The Polish national team is no longer No. 1 in the FIVB world rankings. After a dramatic 2:3 (21:25, 25:21, 21:25, 25:22, 15:17) loss to Japan in their third match of the 2026 Nations League, the "Polish squad" ceded first place to world champion Italy.
Nikola Grbić's team started the tournament with a convincing 3:0 win against Cuba, but then followed two consecutive tie-break losses
– against Slovenia and Japan. It was precisely the loss to the Japanese that proved decisive for the change at the top of the FIVB rankings.
Italy climbed to the top
World champions Italy finally reached the first place they have been striving for a long time. The squad led by Ferdinando De Giorgi started the VNL with a 2:3 loss to France, but then defeated Germany and accumulated enough points to overtake Poland.
| Place | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Italy | 378.30 |
| 2. | Poland | 374.82 |
| 3. | Brazil | 341.74 |
| 4. | USA | 326.95 |
| 5. | France | 324.17 |
Poland lost nearly 10 points from their total after the two setbacks and is now trailing Italy by 3.48 points. The difference remains minimal, and the battle for first place will likely continue throughout the VNL season.
Japan ended a 17-year drought against Poland
Japan's victory also has historical significance. The last time the Asians had defeated Poland in an official match was on June 29, 2008, in the World League.
Thus, the winless streak against the Poles lasted almost 18 years. Under the guidance of the new coach Laurent Tillie, the Japanese have been demonstrating excellent form since the beginning of the tournament. The Frenchman relied on his strongest players and immediately started accumulating results.
Ran Takahashi led Japan to victory
The Japanese won an extremely contested match, in which Ran Takahashi was the top scorer with 26 points. Tatsunori Otsuka with 15 and Kento Miyaura with 16 points also made significant contributions.
For Poland, Aliaksei Nasievich was the top scorer with 24 points. Marcin Lemanski with 16 and Michał Gierżot with 14 points provided good support.
The Polish team will rest on Saturday, and on Sunday will face Ukraine in an attempt to return to winning ways and start chasing Italy in the world rankings. Japan, meanwhile, continues its participation in the first week of the VNL with matches against China and Slovenia.
Photos:volleyballworld.com
