Iran to open VNL campaign against Brazil
Iran will begin its 2026 Men’s Volleyball Nations League campaign against Brazil in Brasília on June 10.
Volleyball World announced the full match schedule for the annual flagship event on Friday, with 18 teams learning their paths in the preliminary round.
Iran and Brazil also squared off in their VNL opener last year in the Brazilian capital, with the South American powerhouse emerging victorious in straight sets.
Tricky tests will come thick and fast in Week 1 for Italian head coach Roberto Piazza’s men, who will take on Bulgaria — finalists at last September’s World Championships — on June 11, before facing Argentina and Belgium later in the week at the Nilson Nelson Gymnasium.
Iran also played Argentina and Bulgaria in last year’s edition, defeating the former 3-1 before concluding the preliminary phase with a straight-sets win against the European powerhouse.
Iran will then visit Orléans, France, for the second week of action, starting with a daunting task against the hosts and reigning Olympic champions France at the CO’Met Arena on June 24. This will be followed by matches against the United States (June 25), Japan (June 26) and Cuba (June 28).
Iran’s game against France will be a repeat of last year’s preliminary encounter, which the European heavyweights comfortably won in straight sets. Meanwhile, Iran squandered a two-set lead to fall to the United States in a five-set thriller in Brasília.
The third and final week of the preliminaries will see Roberto Piazza’s men go head-to-head with Ukraine in Belgrade on July 15, with further tests against Germany (July 16), Slovenia (July 17) and Türkiye (July 19).
Iran will again be looking to make amends for last year’s preliminary setbacks, having suffered defeats against both Germany and Slovenia.
The top eight teams in the 18-team standings will progress to the VNL Finals, which begin in Ningbo Beilun, China, on July 29. Hosts China are already guaranteed a place in the quarterfinals.
Iran will aim to build on a promising first year under Piazza by securing its first quarterfinal berth in four years at the prestigious tournament. After finishing in the bottom three in the two previous editions, Iran staged a late surge in the 2025 preliminaries to place eighth with six wins from 12 matches. However, Piazza’s team ultimately missed out on the Finals, as China’s host status secured them a quarterfinal spot despite the Asian side finishing second from bottom.
Momentum from several impressive VNL performances carried into the World Championship in the Philippines, where Iran advanced to the quarterfinals before suffering a 3-1 defeat to surprise package Czechia.