VNL 2026

Poland and USA to determine VNL 2026 champions in remake of 2023 final

Japan and Slovenia to open Sunday’s last competition day with a battle for the bronze

Published 06:31, 01 Aug 2026

USA (USA) vs. Poland (POL) - Pool 8 - Preliminary Phase #115593999

Poland outplayed USA in straight sets in their VNL 2026 meeting in Chicago

The men’s Volleyball Nations League Finals in Ningbo Beilun, China are set to peak on Sunday, when the 2026 champions will emerge and all the podium spots will be distributed. First, Japan and Slovenia will battle it out in the bronze medal match. Then, the United States and Poland will lock horns in the gold medal showdown, a remake of the VNL 2023 final.

Watch the Volleyball Nations League 2026 on VBTV

The grand VNL finale between USA and defending champions Poland is set to serve off at 19:30 local time (11:30 UTC) on Sunday.

The United States finished fifth in the final Preliminary Phase standings on an 8-4 win-loss record and 25 points. On Thursday, they produced a spectacular 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21) quarterfinal shutout of last year’s silver medalists and reigning world champions Italy to move on to the semifinals. On Saturday, they handed Japan their first loss of the season in a hard-fought 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-13) semifinal and advanced to the VNL final for the fourth time in history. However, the Americans have never won the VNL, but they have picked up three silvers (2019, 2022, 2023), in addition to a 2018 bronze. Last year they did not make it to the Finals and finished in 12^th place. Their last podium at a world-level event was achieved at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where they earned bronze. With Saturday’s semifinal results, the United States surpassed both Slovenia and Japan in the FIVB World Ranking and climbed from number six to number four.

Poland are the reigning VNL champions and the world’s number one team. They have won the VNL twice – in 2023 and in 2025. In 2021, they took silver. They also have three bronze medals in their collection – from 2019, 2022 and 2024. So, they have already secured their seventh consecutive VNL podium presence, out of a total of eight VNL editions. Poland are also silver medalists of the last Olympic Games and bronze medalists of the last World Championship. They took second place in this year’s Preliminary Phase, on 10-2 and 29, and then, they managed to get past Ukraine in a 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 25-17) quarterfinal win on Thursday and past Slovenia in a 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-17) semifinal sweep on Saturday.

USA and Poland have met 51 times at major international competitions. The Europeans have won 29 of these matches, while the Americans have celebrated the victory 22 times. All of the most recent five of these encounters were won by Poland, starting from the four-set victory in the VNL 2023 final, including the five-set thriller in a Paris 2024 Olympic semifinal, and ending with this year’s 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-19) sweep of their July 19 VNL game in Chicago. In the VNL alone, the head-to-head record between these two teams stands at 7-4 Poland’s way.

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Sunday’s bronze medal game between Japan and Slovenia at the Ningbo Beilun Sports and Arts Centre will get underway at 15:40 local time (07:40 UTC). It will be a battle between the number five and the number six teams in the FIVB World Ranking.

Until Saturday, Japan were the only undefeated team in this year’s VNL. They topped the Preliminary Phase on 12-0 and 30, and then, knocked out Finals hosts China in a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23) comeback in one of Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Their first defeat, however, came in the semifinals, after a five-set duel with the United States. Japan have collected two medals in the VNL so far – a 2023 bronze and a 2024 silver. Last year, they failed to get past the quarterfinals, where they were stopped by champions-to-be Poland.

It will be the fourth (third consecutive) time Slovenia play in the VNL bronze medal match. In all three previous cases, they lost and finished in fourth place, so they are yet to claim their first VNL medal. This season, Slovenia took third place in the Preliminary Phase on 10-2 and 26. In the opening quarterfinal in Ningbo on Wednesday, they persevered through an epic battle against Turkiye and celebrated a 3-0 (25-21, 35-33, 39-37) victory, but then fell to Poland in a three-set semifinal on Saturday.

Japan and Slovenia have met 11 times so far and the head-to-head record stands at 8-3 Japan’s way. The Asian team has won the most recent seven of these encounters, including the 3-1 (25-27, 25-16, 25-22, 25-22) turnaround in a VNL 2026 game in China on June 14. Overall, the two sides have had seven VNL meetings, with Slovenia winning only the first one back in 2021, which was the last time they managed to beat this opponent in any competition.