2026 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League
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| 2026世界男排联赛 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host nation | China |
| City | Ningbo (final round) |
| Dates | 10 June – 2 August |
| Teams | 18 (from 4 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 10 (in 10 host cities) |
| Official website | |
| Volleyball Nations League | |
The 2026 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League will be the eighth edition of the FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League, an annual men's international volleyball tournament. It will be held from 11 June to 3 August 2026, with the final round to take place at the Beilun Gymnasium in Ningbo, China.[1]
Following the results of the 2025 Nations League, the Netherlands were relegated and replaced by Belgium as the highest-ranked non-VNL team in the FIVB World Rankings.
In January 2026, the FIVB announced that China would host the Men's VNL Finals. Ningbo was selected to host the Men's Finals for the second consecutive year, following the 2025 edition.[2]
Qualification
The tournament features 18 national teams. Following the 2025 season, the Netherlands were relegated after finishing last among the teams. They are replaced by Belgium, who earned promotion as the highest-ranked non-VNL team in the FIVB World Rankings.[3]
| Country | Confederation | Previous appearances | Best performance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | First | Last | |||
 Argentina |
CSV | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | 5th place (2023) |
 Belgium |
CEV | 0 | 0 | None | |
 Brazil |
CSV | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | Champions (2021) |
 Bulgaria |
CEV | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | 11th place (2018, 2025) |
 Canada |
NORCECA | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | 6th place (2024) |
 China |
AVC | 5 | 2018 | 2025 | 8th place (2025) |
 Cuba |
NORCECA | 3 | 2023 | 2025 | 7th place (2025) |
 France |
CEV | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | Champions (2022, 2024) |
 Germany |
CEV | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | 9th place (2018) |
 Iran |
AVC | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | 5th place (2019) |
 Italy |
CEV | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | Runners-up (2025) |
 Japan |
AVC | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | Runners-up (2024) |
 Poland |
CEV | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | Champions (2023, 2025) |
 Serbia |
CEV | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | 5th place (2018) |
 Slovenia |
CEV | 5 | 2021 | 2025 | 4th place (2021, 2024, 2025) |
 Turkey |
CEV | 2 | 2024 | 2025 | 16th place (2024) |
 Ukraine |
CEV | 1 | 2025 | 10th place (2025) | |
 United States |
NORCECA | 7 | 2018 | 2025 | Runners-up (2019, 2022, 2023) |
Format
Preliminary round
The format of play is generally the same as in the 2022 edition. However, this is the first time that 18 men's teams are competing. Each week, six teams will compete during the pool phase. Each team plays 12 matches during the pool stage. During three weeks, each team plays four times in a table that is set up by an algorithm, with all teams playing 12 times in total at the end of the first phase. The eight best teams advance to the quarter-finals, while the last-placed team loses its place to the highest FIVB-ranked team that did not compete this year. The only country that has already qualified for this phase is China for hosting the finals and if it does not finish the first phase among the top eight, the top seven will qualify with the Chinese team being ranked 8th.[4]
Final round
The VNL Finals will see the top eight teams moving directly to the knockout phase, which will consist of eight matches in total: four quarterfinals, two semi-finals, and the bronze and gold medal matches.[4]
Final 8 direct elimination formula:
- The first ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the eighth ranked team, the second ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the seventh ranked team, the third ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the sixth ranked team, and the fourth ranked team will play a quarterfinal match against the fifth ranked team.
- The national team of the hosting territory of the event will have a guaranteed berth for the Final round. If the host nation team do not finish in the top eight in the Preliminary round, they will replace the eighth place team and play as the eighth seed.
Pool composition
Venues
Preliminary round
| Week 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pool 1 | Pool 2 | Pool 3 |
| Ottawa, Canada | Brasília, Brazil | Linyi, China |
| TD Place Arena | Nilson Nelson Gymnasium | Linyi Olympic Sports Park Gymnasium |
| Capacity: 9,500 | Capacity: 11,105 | Capacity: 12,800 |
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| Week 2 | ||
| Pool 4 | Pool 5 | Pool 6 |
| Orléans, France | Gliwice, Poland | Ljubljana, Slovenia |
| CO'Met Arena | Gliwice Arena | Arena Stožice |
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 13,572 | Capacity: 12,480 |
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| Week 3 | ||
| Pool 7 | Pool 8 | Pool 9 |
| Belgrade, Serbia | Chicago, United States | Osaka, Japan |
| Belgrade Arena | Now Arena | Asue Arena Osaka |
| Capacity: 18,386 | Capacity: 10,543 | Capacity: 10,000 |
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Final round
| All matches |
|---|
| Ningbo, China |
| Beilun Gymnasium |
| Capacity: 8,000 |
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Competition schedule
| ● | Preliminary round | ● | Final round |
| Week 1 10–14 Jun |
Week 2 24–28 Jun |
Week 3 15–19 Jul |
Week 4 29 Jul – 2 Aug |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36 matches | 36 matches | 36 matches | 8 matches |
Pool standing procedure
- Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost)
- In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker will apply, with the teams ranked by the most points gained per match as follows:
- Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser
- Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser
- Match forfeited: 3 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser
- If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, the FIVB will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order:
- Sets quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all sets won by the number of all sets lost.
- Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the sets quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets.
- If the tie persists based on the points quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match between the tied teams during the Round Robin Phase. When the tie in points quotient is between three or more teams, these teams will be ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.
Preliminary round
Final round
- All times are China Standard Time (UTC+08:00).
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| 29 July | ||||||||||
| 1 August | ||||||||||
| 30 July | ||||||||||
| 2 August | ||||||||||
| 29 July | ||||||||||
| 1 August | ||||||||||
| 30 July | ||||||||||
| 3rd place match | ||||||||||
| 2 August | ||||||||||
Quarterfinals
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Jul | – | – | – | – | 0–0 | ||||||
| 29 Jul | – | – | – | – | 0–0 | ||||||
| 30 Jul | – | – | – | – | 0–0 | ||||||
| 30 Jul | – | – | – | – | 0–0 |
Semifinals
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Aug | – | – | – | – | 0–0 | ||||||
| 1 Aug | – | – | – | – | 0–0 |
3rd place match
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Aug | – | – | – | – | 0–0 |
Final
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Aug | – | – | – | – | 0–0 |
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