Poland sweeps Brazil 3-0 in Chicago to secure spot in Volleyball Nations League Final Eight

Match in Chicago

Poland faced Brazil in the third week of the Volleyball Nations League preliminary round at a packed arena in Chicago, where Polish fans dominated the stands. The defending champions, coached by Nikola Grbić, entered the match on a five-game winning streak and needed a victory to lock up a spot in the Final Eight. Brazil, sitting outside the qualification zone, were desperate for points and had less than 24 hours of rest after their loss to the United States, while Poland enjoyed over 50 hours of recovery.

The first set was tight. Brazil jumped to a 10-7 lead behind attacks from Darlan Souza and Ricardo Lucarelli, but Poland responded with a serving run from Tomasz Fornal and a late substitution of Wilfredo Leon, who drew loud cheers. Poland tied at 18-18 and pulled away to win 25-22 after a Brazilian attacking error. The second set was even closer. Poland built an early 7-3 advantage with strong blocking from Fornal and Marcin Komenda, but Brazil fought back to level at 20-20. A controversial point was overturned by a successful challenge from Grbić, and Poland eventually took the set 28-26 after two Brazilian mistakes in transition. The third set saw Poland complete the sweep, though the exact score was not detailed in initial reports.

We have tough opponents, but we came with the best team.

Poland's path to the finals

The victory was Poland's seventh in nine matches, lifting them to third place in the overall standings with 20 points. After a sluggish start to the season (winning only two of their first four matches while fielding a reserve-heavy lineup) the team has now won six in a row. The return of key players like Leon, Kamil Semeniuk, and Jakub Popiwczak during the second tournament in Gliwice and now in Chicago has transformed the squad. In their previous match, Poland dismantled Bulgaria 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-17). Poland are the reigning champions, having won the 2025 edition in Ningbo without dropping a set in the final round.

Four difficult matches ahead of us.

Brazil's fading hopes

Brazil, coached by Bernardo Rezende, came into the match in eighth place with a 6-4 record. They had beaten France 3-0 earlier in the Chicago tournament but were swept by the United States (23-25, 19-25, 18-25). The loss to Poland dropped them to ninth, four points behind seventh-placed Ukraine, with only one match remaining against China. Brazilian media had labeled the Poland clash a "key match" and acknowledged the difficulty. Globo outlined scenarios requiring Brazil to beat both Poland and China while hoping for losses by Turkey or Italy. The defeat leaves their qualification hopes extremely slim. Brazil have never missed a Nations League final phase since the competition's launch in 2018, and the last time they failed to reach the decisive stage of the top annual tournament was in 1991, when it was still the World League.

What's next

Poland still have two more matches in Chicago, against France and the United States, but their place in the Final Eight is now secure. The tournament will be held in Ningbo, China, from 29 July to 2 August, featuring the top seven teams from the preliminary round plus host China. Poland will aim to defend their title and continue their run in the competition, where they have medaled in every edition except the first.