The Italian National Team made a strong start to the 2026 Volleyball Nations League, playing Week 1 in Ottawa, Canada, finishing their first week of matches with three wins and just one tie-break loss. This run of results has placed Ferdinando De Giorgi’s team temporarily behind Brazil and Japan (4 wins and 11 points), and tied with the USA and Serbia, teams with whom the Azzurri share the number of wins (3) and points (9).
The complete 2026 VNL standings
Week 1 in Canada opened with a tie-break defeat against France; the Azzurri quickly put the defeat behind them, coming back to defeat Germany in four sets and Turkey 3-0, while the final match saw Bottolo and his teammates defeat the USA in five sets.
Worth noting in these four matches were captain Mattia Bottolo’s performances (53 points in total, the Azzurri’s top scorer), followed by Luca Porro’s 51 points and Kamil Rychlicki’s 45 (30 against France alone, in his debut). Pardo Mati excelled at blocking (8 blocks in total), with the middle blocker from Modena also scoring 6 aces in Week 1.
The complete 2026 VNL schedule
After a week without official matches, Italy will return to action from June 24th to 28th, with Week 2 taking place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The Italian national team will face Bulgaria, Ukraine, Brazil, and host Slovenia.
Below is the Azzurri’s Week 2 schedule, with the Italian schedule.
Week 2 (Ljubljana, Slovenia) – Pool 2
Wednesday, June 24, 2026, 1:00 PM
Italy – Bulgaria
Thursday, June 25, 2026, 4:30 PM
Italy – Ukraine
Friday, June 26, 2026, 8:00 PM
Italy – Brazil
Sunday, June 28, 2026, 8:30 PM
Italy – Slovenia
The 2026 Men’s Volleyball Nations League on TV and streaming
The Italian national team’s VNL matches will be available live on DAZN and on the paid streaming platform VBTV, which will broadcast all tournament matches. VBTV access link: welcome.volleyballworld.tv
