Volleyball World announces the complete match schedule for the 2026 Volleyball Nations League (VNL), consisting of 18 men’s national teams and 18 women’s national teams. The eighth edition of the VNL will take place across multiple continents, bringing high‑level international volleyball to new and established host cities.
The Women’s competition opens on 3 June in Nanjing, China, as Belgium faces Poland, the bronze medalist of the previous three VNL seasons, at 11:30 local time (03:30 UTC) marking the very first match of VNL 2026. That same week in Quebec City in Canada, Ukraine Women will mark their VNL debut by facing three‑time VNL champions and Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalist, USA, at 11:00 local time (15:00 UTC) on 3 June, while hosts Canada take on Germany at 20:00 (00:00 UTC). And BrasĂlia, Brazil will face the Netherlands on 3 June at 20:00 local time (23:00 UTC), kicking off a week of elite international matchups.
Across the preliminary phase, matches are also scheduled in BrasĂlia, Ankara, the Philippines, Belgrade, Hong Kong, Kansai, and one additional host city to be confirmed, with several marquee encounters set to capture global attention. In Ankara, passionate home fans will see TĂĽrkiye take on China in the pool’s closing match on 21 June at 19:30 local time (16:30 UTC). Later in the competition, Kansai will host a series of high-profile matches, including Japan against Brazil on 8 July at 19:20 local time (10:20 UTC), followed by key rematches for Japan with TĂĽrkiye on 11 July and Poland on 12 July, all serving off at 19:20 (10:20 UTC).
The women’s Final Phase will take place in Macao, China, from 22 to 26 July, bringing together the seven highest‑placed teams from the preliminary phase, along with hosts China, for quarter‑finals through to the gold medal match.
The Men’s VNL 2026 competition begins on 10 June in Linyi, China, where the number one team in the FIVB World Ranking, Poland, will open their campaign against Cuba at 13:00 local time (05:00 UTC). Later that day, in Ottawa, Canada, Olympic champions France and reigning FIVB World Champions Italy meet in a match scheduled for 16:00 local time (20:00 UTC). BrasĂlia will also host one of the opening-week men’s pools, kicking off with Belgium and Bulgaria facing each other at 13:00 local time (16:00 UTC).
The second competition week kicks off at the Stozice Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with a rematch of last year’s FIVB Men’s World Championship gold medal game between Bulgaria and Italy on 24 June at 13:00 local time (11:00 UTC). Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalists USA will take centre stage in the third week of competition, commencing at the NOW Arena, starting with Brazil on July 16, Bulgaria on July 18 and Poland on July 19, all starting at 20:00 (01:00 + 1 day).
The 2026 Volleyball Nations League will offer a total of 12 games per stop; consisting of three on Wednesday and Sunday, and two on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. With established stars and emerging talents set to feature throughout, the season will build towards the Finals in China, where the strongest teams from both the men’s and women’s leagues will battle for championship honours. Information on ticketing for all host cities and venues will be released in the coming weeks on the Volleyball Nations League 2026 Tickets page.
