Fascinating tournament and match-ups in store for 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League

After the opening games in the women’s equivalent in the last week, the renewal of the men’s Nations League begins an epic month-long worldwide journey this Friday (31 May).

A total of 130 matches across 20 host cities are scheduled across the next few weeks, culminating with a grand finale ‘Final Six’ [of 10 matches] in Chicago, USA, next month from 10 to 14 July.

Ironically it all starts the way it ended last July with a rematch of the 2018 final in Lille – where Russia swept hosts France 3-0 – when the two superpowers meet once again in Novi Sad, Serbia.

This year’s FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League has added significance as this pre-Olympic year also includes qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the 2019 FIVB Volleyball World Cup plus a host of continental and regional competitions. The core teams competing will be Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Serbia and USA, with the Challenger teams comprising of Australia, Bulgaria, Canada and Portugal.

The top five teams after pool play will join hosts USA to compete in the Final Six of the 2019 VNL. The bottom-ranked amongst the Challenger Teams after pool play will be relegated and will be replaced for the 2020 VNL by the winner of the 2019 FIVB Challenger Cup.

Of 120 matches in pool play, there are number of key clashes to watch out for which promise to be fascinating contests. In addition to the aforementioned opening fixture between Russia and France, the first week of action will see Brazil v Poland on June 2 in Katowice, Poland; a rematch of both previous FIVB Volleyball World Championships finals and a match-up between the reigning world champions against the reigning Olympic champions.

Any Russia v USA encounter is a mouth-watering prospect and the meeting between the the defending VNL champions and last year’s bronze medallists and host of this year’s finals in week 2 on 8 June in Ningbo, China, promises to be no different.

Iran and Poland renew their continuing intense rivalry in Week 3 on 15 June in Urmia, a clash which may have added significance on how desperate each side will be for points at what will be the mid-way point of the VNL Preliminary Round. To that, there is the passionate support from the Iranian fans to add further spice to the meeting.

Week 4 will see a new episode in the long-running rivalry and ties between Italy and Serbia when the two meet on 21 June in Milan, not least because of the number of Serbian players in the Italian League.

Italy will also feature in a key game in Week 5 when there is a rematch of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games final with Brazil in Ningbo. This season’s meeting has added intrigue as it pits the oldest on average against the youngest on average teams in the VNL.