Star-studded field of players foretells spectacular men’s VNL season

The excitement around the start of the new national team season in international volleyball is turning further up a notch with the revealing of the 30-player team lists for the upcoming men’s Volleyball Nations League, now published on the VNL competition website.

The anticipation is over and volleyball fans can now find out who is in and who is out at the VNL 2026 men’s teams page (the rosters are subject to eligibility verification to be conducted by the FIVB).

The number one team in the FIVB World Ranking – defending VNL champions Poland – are bringing back 13 of the 14 players that won that dominant final over Italy in Ningbo last August, including MVP Jakub Kochanowski and Dream Teamers Wilfredo Leon and Kewin Sasak. The only absence is that of Bartosz Bednorz, while the new roster spotlights the return of captain Aleksander Sliwka.

The world’s number two team – reigning world champions and VNL 2025 runners-up Italy – have also enlisted 13 of the 14 athletes that earned the world title in the Philippines last September. Missing from the roster is Simone Anzani, who retired from the national team after the World Championship, but the list features Philippines 2025 MVP Alessandro Michieletto, who was out during the last several weeks of the Italian SuperLega due to injury. Daniele Lavia is back too, after skipping the World Champs because of an injury. World Championship Dream Teamers Simone Giannelli, Yuri Romano and Fabio Balaso also highlight the Italian lineup for VNL 2026.

The roster of last year’s bronze medalists and number three in the World Ranking Brazil is highlighted by the return of 2016 Olympic champion Douglas Souza, who has not played for the national team since five years ago. VNL 2025 Dream Team libero Maique Reis Nascimento is also among the many stars on coach Bernardo Rezende’s list.

Another VNL 2025 Dream Teamer, Jan Kozamernik, is also set for a VNL 2026 appearance with Slovenia, who finished fourth last year. He is in the company of many of the team’s experienced warriors, including captain Tine Urnaut and even 40-year-old Alen Pajenk.

With a very young squad, Bulgaria was the pleasant surprise of the 2025 World Championship, reaching the final and claiming the silver. It is no surprise that the entire pack of 14 players who achieved that feat are coming back hungry for more, led by the talented Nikolov brothers, Simeon and Philippines 2025 Dream Teamer and top scorer Aleksandar. Another Aleks, also a Dream Teamer – middle blocker Grozdanov – will lead the Lions as the team captain.

Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic champions France, who failed to make any podiums last year, will try to change that in 2026 with a rejuvenated squad in the notable absence of two-time Olympic MVP Earvin Ngapeth and a number of other distinguished internationals, at least for their VNL campaign. Still, the French roster features as many as six Olympic champions to lead the team to success – captain Antoine Brizard, Nicolas Le Goff, Stephen Boyer, Theo Faure, Trevor Clevenot and Yacine Louati.

The name of two-time Olympic bronze medalist Matthew Anderson shines on the United States roster, along with a number of other well-seasoned stars like Erik Shoji, Micah Christenson or Paris 2024 Dream Teamer Taylor Averill, to name a few.

The iconic trio of Yuji Nishida, Ran Takahashi and captain Yuki Ishikawa will once again be the core of the Japanese national team in its attempt to get back on the VNL podium after a year’s absence.

All the other participating teams will be highlighted by star players like Argentina’s Luciano De Cecco and Agustin Loser, Belgium’s Sam Deroo and Ferre Reggers, Canada’s Stephen Maar and Eric Loeppky, China’s Jiang Chuan and Qu Zongshuai, Cuba’s Robertlandy Simon and Miguel Lopez, Germany’s Gyorgy Grozer and Jan Zimmermann, Iran’s Amin Esmaeilnezhad and Amirhossein Esfandiar, Serbia’s Marko Ivovic and Nikola Jovovic, Turkiye’s Adis Lagumdzija and Efe Madiraci, or Ukraine’s Oleh Plotnytskyi and Yurii Semeniuk, among many others.

The current lists of 30 players per team are final. For the participation in each competition week of the VNL, a team lineup of 12-14 players and up to four reserve players is selected among the 30.

VNL 2026 schedule
VNL 2026 ticket information

• Watch the Volleyball Nations League 2026 on VBTV

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