AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental Championship:
Japan the team to beat as Iran eyes Olympic berth
There will be much more on the line than a fifth title in eight editions when Iran gets its AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental Championship campaign underway against New Zealand in Fukuoka, Japan, on Friday.
With the champion qualifying for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, the Asian event provides Italian head coach Roberto Piazza’s side with the most realistic shot at securing a place in the sporting extravaganza, compared with next year’s World Championship in Poland – where the top three will qualify – or the three remaining berths through the FIVB World Rankings.
Piazza’s men will still face a daunting task at the upcoming showpiece, as Japan will be the heavy favorite to secure back-to-back titles on home soil.
Having dominated men’s volleyball on the continent for the best part of the 2010s and the early years of the following decade, Iran has been dethroned by Japan in recent years, comprehensively falling short against its Asian foe in the previous four meetings between the two sides, including a straight-set defeat in the 2023 Asian Championship final in front of the home crowd in Urmia.
The two sides last squared off in the Volleyball Nations League in June, with Japan emerging victorious in five sets in Orléans, France, as part of a 12-game winning run in the preliminary phase.
Iran will still look to take inspiration from that meeting after fighting back from two sets down to force the game into a decider, having been swept in straight sets by the Japanese in the previous three encounters.
The Asian Championship could also play a defining role in Piazza’s future with the Iranian national team.
When the Italian was appointed to the role on a 2+2-year contract midway through 2024, he said he had set his sights on securing “a constant place among the top eight teams in the world” with Iran.
Piazza delivered on that objective to some extent in his first year in charge, as Iran recovered from a shaky start to finish eighth in the preliminary standings of the 2025 VNL and then reached the World Championship quarterfinals later in the year.
The second year of his tenure has been anything but successful.
The young, new-look Iranian team managed just three victories in 12 preliminary outings to finish 14th in the 18-team table, leaving Piazza and his side under massive scrutiny ahead of the Asian Championship. Despite Iranian Volleyball Federation chairman Milad Taqavi throwing his support behind the Italian on several occasions in recent weeks, anything but the ultimate prize in Fukuoka may well lead to a premature end to his time with the Iranian national team.
A run of poor friendly results in the buildup to the continental event, meanwhile, added to concerns among Iranian fans. The team was beaten by Russia and Belarus either side of a three-set win against Cuba at the Ufa Cup, before losing twice to Russian club Dynamo Moscow.
Piazza, however, will be thrilled to have Amin Esmaeilnejad available again, after the prolific opposite missed the World Championship and this year’s VNL campaign with an ankle injury.
Friday’s opener for Iran will be followed by a game against India on Sunday, before a final Pool B fixture against China next Wednesday.
Japan, meanwhile, will open its Pool A campaign against Oman, followed by potentially tricky tests against Bahrain and Australia.
Qatar, which won bronze in 2023, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Thailand complete the field in Pool C.
The top two teams in each of the three pools will be joined by the two best third-placed teams in the quarterfinals.
The following is Iran’s 14-man roster for the Asian Championship:
Arshia Behnejad, Ilshan Davoudipour, Issa Nasseri, Nima Bateni, Mohammad Valizadeh, Ali Hajipour, Amin Esmaeilnejad, Morteza Sharifi, Pouria Hosseinkhanzadeh, Ali Haqparast, Esmaeil Mosafer, Mobin Nasri, Mohammadreza Hazratpour and Hossein Hajikalateh.