Determining the semifinal matchups of the 2026 Women's Volleyball VNL

It is rather unexpected that China, not Japan, is the final hope for Asian volleyball at the VNL this year.

The prestigious international women's volleyball tournament - VNL 2026 is entering its final stages. After the exciting quarterfinal matches held on July 22 and 23, the four best teams competing in this year's VNL semifinals have been officially revealed.

The defending champion Italy asserted its dominance with an easy 3-0 victory over the Netherlands - a team that made it to VNL playoff round. Russian-born opposite hitter Ekaterina Antropova continued to be the brightest performer with 16 points, helping the 'Azzurri' steamroll on their title defense journey.

The opponent of coach Julio Velasco's team in the semifinals is Brazil - this is also the marquee matchup in the top four round. The team from the Samba land came from behind to overcome Japan in four sets thanks to the outstanding duo of Ana Cristina (30 points) and Julia Bergmann (24 points). However, facing Italy without their top star Gabi Guimaraes in the lineup (due to injury) will be a huge challenge for the South American representative.

The other semifinal will be a showdown between Turkey and China. Melissa Vargas' 27 points helped Turkey defeat the tournament's group-stage surprise Canada with a 3-1 score, while China caused a major upset by beating the USA in a thrilling five-set match, thus becoming the only Asian team still standing in this year's VNL.

China was not highly rated before the match against the USA due to their unconvincing performance in the group stage, but what the Asian representative achieved in the recent quarterfinal was extremely commendable. Zhuang Yushan continued to lead the offense with 17 points, while captain Gong Xiangyu added 15 points to extinguish the American dream right in Los Angeles.

The two VNL 2026 semifinals between Italy-Brazil and Turkey-China will take place at 15:00 and 18:30 on July 25 (Vietnam time).