Iran to play Brazil in friendly double-header before VNL
The Iranian men’s national volleyball team will face Brazil in a friendly double-header ahead of the upcoming Volleyball Nations League (VNL), the Iranian Volleyball Federation has announced.
The two games – scheduled for June 2 and 4 – will be part of Iran’s week-long preparation at the Brazilian national team’s training camp in Socorro. The arrangement has been facilitated by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and the Brazilian governing body of the sport, amid the Iranian team’s urgent circumstances due to military tensions in the Middle East.
Iran will get its VNL campaign underway against the South American powerhouse in Brasília on June 10. The two sides also met on the opening day of last year’s annual event in the Brazilian capital, with the hosts emerging victorious in straight sets.
Tricky tests will come thick and fast in Week 1 of the preliminaries for Italian head coach Roberto Piazza’s men. They 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 will then travel to Orléans, France, for the second week of action, starting with a mammoth 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).
The third and final week of the preliminaries will see Iran go head-to-head with Ukraine in Belgrade on July 15, with further tests against Germany (July 16), Slovenia (July 17), and Turkey (July 19).
The top eight teams in the 18-team standings will progress to the VNL Finals, which will begin in Ningbo Beilun, China, on July 29. China is already guaranteed a place in the quarterfinals as the host nation.
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 the Asian team a quarterfinal spot despite finishing second from bottom.