Final roster for VNL Macau Finals unveiled; China to face USA in quarterfinals

The final roster for the Women’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2026 Finals, which will take place next week in Macau, has been revealed.

After a long series of matches held at different locations around the world, the seven teams that will join China in the Finals have been determined, with Team USA topping the rankings.

USA will be one of the main protagonists of the quarterfinals, as it faces China, which qualified for the final stage due to its host status, since China finished ninth in the overall rankings.

Also qualifying for the Finals are, in ranking order, Team Italy, Brazil, Türkiye, Canada, Japan and the Netherlands.

Dropping one position due to China’s qualification among the top eight teams was Team Poland, which, following the rule that the host country automatically qualifies, finished ninth overall in this year’s tournament.

Canada and Japan were the last teams to qualify for the Finals, as the preliminary stage ended in the early hours of Monday. Serbia defeated the Netherlands 3-0 in a match played in Belgrade, but the result was unlikely to affect the final roster.

The matches played over the weekend in Osaka and neighboring Hong Kong were crucial in determining the final qualifiers.

To reach the Finals, Japan had to overcome Poland 3-2 in Osaka on Sunday evening.

In a decisive match, Japan drew strength from the support of the home crowd to recover from two sets down and defeat Poland in the tie-breaker.

The bronze medalists of the last three VNL editions qualified only after the 3-2 victory (20-25, 14-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-13) and will now face strong opposition from Brazil in the quarterfinals in Macau.

Already qualified, Brazil lost its final preliminary-stage match 3-0 to the USA (26-24, 25-22, 25-16) in another match played in Osaka on Sunday.

Italy will enter the quarterfinals with a theoretically easier path, having qualified in second place behind the USA. Italy scored 28 points from 10 wins in 12 matches and will now face the Netherlands, which collected 21 points from seven wins and five losses.

The remaining quarterfinal match will see Türkiye face Canada, which finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the preliminary stage.

The winner of this match will advance to the semifinals to meet the winner of the USA vs. China match, while the winners of Italy vs. the Netherlands and Brazil vs. Japan will meet in the other semifinal.

The championship match is scheduled for July 26 at 7:30 p.m., when this year’s VNL champion will be crowned. A third-place playoff will be held earlier that day at 3:30 p.m.

All matches will be played at the Macao East Asian Games Dome, with the first two quarterfinal matches scheduled for July 22.

Macau has not hosted the VNL Finals since 2011, when the same venue saw the USA claim the title after defeating Brazil 3-0.