France will host a Volleyball Nations League (VNL) tournament at the end of June, with matches taking place in the modern Co'Met hall in Orleans. The news was confirmed by the President of the French Volleyball Federation, Éric Tanguy, in his annual address, in which he outlined the priorities and key events for 2026.

For Bulgarian fans, Orleans is not an unknown destination. It was in this hall that Bulgaria participated in a Nations League tournament in 2023, when Plamen Konstantinov was at the helm of the national team, and his assistant was Andrey Zhekov, who is still part of the coaching staff. Back then, the 'Lions' played a series of important matches in one of the best-organized tournaments on the VNL calendar.

Our team then played against the teams of Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba, and the team already included the future silver medalists from the World Championship in Manila - Alex Nikolov, Asparuh Asparuhov, Alex Grozdanov, Iliya Petkov, Martin Atanasov.

At this moment, it is still unclear whether Bulgaria will again be among the participants in the tournament in Orleans. The distribution of teams by host cities is yet to be announced, but it is already certain that France is one of the European centers of the Nations League for the upcoming edition.

Initially, among the rumored European host cities were Ljubljana and Istanbul, but the organizers will announce the final list by the end of the month. At this moment, Canada and France are officially confirmed as hosts, which clearly indicates FIVB's direction towards secure and already proven markets for the competition.

Hosting in Orleans is also a sign of France's stable position in international volleyball – both in terms of sports-technical aspects and organization. The Co'Met hall has already established itself as a venue for major events, and the French federation does not hide its ambition for the country to be a regular host of top-tier tournaments in the coming years.

It is expected that in the coming weeks, the remaining host cities will become clear, as well as the full distribution of national teams – information that will provide a final answer as to whether Bulgaria will once again return to the city of Joan of Arc for Nations League matches.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov