The Bulgarian women's national team concluded its participation in the first week of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2026 with one win and three losses. Marcelo Abbondanza's team holds 16th place in the provisional standings after all matches from the opening tournaments in Quebec, Brazil, and Nanjing have been played.
In their last match, the national team lost to Turkey 1:3 (12:25, 9:25, 25:22, 18:25), but left a good impression with their reaction after a difficult start and winning the third set against one of the world's leading teams.
Results from the last day of the first week
Japan – Canada 3:2 (29:27, 25:20, 23:25, 28:30, 15:12)
Czech Republic – Thailand 3:0 (25:14, 25:19, 25:11)
Belgium – Serbia 3:2 (25:20, 25:22, 21:25, 20:25, 15:12)
China – Poland 3:1 (16:25, 25:18, 25:23, 26:24)
Netherlands – Dominican Republic 3:0 (25:20, 25:19, 25:17)
France – Ukraine 3:2 (18:25, 15:25, 25:20, 25:19, 15:10)
Brazil – Italy 3:2 (25:15, 25:22, 22:25, 24:26, 15:12)
USA – Germany 3:0 (25:22, 25:15, 25:12)
Turkey – Bulgaria 3:1 (25:12, 25:9, 22:25, 25:18)
The big news of the day
Undoubtedly, the most significant event was Brazil's 3:2 victory over Italy (25:15, 25:22, 22:25, 24:26, 15:12). Thus, the Olympic and world champions suffered their first defeat in over two years, and the Brazilians affirmed their ambitions for the top spot in VNL 2026.
VNL Standings after the first week
| Place | Team | Wins | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 4 | 11 |
| 2 | Japan | 4 | 11 |
| 3 | Italy | 3 | 10 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 3 | 9 |
| 5 | USA | 3 | 8 |
| 6 | China | 3 | 8 |
| 7 | Poland | 3 | 7 |
| 8 | Canada | 2 | 7 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | Belgium | 2 | 5 |
| 11 | Turkey | 2 | 5 |
| 12 | Serbia | 1 | 5 |
| 13 | Germany | 1 | 4 |
| 14 | France | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Ukraine | 1 | 3 |
| 16 | Bulgaria | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | Thailand | 0 | 2 |
| 18 | Dominican Republic | 0 | 1 |
Bulgaria is just above the zone of the last two teams and remains in the battle for climbing the standings. The difference to 12th place is only two points, which means a strong week in Thailand could move the team up several positions.
World Ranking after the first week
| Place | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | 478.58 |
| 2 | Brazil | 436.91 |
| 3 | Poland | 353.25 |
| 4 | Japan | 352.80 |
| 5 | Turkey | 352.04 |
| 6 | China | 336.64 |
| 7 | USA | 328.16 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 291.52 |
| 9 | Serbia | 251.42 |
| 10 | Canada | 247.06 |
| 11 | Germany | 241.13 |
| 12 | Dominican Republic | 231.48 |
| 13 | Czech Republic | 225.43 |
| 14 | France | 219.10 |
| 15 | Belgium | 212.18 |
| 16 | Ukraine | 192.00 |
| 17 | Argentina | 182.42 |
| 18 | Mexico | 178.93 |
| 19 | Slovenia | 167.99 |
| 20 | Bulgaria | 159.22 |
Despite three losses, Bulgaria found a place in the Top 20 of world volleyball. The team is approximately 8.8 points behind Slovenia and more than 19 points ahead of the next challengers outside the displayed top twenty. This means that the performance in the second week will be crucial for a potential climb of one or two positions.
What's next for Bulgaria?
The next tournament for the national team will be in Hong Kong, where the Bulgarian team will face four opponents who are ahead of them both in the VNL and in the world rankings:
Poland (No. 7 in VNL, No. 3 in the world)
Thailand (No. 17 in VNL)
Canada (No. 8 in VNL, No. 10 in the world)
Ukraine (No. 15 in VNL, No. 16 in the world)
On paper, the toughest challenge is Poland, but the matches against Thailand and Ukraine seem entirely within the Bulgarian squad's reach.
Where does Bulgaria stand in the overall picture?
After the first week, Bulgaria is in 16th place in the VNL provisional standings and 20th in the world rankings. The team showed two different faces in Brazil – a convincing victory over the Dominican Republic and competitive periods against stronger opponents, but also serious fluctuations against Turkey and Brazil.
The second week will provide a much clearer answer as to where Marcelo Abbondanza's team truly stands.
