 on Sunday, winning the competition for the second time, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.){kind=link}
Turkey’s women’s national volleyball team defeated Brazil 3-1 in the final of the 2026 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) on Sunday, winning the competition for the second time, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkey recovered after losing the opening set at the East Asian Games Dome in Macao, China, winning 23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-21, according to the official match record published by Volleyball World.
Brazil established a five-point lead late in the first set before Turkey narrowed the gap, but the South American team held on to take it 25-23.
The second set remained close until Turkey leveled the match with a 25-23 win. Turkey then prevailed 26-24 in a tightly contested third set before overcoming a late Brazilian comeback to close out the fourth 25-21 and secure the championship.
Melissa Vargas, Turkey’s Cuban-born opposite hitter, was named the tournament’s most valuable player, the Turkish Volleyball Federation (TVF) announced.
The victory gave Turkey its second VNL title following its first championship in 2023, when it defeated China in the final. Turkey was also runner-up in the inaugural tournament in 2018 and won the bronze medal in 2021, bringing its VNL medal tally to two golds, one silver and one bronze.
The team, widely known in Turkey as the “Sultans of the Net,” has reached the final stage in every edition of the tournament since the VNL replaced the World Grand Prix in 2018.
The latest championship is the third gold medal Turkey has won under Italian head coach Daniele Santarelli, who took charge in 2023. Santarelli previously guided the team to the VNL and European Championship titles in his first year as coach. Turkey also won the silver medal at the 2025 FIVB Women’s World Championship.
Sunday’s victory reversed the result of the bronze-medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Brazil defeated Turkey in straight sets. Turkey had reached the Olympic semifinals for the first time before finishing fourth.
For Brazil, Sunday’s loss marked a fifth runner-up finish in the VNL. The team previously lost the finals to the United States in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and to Italy in 2025.
Italy secured the bronze medal earlier Sunday, defeating host China 3-1 with set scores of 25-16, 23-25, 25-22, 25-13, according to the official match results. The result gave Italy its fourth VNL medal after winning the tournament in 2022, 2024 and 2025.