TEHRAN -Bulgaria defeated Iran in straight sets (25-23, 25-19, 25-21) in the 2026 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Thursday night.

Team Melli will meet Argentina, and Belgium in their following  matches in Pool 2.

The opening round of the new national team season in international volleyball gets underway across the world from 10 June in the Men's Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2026.

It marks the first of three competition weeks, in which each team will play a total of 12 games during a league phase, culminating in the top seven teams – plus knockout round hosts People's Republic of China – progressing to the knockout stages in Ningbo.