The Bulgarian women's national team has learned two of the cities where they will play during the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) in 2026. This became clear from the unofficial distribution of pools by weeks and host locations, with the 'Lionesses' included in two already confirmed destinations - Brazil and Belgrade.
The exact match schedule (who against whom and on which days) has not yet been announced, but it is clear where some of the matches for Marcelo Abbondanza's girls will be played in the group stage.
Bulgaria with matches in Brazil and Belgrade
Week 1 (June 3–7) – Brazil
In the first week of the tournament, Bulgaria is in a pool in Brazil, where the following teams will also be present:
Brazil, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey, and Dominican Republic.
This is a group with extremely strong competition and guarantees a tough start against top-class teams such as Italy and Turkey, as well as the traditionally formidable host Brazil.
Week 3 (July 8–12) – Belgrade
In the third week, Bulgaria will play in Belgrade (Serbia), in the company of:
Serbia, Czech Republic, France, Netherlands, and Germany.
The pool in the Serbian capital is also among the most intriguing, with the focus naturally falling on the potential clash with host Serbia – one of the constant factors in world women's volleyball.
One city for Bulgaria remains unknown
Bulgaria will also participate in the second week (June 17–21), but the host there is marked as TBD (to be determined). It is only clear that the following teams will also be in this pool:
Thailand, Ukraine, Canada, Netherlands, and Poland.
The Finals are in Macau
The final phase of VNL 2026 (women) will take place in Macau (China) from July 22–26.
What does this mean for the 'Lionesses'?
Even before the exact schedule is clear, it is obvious that Bulgaria will have two strong weeks in tough volleyball capitals – Brazil and Belgrade. These are locations that imply both a serious atmosphere and high sporting tension, and every victory there would have double value – both for the standings and for the team's confidence. We recall that in VNL 2025, Bulgaria finished 13th out of 18 teams.
The full schedule with matches by day is expected to be published in the coming days, which will provide final clarity on which opponents Bulgaria will face in each of the three weeks.
