Japan and France are set to compete in the final match of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2024 on Sunday in Łódź, Poland. The championship match will take place at the Atlas Arena at 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT). Earlier in the day, Poland will face Slovenia for the bronze medal.
Japan earned their spot in the final after defeating Slovenia 3-0 (25-21, 27-25, 31-29) in the semifinals. This victory marks Japan’s first appearance in a VNL gold medal match.
In their semifinal match, Japanese captain Yuki Ishikawa led the team with 21 points, followed by Yuji Nishida with 18 points. Slovenia, led by Tonček Štern with 20 points, will compete for their first VNL medal in the bronze match.
In the other semifinal, reigning Olympic champions France triumphed over Poland in a thrilling five-set match (22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 18-16) in front of a home crowd of over 10,000 fans.
