Japan 🇯🇵 vs France 🇫🇷 | Highlights | Men's VNL 2026

Japan vs France | Highlights | Men's VNL 2026. The second week of the qualifying round of the Volleyball Nations League 2026 (VNL) is being held in Orleans, France, starting Wednesday, June 24th.

The Japanese men's volleyball team, ranked 4th in the FIVB world rankings (as of the start of the match), faced France and the USA, ranked 7th, on Sunday, June 28th Japan time. They won in a full set, 3-2 (28-30, 19-25, 25-17, 35-33, 15-12), bringing their overall record to 7 wins and 0 losses.

In the first set, Taishi Onodera made a block, and Kento Miyaura disrupted France's serve reception with a serve, giving Japan a break and a 7-4 lead. Japan continued to score points with Hideomi Fukatsu's diverse setting, but France gradually narrowed the gap to 14-12. Japan's serve reception became erratic, putting them in a difficult position, and they called a timeout when they fell behind 19-21. They managed to score a point from relief server Tatsunori Otsuka, tying the score at 22-22. The set went to deuce, with both teams exchanging side-outs, but in the end, France won the first set 28-30 with a block.

In the second set, Japan struggled to break serve, but a good receive by Tomohiro Yamamoto led to a block point. Yuki Ishikawa's serve gave Japan three consecutive breaks, putting them 10-7, prompting France to call a timeout. After France tied the score, they took the lead with service aces and other plays, and Japan was blocked, losing the set 19-25.

In the third set, Keigo Nishimoto was brought into the game. Thanks to some errors by France, Japan took the lead. Japan broke serve to make it 10-6, but France quickly responded with a service ace to keep the score at 10-8, a two-point difference. Nevertheless, Japan created an opportunity with a serve from Ran Takahashi, and a block by Ishikawa extended their lead to 15-11. Another service ace by Ishikawa made it 19-14. Shoma Tomita, who was brought in, made some steady serve receptions to lead to side outs, and finally Nishimoto blocked a quick attack to win the third set 25-17.

In the early stages of the fourth set, Japan trailed, but Ishikawa's blocks and spikes helped them take the lead 10-9. Japan continued to play tenacious volleyball, winning points even in rallies and gaining momentum. However, France also showed resilience, and when Japan narrowed the gap to 21-20, they called a timeout. France disrupted Japan's serve reception and took the lead 22-23. After a fierce rally, Japan tied the score, and then, with a serve from Takahashi Ran, they broke serve and took the lead 26-25. With neither team able to give up another point, the match entered the 30s, and in the end, Ishikawa scored with a spike to win the set 35-33.

The first point of the fifth set came from a spike by Kento Miyaura. Further blocks by Nishimoto and Ishikawa made it 3-0. They showed focused play in the rallies and took an 8-5 lead, but struggled against France's serves, narrowing the gap to 9-8. Nevertheless, they broke serve from Miyaura to make it 13-10, and finally, a spike by Ran Takahashi secured the win at 15-12. They won the hard-fought match that lasted over three hours.

The Japanese men's national team, having achieved a remarkable eight consecutive wins, will face Italy (ranked 2nd) in their next match at the Osaka tournament, held on Wednesday, July 15th at 7:20 PM at Asue Arena Osaka (Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture).

Yuki Ishikawa said
, "I'm happy that we were able to win, but I also found many areas where we can improve, so I want to work on correcting those. (Despite playing away from home) it was very exciting, and there were many people cheering for the Japanese team, so it was an enjoyable match. (Looking back on today's match) I'm sure my condition is improving little by little, but rather than trying to improve suddenly, I want to improve gradually and raise my performance level even higher. The team is doing very well, and the players who took the field performed well, so I think we can go into the Osaka tournament in this form. (Looking ahead to the Osaka tournament) I'm looking forward to playing in front of many Japanese people, and I want them to see us win, so I want to be prepared to give a good performance."

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