then meet USA on Thursday, Canada on Friday and France on Sunday.
Yet another squad looking forward to appearing at this summer’s Olympic Games, Canada, will be able to concentrate their efforts on qualifying for the VNL Finals. They are next down the current standings, in seventh place on 4-4 and 13, but just a point above eighth-placed Cuba and ninth-placed Argentina. To stay above the cut-off for Lodz, the North Americans will look for victories in their matches against Japan on Tuesday, against Germany on Thursday, against Brazil on Friday and against the Netherlands on Saturday.
WARM WELCOME FOR TEAM GERMANY 🇩🇪
— Volleyball Philippines (@volleyball_phi) June 16, 2024
Local fans greeted Team Germany upon their arrival for the Philippine round of #VNL2024! With the team's management, fans organized a warm welcome with Filipino goodies. What a great start to an exciting week of volleyball!
Photo: Kimberly Pauig pic.twitter.com/6u0ImjtCTV
Germany are currently slightly below the red line for the Finals, in 11th place on 3-5 and 9, but certainly with a good shot at making it to Lodz. They will start their week against France on Wednesday and continue with games against Canada on Thursday, against USA on Saturday and against Iran on Sunday.
It will be interesting to watch the team of the United States this week. They sent their B squad to compete during the first competition week, when they started with three defeats, but finished the week off with a win. With their Olympic squad stepping in for week two, the Americans registered two wins and two losses to climb to 12th place, on 3-5 and 9, behind the Germans on set ratio. If the team find their rhythm and do well in their matches in Manila, they have a reasonable chance of advancing to the Finals. USA will open their week three campaign on Wednesday at 19:00 (11:00) against Iran, before facing tough games against Brazil on Thursday, against Germany on Saturday and against Japan on Sunday.
Also on 3-5 and 9, the Netherlands are in 13th place. Whether they will streamline their efforts on the distant shot at qualifying for Paris or on progressing to the VNL Finals, the Dutch will need as many wins as possible to achieve either of these goals. They are second in line below the Olympic cut-off in the FIVB World Ranking, but the teams to surpass, Serbia and Cuba, are well over 30 points above in the chart. However, a 3-0 upset of Brazil in their opening match in Manila on Tuesday, for example, would bring the Dutch a solid 16.19 ranking points, which would cut that distance in half. They will also play against Iran on Thursday, Japan on Friday and Canada on Saturday.
Iran are the clear underdogs in the pool. They are the only winless team in VNL 2024, trailing in the table on 0-8 and 2, but still holding a mathematical shot at the Finals in Lodz.
Meanwhile in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, the other eight VNL 2024 participants – Argentina, Bulgaria, Cuba, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Türkiye and hosts Slovenia – will engage in the Pool 5 battles.
The VNL Preliminary Phase features three competition weeks per gender, with each of the 16 teams playing 12 matches. The seven best-ranked national teams in the Preliminary Phase will join hosts Poland for the Finals, which will be held in Lodz from June 27 to 30.
