After the first week of the Men's Nations League, the Bulgarian national team occupies ninth place in the temporary standings. Gianlorenzo Blengini's proteges have two wins and 6 points, trailing by only one point from the zone of the top eight teams, which will advance to the final tournament. Brazil and Japan are leaders with 11 points each after four successes from four matches.
Standings after the first week of VNL
| Place | Team | Wins | Points | Set ratio | Point ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 4 | 11 | 3.000 | 1.155 |
| 2 | Japan | 4 | 11 | 3.000 | 1.085 |
| 3 | USA | 3 | 9 | 1.833 | 1.075 |
| 4 | Italy | 3 | 9 | 1.833 | 1.073 |
| 5 | Serbia | 3 | 9 | 1.800 | 1.039 |
| 6 | Slovenia | 3 | 6 | 1.111 | 1.022 |
| 7 | Poland | 2 | 7 | 1.250 | 1.033 |
| 8 | Ukraine | 2 | 7 | 1.142 | 1.069 |
| 9 | Bulgaria | 2 | 6 | 1.000 | 1.049 |
| 10 | Belgium | 2 | 5 | 0.888 | 0.920 |
| 11 | Turkey | 2 | 5 | 0.875 | 0.933 |
| 12 | Germany | 2 | 5 | 0.777 | 0.961 |
| 13 | Canada | 1 | 6 | 0.900 | 1.019 |
| 14 | China | 1 | 4 | 0.777 | 0.974 |
| 15 | Iran | 1 | 4 | 0.666 | 0.959 |
| 16 | France | 1 | 2 | 0.454 | 0.939 |
| 17 | Argentina | 0 | 1 | 0.333 | 0.910 |
| 18 | Cuba | 0 | 1 | 0.166 | 0.805 |
After the end of the first week of the Men's Nations League, the leading position is shared by Brazil and Japan. The two teams have four wins and 11 points each, but the South Americans occupy first place due to a better point ratio (1.155 vs 1.085).
USA, Italy, and Serbia form the chasing group with 9 points each. The Americans and Italians have an identical set ratio (1.833), with a minimal difference in the point coefficient placing the USA ahead of the "Azzurri".
Bulgaria is in ninth place with two wins and 6 points. Interestingly, the national team has a positive point ratio (1.049), which shows that despite the balance of wins and losses, the team has been competitive in all matches. Bulgaria has a positive point difference (+16 points, 342:326), which suggests that the team has left a good impression even in its lost matches and has the potential to climb in the standings next week of the tournament. The difference to Ukraine's eighth position is only one point, and to sixth place – two points, which leaves the Bulgarian team in a good position before the next tournament.
Surprisingly, at the bottom of the standings is the Olympic champion France, who has only one win and 2 points. Argentina and Cuba are still without success and occupy the last two places, with the Cubans having the weakest set ratio (0.166) and point ratio (0.805) among all participants.
The statistics also show how balanced the tournament is – from sixth-placed Slovenia to thirteenth-placed Canada, the difference is only one win and five points, which means that a strong or weak performance next week could lead to significant changes in the standings.
