Top-ranked Brazil and hosts Japan lead VNL contenders in Chiba

Volleyball Nations League 2025 leaders Brazil will lead a group of six national teams this week in Chiba, Japan, as they try to qualify for the tournament’s Finals, which are going to be held in Ningbo, China, from July 30-August 3.

Also looking to secure a spot in the decisive stage of the seventh edition of the VNL, hosts Japan, Argentina, Germany, Türkiye and the United States will all be in action at the Chiba Port Arena, one of the three venues of the last week of the Preliminary Phase, where 12 matches will be held from Wednesday to Sunday.

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At the start of the week, Brazil, which lead the VNL 2025 with seven wins and 20 points, Japan, which are fourth, with five wins and 15 points, and Argentina, which rank seventh with five wins and 13 points, are all inside the qualification zone for the Finals.

Germany are the first team outside the qualification zone, appearing in eighth place with four wins and 15 points, while the United States are not too far behind, in 13^th, with four wins and ten points. Türkiye, which are 16^th with two wins and six points, still have slim chances of qualifying, but are perhaps more actively fighting to avoid relegation at this point.

The only team in the VNL 2025 to get to seven victories so far, Brazil are in a comfortable position to qualify – they need a pair of wins in Chiba this week to seal the deal regardless of other results. The firepower of star opposite Alan Souza, which earned them 97 points so far in the VNL, has been one of the team’s main strengths in the tournament alongside the solid play of Fernando ‘Cachopa’ Kreling, the tournament’s leading setter with 275 successful actions, and libero Maique Nascimento, who ranks second in digs (64). The South Americans could have a significant addition to their squad this week as star outside hitter Ricardo Lucarelli could finally make his VNL 2025 debut in Japan.

"The atmosphere in our team has been really good," Lucarelli said. "Being the oldest player in the team now, it's been great to see everyone working together. We're happy with what we've done so far, but it's not enough. This is going to be a tough week and we want to show our best game again."

The fourth-best team in the VNL 2025 so far, Japan will count on the support of their fans to make it over the line and return to the Finals after taking silver last year. Pushed by the tremendous production of opposite Kento Miyaura, who got 117 points across the first two weeks, the Asians have been doing well in the tournament, but they should be even stronger in Week 3 with the expected debuts of star outside hitters Yuki Ishikawa and Ran Takahashi.

"I think this is the toughest pool of the VNL this year," head coach Laurent Tillie said. "Brazil are in a great spot to qualify, and there are four other teams here fighting to do the same, so it should be interesting. I'm excited to have my top players back as well, even if they may still lack a little bit of rhythm. I'm sure they will do their best for the team."

Argentina enter the week holding onto the last spot inside the qualification zone for the Finals and will try to continue inside the bubble after their four matches in Japan. New faces in the team’s starting lineup this season, libero Jan Martínez, who leads the VNL in digs with 69, and setter Matías Sánchez, who’s second among the setters (227), have been performing at a very high level on head coach Marcelo Méndez’s team. The Argentineans will be able to count on two Tokyo Olympic medalists for the first time in the season, as opposite Bruno Lima and libero Santiago Danani were incorporated into the squad ahead of the trip to Chiba.

"Time difference is a big thing every time we play in Japan, but I know we'll be ready for our first match against Brazil," outside hitter Luciano Palonsky added. "It's going to be a tough week, but we're hoping for the best. I thought we could have won at least two more matches over the first two weeks, but we also won some tough ones, which took us to the place we are right now."

Germany should be the main threat to Argentina’s qualification as the Europeans have one less win, but two points more than the South Americans. The top scorer of the VNL 2025 with 153 points, opposite Filip John has been on fire for the Germans, while libero Leonard Graven, who’s second in serve-receive (58) and sixth in digs (58), leads their backcourt efforts. The team could get even stronger offensively if veteran opposite Georg Grozer returns for Week 3, as it appears to be the case.

"We're looking at this week match by match," setter Jan Zimmermann revealed. "There are four teams with four victories right now, so it's going to be hard for us to make it to the Finals. We believe we'd need three victories to qualify and we'll try to get them. We have a difficult first match against Japan, but we're hoping for a good start."

Even though they’re currently six spots outside the qualification zone, the United States only need a few results to go their way for them to get into the mix. Relying mostly on young players to represent them in the VNL 2025, the Americans have outside hitter Cooper Robinson as their most productive player in the tournament so far, with 90 points scored. With ten aces registered, opposite Gabi Garcia ranks sixth in serving.

"We have a young group this season and we've mixed lineups almost every match," setter Micah Ma'a reflected. "And the good part is that everyone is excited. We've used each stop as a checkpoint to build some momentum throughout the summer, and hopefully, we can make it to the VNL Finals. It's been fun to be a part of this group, and we're excited to compete for a spot in the final eight."

Making their second-straight VNL appearance, Türkiye want to secure their spot in the 2026 edition of the tournament this week. Outside hitter Efe Mandiraci has been a standout in the team’s campaign, leading their offense with 111 points and ranking third in aces in the VNL with 13. Setter Murat Yenipazar is the fifth-best player in his position, having registered 183 successful actions up to now. Available to compete in Chiba after missing the first two weeks of the VNL, opposite Adis Lagumdžija hopes to bring new energy to the team this week.

"It's good to be back with the team," the opposite commented. "I'm looking forward to helping the team accomplish its goals in the VNL. Things didn't go as planned for us so far, but I hope we can change things now and level up our game. This is going to be the most difficult week in the VNL for us, but we'll try to do our best. We know we can play really good volleyball, so now we need to learn how to compete at the highest level."

First matches on Wednesday

The action will get going in Japan on Wednesday, when the first three matches of the week will be held. South American rivals Brazil and Argentina will play in the first of them, scheduled for 12:00 local time (3:00 GMT), with Türkiye and the USA following at 15:30 (6:30 GMT) and Germany and Japan ending the day at 19:20 (10:20 GMT).

The next three days will have two matches each, starting at 15:30 (6:30 GMT) and 19:20 (10:20 GMT). Türkiye vs. Germany and Argentina vs. Japan are the duels scheduled for Thursday, Argentina vs. USA and Brazil vs. Japan will be held on Friday and Türkiye vs. Brazil and Germany vs. USA will take place on Saturday.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

Completing the weekend on Sunday will be Türkiye vs. Argentina at 11:00 (2:00 GMT), Germany vs. Brazil at 14:30 (5:30 GMT) and USA vs. Japan at 19:20 (10:20 GMT).

The third and last week of the VNL Preliminary Phase will also have matches held in Gdańsk, where hosts Poland will be with Bulgaria, China, Cuba, France and Iran, and Ljubljana, where Slovenia will share the court with Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia and Ukraine.

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