Four European teams ready to fight for title in the final round of the 2024 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League

The final round of the 2024 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League will throw off in the  Atlas Arena in Łódź, Poland, on 27 June, with four European teams at the start, as the previous two champions of the competition, France and Poland, are also lined up.

Slovenia, Poland, France and Italy are the four participating European teams, as the continent aims to extend its dominance in the competition, having won four of the five editions, with Russia clinching the title in 2018 and 2019, while France and Poland won the previous two editions, in 2022 and 2023.

The only certain thing is that one European team will surely be in the semi-finals, as France and Italy are colliding in one quarter-finals, with the winner of the clash meeting the winner of the match between hosts Poland and Brazil.

So far, Italy have secured nine wins and lost only three matches, including two of the last four played in week 3 of the preliminary round, 0:3 against Slovenia and 0:3 against Poland, two of the teams which made it into the quarter-finals. The two sides have already met in the current edition of the competition, with France taking a 3:2 (25:23; 18:25; 25:23; 19:25; 15:10) win.

But Italy will surely remember the 3:0 win in the CEV EuroVolley 2023 Men semi-finals last autumn, when they properly dominated the reigning Olympic champions, with a straightforward win, 25:21; 25:19 and 25:23.

Boosted by opposite spiker Tonček Štern, who has been in an otherworldly form in the preliminary round of the 2024 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League, Slovenia have secured the first place, with 11 wins and one loss, 1:3 against Japan, in Pool 3. However, Slovenia have dropped 14 sets so far, four more than Poland.

But with Tonček Štern in fantastic form – the second-placed player in the top points standings, with 259 points – Slovenia are favoured against Argentina, with the South American side finishing eighth, with six wins and six losses, and with only 23 sets won and 24 dropped in the preliminary round.

The other European side qualified for the final round of the 2024 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League are Poland, the reigning champions, which have made the semi-finals in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023, always clinching a medal, with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals under their belt.

At home, Poland, which have lost only two matches so far, and dropped only 10 sets, will face Brazil, which had a 6-6 record, but have delivered Poland one of their two losses, 3-1, in Pool 3. In the other quarter-final, Japan face Canada, with the winner facing the winner of the quarter-final between Slovenia and Argentina.

The final round of the 2024 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League will take place between 27 and 30 June, with the semi-finals scheduled for 29 June and the final and the bronze medal match for 30 June.