Alan Nine
Across the last 24 hours covered by Volleyball.it, the main international themes were qualification, medals and final verdicts. The headline came from Osaka, where Italy came back against Cuba to secure a place in the men’s Volleyball Nations League Finals. The same Sunday window also delivered a historic qualification for Turkey, a first elimination for Brazil, two podium finishes for Italy in the CEV Nations Cup beach competition in Budapest, and the conclusion of the men’s Under 18 European Championship in Porto San Giorgio.
Men's VNL
Italy defeated Cuba 3-1 in Osaka and booked its place in the Finals at Ningbo, scheduled from July 29 to August 2, 2026. Volleyball.it reported the set scores as 17-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-17, with the Azzurri collecting their eighth win of the competition and rising to 26 points, temporarily fourth in the standings at the end of the preliminary phase. Yuri Romanò led Italy with 17 points, while Daniele Lavia added 13 and both Mattia Bottolo and Pardo Mati finished with 10.
Volleyball.it described a match that opened badly for the Italians, with Cuba taking control of the first set, but changed direction from the second set onward. Italy broke away from 9-9 to 14-11 in the second set, stayed firmer in the decisive stretch of the third and then controlled the fourth after moving quickly to 11-6. The article also noted that coach Ferdinando De Giorgi confirmed the same starting six used against Argentina, with Simone Giannelli at setter, Romanò opposite, Lavia and Bottolo on the outside, Mati and Giovanni Sanguinetti in the middle, and Fabio Balaso as libero. After the match Balaso called it a complicated game and said the inertia changed from the second set on.
The wider men’s VNL picture shifted as well. Volleyball.it reported that Turkey, in only its third participation, qualified for the Finals for the first time by beating Iran 3-1. The same result line produced another milestone, with Brazil left out of the Finals for the first time. That turned the last day of the round robin into more than an Italian story and reshaped the international balance heading toward Ningbo.
Beach Volleyball
In Budapest, Italy closed the CEV Nations Cup 2026 with medals in both tournaments. In the women’s event, Volleyball.it reported that Italy took the silver medal after losing to Ukraine only in the Golden Set of the final. The margin described by the site underlined how close the title race remained until the last points, even if the tournament ended one step short of gold.
The men’s event ended with bronze. Volleyball.it wrote that Italy’s run stopped in the semifinals against Norway, where both Italian pairs, Marco Viscovich and Davide Borraccino, and Samuele Cottafava and Gianluca Dal Corso, lost in tie-breaks. Even with that semifinal exit, the overall Budapest balance stayed positive for Italy thanks to a women’s silver and a men’s third place on the same weekend.
International Under
The men’s U18 European Championship ended with Poland taking the title in Porto San Giorgio. Volleyball.it reported a 3-1 final win over France, with set scores of 22-25, 25-23, 28-26, 25-21. The article added that Poland completed a perfect tournament with nine wins in nine matches, finishing the event without a defeat.
From the Italian side, the site also published the reaction of coach Vincenzo Fanizza after Italy’s fourth-place finish. Volleyball.it quoted Fanizza saying it was disappointing not to win a medal, while also stressing that he was proud of the players. That left the final balance of the Under section split between Poland’s clean title run and Italy’s regret after ending just off the podium.
