The men's volleyball team of Cuba concluded its participation in the 2026 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) in sixteenth place out of 18 teams, after losing to Italy 3-1 in Osaka on Sunday, in the final match of the preliminary round.
According to the state sports media JIT, the Italians won with scores of 17-25, 25-19, 25-21, and 25-17, thus concluding a third week of the tournament that had started with three consecutive victories for the Cubans.
The team's top scorer in that match was the outside hitter Miguel Ángel López, with 11 points. The middle blocker Robertlandy Simón and the setter Marlon Yant each added nine points. On the Italian side, Yuri Romano led the scoring with 17 points.
In collective terms, Italy dominated in attack (47-41) and blocks (12-7), while Cuba was slightly superior in serves (5-4). Both teams committed the same number of errors: 29.
The final balance for Cuba in the VNL 2026 was three wins and nine losses, with 10 points accumulated in the overall standings. All three victories came in the third week, held in Kasai, Osaka, against Belgium, Argentina, and Canada, after enduring eight consecutive losses in the first two weeks held in China and France.
The campaign was also marked by the serious injury of central player Javier Concepción, who suffered a double fracture of the tibia and fibula on June 29 during the match against Iran in Orléans, France, and was operated on the same day, being practically ruled out for the rest of the season.
Despite the modest result, Cuba secured its place in the VNL 2027: the tournament's relegation system only eliminates the last-placed team, which was occupied by China with just four points.
This performance stands in contrast to the historic achievement of the previous year, when Cuba qualified for the final phase of the VNL for the first time, finishing among the top eight in the world. In that edition, Marlon Yant was the top scorer of the entire tournament with 237 points.
For the VNL 2026, the Cuban Volleyball Federation announced the stellar return of Robertlandy Simón to the national team, after having retired in June 2024, as one of the main highlights of the 30-player shortlist presented on May 1.
The eight teams that advanced to the final phase were Japan —an undefeated leader with 12 wins and zero losses—, Slovenia, Poland, Italy, the United States, Turkey, Ukraine, and Bulgaria.
The grand final of the men's VNL 2026 is scheduled to take place from July 29 to August 2 in the Chinese city of Ningbo.
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