Volleyball fans are living the dream, with the FIVB Men’s Nations League starting just a week after the Women’s NL started. This competition will run for seven weeks, starting on June 6. France are the reigning champions after beating the United States in a thrilling five-set match last year.
The event will be held across seven cities, which are Ottawa, Nagoya, Rotterdam, Orleans, Anaheim, and Pasay City, and then the finals will be in Gdansk, Poland. It will be played over 47 days, starting on June 6. The French team is the current champion after beating the United States in 2022 in a tough match. France’s opening games as defending champions can’t get any tougher, as they will face Poland on June 7.
This year’s edition consists of 16 teams, split into two pools in the preliminary round. The top eight nations in the standings will qualify for the final round, while the last-place team will be relegated to the Challenger Cup.
| ℹ️ Tournament: | FIVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League 2023 |
| 🏟️ Venues: | Across seven different cities; Finals in Gdansk, Poland |
| 🗓️ Dates: | 6 June – 23 July 2023 |
Even with the absence of the outright volleyball odds to win the event, the top contenders to claim the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League are the following:
Poland is ranked first in the FIVB rankings, and they are always one of the favorites in any competition they participate in. The final will be played in Poland, and they will try to get their first Nations League gold medal at home. Italy is in good spirits after winning the European and World Championships last year. However, the Italian team’s best result in the Nations League was getting fourth place in 2022.
The United States have been unlucky to lose two Nations League finals in 2022 and 2019. The American team hasn’t won any titles since their 2015 World Cup win. France are the defending champions, and they will try to keep their title with back-to-back Nations League wins. Earvin N’Gapeth, 2022’s MVP, will lead the French team again in this tournament; they are ranked third in the FIVB rankings.
Brazil is ranked fourth right now, and they can be a real threat in this year’s edition. The Brazilian team won the Nations League in 2021 and will try to repeat that again.
The FIVB announced that they would create the Volleyball Nations League to replace the World Grand Prix and World League. The first official Men’s Volleyball Nations League was held in 2018 in Lille, France. The Russian team dominated the first two editions and won back-to-back gold medals.
This will be the fifth edition of the Men’s Volleyball Nations League. Poland, France, and the United States have three medals each. The Brazilian team won the 2021 edition, while the French team was the winner of the latest tournament in 2022.
The format for this year’s Men’s Volleyball Nations League is similar to the last edition. The tournament consists of the best 16 nations in volleyball, split into two individual pools for each of three weeks (picture below). In this regard, each team will play 12 games in the preliminary round, which will be played over three weeks. The first eight teams will qualify for the final round, which includes the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final.
Poland has already qualified for the quarterfinals as the host country of the final game. The last team in the standings after the preliminary round out of Bulgaria, Canada, China, Cuba, the Netherlands, and Slovenia will be relegated to the Challenger Cup, as the other ten nations are considered the core teams of the tournament.
Poland has a lot of pressure to perform well in this tournament. They are ranked first in the FIVB rankings, and they are the runner-up for the 2022 World Championship. Nikola Grbic, Poland’s coach, is one of the best in the world right now. The Polish team can rest their players early, as they have already qualified for the final round as hosts. Poland has some exceptional hitters like Kamil Semeniuk and Wilfredo Leon.
The Polish bookies have Poland as one of the strongest favorites to grab the Nations League title for the first time. The team will try their best to win a medal at home, as their last gold medal was in 2018 for their World Championship title. Poland had two of their national clubs in the CEV Champions League this year, which means that they prepared well for this tournament.
After their performance in the latest World Championship, Italy is looking like the team to beat right now. They are ranked second in the FIVB rankings, and they have a lot of talent in their squad. Alessandro Michieletto and Simone Giannelli are going to lead this Italian team in this tournament, and they are expected to put up good numbers. Italy has never won a medal in the Men’s Volleyball Nations League, and their best result was getting fourth in last year’s edition, so they will be motivated to get a medal finally.
The United States has a big historic advantage over the Netherlands, and the home game is a good chance for American punters to beat US volleyball bookies. The American team has beaten the Orange Tulips in seven of their last eight head-to-head matches. The United States have also beaten the Netherlands 3-0 in sets in three of their last five head-to-head games. Matt Anderson should be a great addition to this American team and will help them win.
Serbia has beaten Slovenia outright in eight of their last nine head-to-head matches. The Eagles haven’t lost by more than nine points in any of their last ten matches. Serbia is more than capable of winning at least a set or two in this match, and if they do that, they will most definitely cover the 9.5-point handicap.
The total number of sets has been going in that direction lately for both teams. Germany has gone over the total in 12 of their last 16 matches in all competitions. Brazil, on the other hand, has gone over the total in three straight matches. The Brazilian team is the heavy favorite in this matchup, but Germany can get a set here to make it go over the total.
This tournament edition is expected to be very competitive, with teams like Poland, Italy, France, the United States, and Brazil. The Polish team has a really good chance of reaching the finals. Make sure you explore diverse bets with BetZillion, use our FIVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League 2023 predictions and bet them at the legal online bookies to have more fun watching the game.
