FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2026:
Tricky tests await Iran in preliminaries
Iran has been drawn into a challenging pool alongside Brazil, Bulgaria, Argentina, Serbia, and Belgium for Week 1 of the FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League 2026, which will start on June 10 in Brasília.
The full fixtures list for this year’s competition is yet to be announced by the sport’s international governing body.
Iran was beaten in straight sets by South American heavyweight Brazil in its VNL opener last year – also played in Brasília – but concluded the preliminary phase with a 3-0 win against World Championship finalist Bulgaria.
Iran also played Argentina and Serbia in the previous edition, winning 3-1 on both occasions, before defeating the latter in a five-set thriller in the World Championship round of 16 last September.
The second week of action, from June 24-28, will see Iran visit Orléans, France, where Roberto Piazza’s men will be joined by the host and reigning Olympic champion France, Japan, the United States, Cuba, and Serbia once again.
Iran and Serbia are also in the same pool in the third and final week of the preliminary round – starting July 15 in Belgrade – alongside Slovenia, Türkiye, Germany, and Ukraine.
The top eight teams from the preliminary 18-team standings will progress to the VNL Finals, which will start in Ningbo Beilun, China, on July 29, though China is already guaranteed a place in the quarterfinals as the host.
Iran will be looking to take inspiration from a decent run of results under Piazza in the Italian’s first year in charge as they chase a first last-eight spot in four years at the annual prestigious tournament.
Iran will aim to build on a promising first year under Piazza by securing its first quarterfinal berth in four years at the prestigious annual tournament. After finishing in the bottom three in the two editions prior, Iran staged a late surge in the 2025 preliminaries to place eighth, earning six wins in 12 matches. However, Piazza’s team ultimately missed out on a place in the Finals, as China’s host status granted them a quarterfinal spot despite the Asian side finishing second from bottom.
The momentum from some impressive VNL performances – which included victories over Ukraine, Argentina, and the Netherlands – carried into the World Championship in the Philippines, where Iran advanced to the quarterfinals, before suffering a 3-1 setback against the surprise package of the showpiece event, Czechia.