The 2026 Men's Volleyball Nations League already has its first two teams qualified for the Final Eight in China: the United States and Japan. Both secured their spots on Thursday, July 16, with wins that could not have been more different in character.
The USA dominated Brazil in front of a home crowd in Chicago with a commanding 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-19), cementing second place in the standings with 25 points. Outside hitter TJ Defalco was the catalyst of the victory, delivering a phenomenal all-around performance: 7 kills, 7 aces and 4 blocks for 18 points. His seven aces are the fifth-highest mark in VNL history and the best ever in a three-set match. "These two teams have had many battles since the 60s," Defalco said. "We came in with the idea that we needed to stop them as much as we could, and we did an incredible job."
Matt Anderson and Jake Hanes added 13 points each for the Americans. For Brazil, despite Darlan Souza's 17 points (12 kills, 4 aces, 1 block), Bernardinho's side dropped to eighth place with 6 wins and 16 points, outside the qualification zone. "Today we couldn't handle the pressure in serve-receive," admitted captain Ricardo Lucarelli. "They served amazingly well today, and we didn't have the patience to play and earn the points."
Just hours earlier, on the same day, Japan had secured qualification in the most dramatic fashion possible: yet another five-set victory, their sixth in ten matches. In Osaka, the Japanese team came back from two sets down against Canada to win 3-2 (18-25, 24-26, 29-27, 25-19, 15-11) in front of 7,377 fans.
The match also featured a historic milestone: Yuki Ishikawa, Japan's captain and outside hitter, reached 1,004 career VNL attack points — the most anyone has ever scored in the history of the competition. Tatsunori Otsuka (18 points), Kento Miyaura (15), Shoma Tomita (14), and Larry Evbade-Dan (12) also made significant contributions. For Canada, it was their seventh tie-break loss of this VNL campaign, a heartbreaking statistic.
With 10 wins in 10 matches, Japan tops the standings with a perfect record, while the USA sit in second place. The race for the remaining Final Eight spots is heating up, with Brazil, France, Poland, and other nations still in contention for the six available berths.
Sources
- https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/news/defalco-on-fire-usa-make-vnl-finals-after-sweeping-brazil
- https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/news/japan-book-finals-spot-with-yet-another-five-set-win-ishikawa-hits-1000-vnl-spike-kills-mark
