VNL men’s standings race and player returns in Ljubljana

Japan dominates the 2026 VNL standings with a perfect 12-0 record and 30 points. Poland occupies second place with 10 wins and 2 losses, totaling 29 points. Slovenia and Italy both possess 26 points after 12 matches, with Slovenia in third and Italy in fourth. The United States follows in fifth with 25 points, while Turkiye holds sixth with 22 points. Ukraine currently holds the seventh spot with 23 points, which places them ahead of Bulgaria, who sits in eighth with 20 points. Brazil occupies ninth with 19 points, while France and Serbia both sit with 16 points. Germany holds 12th place with 15 points. Belgium follows in 13th with 12 points. Iran occupies 14th place with 11 points, while Argentina and Cuba both hold 10 points. Canada remains in 17th place with 10 points and only one victory, meaning they face relegation. China sits at the bottom in 18th place with only 4 points. In the opening week, the United States defeated Italy 3-2 in a match that left the Americans with 9 points.

Individual performances in Ljubljana

Alessandro Michieletto returned to the front row during Italy’s victory over Slovakia at the European Championship. After an eight-month absence, he recorded 2 points, consisting of 1 point from attack and 1 point from block. He achieved a 100% success rate in attack, converting 1 out of 1 attempts. Coach Ferdinando De Giorgi noted that Simone Giannelli managed Michieletto’s first rotation in the front row by waiting for a better opportunity to provide the ball. You should watch how this gradual workload increase affects Italy’s efficiency against top-tier opponents. Bartosz Kurek, an opposite spiker with two World Championship golds and one MVP award, remains a factor for the second-placed Polish side. He also holds four Polish league titles from his long career.

Ljubljana hosted the second competition week, featuring a rematch of the last World Championship final between Italy and Bulgaria. Bulgaria holds ninth place with 20 points and 24 sets won, while Italy occupies fourth place with 26 points and 30 sets won. Brazil maintains the top spot with 11 points and 4 wins, which places them above second-placed Japan. In the same city, Brazil faces Ukraine and Slovenia hosts Canada. The Slovenian team occupies sixth place with 6 points, while Canada sits in 13th place with 6 points. In Gliwice, Poland hosts Belgium and Germany faces Argentina. In Orleans, France faces Iran, Japan meets Serbia, and the United States plays Cuba.

Ranking rules and Olympic qualification

The FIVB uses a specific hierarchy to break ties in the standings. The official ranking system prioritizes total victories over match points, which means a team with more matches won sits higher regardless of the total number of match points they accumulated during the preliminary phase. If teams share the same number of victories, the system looks at match points, then set ratios, and then point ratios.

The 2026 Finals in China will include the top eight teams from the Preliminary Phase. China earns an automatic place as the host. Because the VNL schedule requires teams to play only 12 of 17 possible opponents, the FIVB World Ranking determines positions if head-to-head results and ratios fail to separate tied teams. For the 2024 Olympic qualification, France secured a spot as the host. Other teams earned places through continental championships, the FIVB World Cup, and intercontinental qualification tournaments. The 2024 Olympic qualification also utilized the FIVB World Ranking to fill the final five berths. During that process, the top 24 teams not yet qualified split into three single round-robin pools of eight teams each. Does the reliance on the World Ranking create an unfair advantage for historically strong teams? The relegation of Canada is a failure for a team that once held a higher standing.