Brazil is at risk of elimination from the Nations League before even taking the court against China
The Brazilian men’s volleyball team faces a challenging scenario in the Nations League, with the risk of being eliminated from the competition before even playing its last match. After the 3-0 defeat to Poland last Friday night, July 18, the team occupies ninth place in the table, and only the top seven advance to the finals. Early elimination could occur as early as this Saturday, July 19, if Bulgaria beats the United States by 3 sets to 0 or 3 sets to 1.
To secure a place in the next stage, Brazil needs to beat China, in a game scheduled for this Sunday, July 21, at 2 pm, and count on a series of favorable results from other teams. It is essential that Ukraine does not beat Germany and that Bulgaria, which still has two matches left (against the USA and France), does not win by 3 sets to 0 or 3 sets to 1 in any of these games. In the event of a tie in scores, such as a 3-2 Bulgarian win and a 3-0 defeat, the tiebreaker criteria will apply.
So far, Japan, the United States, Poland and Slovenia have already secured their qualification for the decisive phase of the tournament. Therefore, three vacancies remain open. Teams like Türkiye and Italy, despite not being qualified, can no longer be reached by Brazil in terms of points. The direct competition for the last places is concentrated between Brazil and the teams from Ukraine and Bulgaria.
Historically, Brazil is not usually left out of the final stages. The only time the men’s team did not advance to the decisive stage was in 1991, when the competition was still known as the World League. On that occasion, the team came in fifth place in the qualifying phase, and only the top four placed qualified. Since the Nations League was established in 2018, succeeding the World League (played since 1989), the Brazilian team has been present in all seven editions of the final phase, making the current risk situation a rare occurrence and of great concern for the team.
