Poland, Slovenia and Italy Secure VNL Finals Places
Poland, Slovenia and Italy qualified for the VNL Finals, leaving Bulgaria, Türkiye and Ukraine to fight for the final two places.
Poland, Slovenia and Italy secured their places in the 2026 Volleyball Nations League Finals after important victories on Saturday.
Defending champions Poland recovered from losing the opening set to beat Olympic champions France 3–1 in Chicago. Bartłomiej Bołądź led the match with 18 points, while Wilfredo León and Kamil Semeniuk added 13 each.
Slovenia qualified with a 3–1 victory over Türkiye in Belgrade. Nik Mujanović scored 27 points for the winners, while Adis Lagumdzija finished with the same total for Türkiye.
Italy booked their place by defeating Argentina 3–0 in Osaka. Yuri Romanò led the world champions with 15 points, while captain Simone Giannelli moved beyond 100 career VNL blocks.
Bulgaria also strengthened their qualification chances by beating USA 3–1. Aleksandar Nikolov produced 32 points in the victory.
Japan, Poland, Slovenia, USA and Italy are guaranteed to finish inside the top seven and will join hosts China at the Finals. Bulgaria, Türkiye and Ukraine will compete for the remaining two places on Sunday.
Excerpt
