2025 Volleyball Nations League:
Iran to embark on new era against Brazil, USA
A new chapter will begin for Iranian volleyball when the men’s national team takes on Brazil in their 2025 Volleyball Nations League opener on June 11 next year.
The annual tournament will be the first event for Italian head coach Roberto Piazza on Iran’s bench, who signed a four-year contract in September to take over from Brazilian Mauricio Paes.
Paes was sacked midway through the VNL campaign in the summer after only seven games in charge, with his number two Payman Akbari serving as the interim coach for the remainder of the preliminary round as Iran finished second from bottom in the 16-team table.
A second outing for Iran in Rio de Janeiro will come against USA, followed by games against Slovenia – VNL semifinalist in June – and Ukraine in Week 1 of the preliminaries.
Iran will head to Belgrade, Serbia, for Week 2 of the competition, starting with an encounter against the host on June 25.
Piazza’s side will then play Argentina and Germany before the Italian reunites with his former team, the Netherlands, in the Serbian capital on June 29.
The third and the final week of the preliminary phase in Gdańsk, Poland, will see Iran square off against European powerhouses Poland (July 16) and France (July 19), who met in the Olympic final in August, either side of an all-Asian battle against China.
Iran will hope to be in contention for a place in the VNL Finals when going head-to-head with Bulgaria in their final Week 3 game on July 20.
The top eight teams of the preliminary-round table will progress to the VNL Finals – starting with the quarterfinals on July 30 – with the host city yet to be announced by the FIVB, the international governing body of the sport.
When Piazza was appointed to the role, the Italian said his primary objective would be “a constant place among the top eight teams in the world” for Iran, with his ultimate goal being “a successful run at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.”
Sitting 15th in the latest FIVB World Ranking, Iran spent the best part of the 2023 season in the top 10, with the previous stint in the top eight coming during the 2022 World Championship, where then-coach Behrouz Ataei’s men made it to the last 16 before being knocked out by Brazil.
Iranian fans will hope the Italian will put a lid on the country’s dire run of results over the past two years, including dreadful campaigns in back-to-back Nations League events, failure to secure an Olympic quota, and a comprehensive defeat against Japan on home soil in last year’s Asian Championship final.
A second major event for Piazza will be September’s World Championship in the Philippines, where Iran is drawn in Pool A – also featuring the host nation, Egypt, and Tunisia.