The official calendar of the Volleyball Nations League 2026 is now available, with the detailed composition of the groups and 17 host cities in 12 different countries.
Both the VNL women’s and men’s Finals will be held in China: in Macau and Ningbo, respectively.
With the participation of the 18 best women’s teams and the 18 best men’s teams in the world, the VNL Preliminary Phase will bring together volleyball fans from the five continents from June 3 to July 19, in three different venues and venues for each week of competition. The Women’s Finals will be held in Macau from July 22 to 26, while the Men’s Finals will take place in Ningbo from July 29 to August 2.
“VNL continues to showcase the best of our sport, bringing together teams, fans and communities from around the world in a shared celebration of volleyball,” said Ugo Valensi, CEO of Volleyball World. “The VNL 2025 Finals broke decades-old records and surpassed some of the world’s most established sports properties, reaffirming its place as one of the most-watched international sporting events of the year. Volleyball is capturing the attention and imagination of global fans on an unprecedented scale, and the continued expansion of the VNL is creating powerful new opportunities for partners, broadcast operators and host cities around the world.”
Host cities of women’s groups – VNL 2026
The VNL women’s teams will be the first to go into action. The first week of competition will be held from June 3 to 7.
China will host Belgium, Czech Republic, 2025 bronze medalists Poland, Serbia and Thailand in Nanjing.
Brazil’s capital Brasilia will welcome Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, reigning Olympic, World and VNL champions Italy, Netherlands, Turkey and the host team, which finished with the VNL silver medal in 2025.
For its part, the Canadian national team will host France, Germany, Japan, the VNL debutants Ukraine and the silver medalists of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the United States, in Quebec.
The second week of competition will take place from June 17 to 21. Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Serbia and the United States will have the enthusiastic support of the public in the Philippines, despite the absence of a local team in this tournament.
Turkey will delight its great fans by organizing a group in its capital, Ankara, where the local favorites, runners-up of the 2025 World Championship, will compete alongside Belgium, Brazil, China, France and Germany. The host city of the third group of this second week, which will include Bulgaria, Canada, the Netherlands, Poland, Thailand and Ukraine, has yet to be defined.
The third week of competition, in which the final positions of the Preliminary Phase will be defined and the seven teams that will join the host China in the Macau Finals will be known, will be held from July 8 to 12.
Japan will host Brazil, Poland, Thailand, Türkiye and the United States in Kansai. In Hong Kong, China will host Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Italy and Ukraine, while the Serbian capital Belgrade will host an all-European group featuring Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Netherlands and home team Serbia.
Host cities of the male groups – VNL 2026
Traditionally, the VNL men’s teams will join the competition a week after the women’s teams, with the first week being played from June 10 to 14, in the same three countries.
The Chinese city of Linyi will host the matches in a group consisting of Cuba, Japan, defending VNL champions Poland, Slovenia, Ukraine and the host team.
2025 bronze medalists Brazil will host Argentina, VNL debutants Belgium, 2025 World Championship runners-up Bulgaria, Iran and Serbia in Brasilia.
Canada will host Olympic champions France, Germany, world champions Italy, Turkey and Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalists United States in its capital, Ottawa.
The number one team in the FIVB world ranking, Poland, also a silver medalist in the last Olympic Games and a bronze medalist in the most recent World Championship, will host one of the groups of the second week of competition, which will be held from June 24 to 28 entirely in Europe.
In Gliwice, the Poles will be accompanied by Argentina, Belgium, China, Germany and Türkiye. Slovenia will host Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Italy and Ukraine in its capital, Ljubljana, while, in Orléans, France will host Cuba, Iran, Japan, Serbia and the United States.
After hosting women’s groups, Kansai and Belgrade will also host men’s groups during the third week of competition, July 15-19.
Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Cuba and Italy will travel to Japan, while Germany, Iran, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine will travel to Serbia. The remaining six teams — Brazil, Bulgaria, China, France, Poland and the host United States — will compete in Chicago.
