TEHRAN – Iran men's volleyball team assistant coach Tomaso Totolo believes the team have made significant progress in the 2026 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL), insisting the only thing missing is more victories.

Iran concluded the Week 2 of the preliminary round with a 3-1 victory over Cuba but suffered defeats to France, the United States, and Japan. The team have now arrived in Belgrade, Serbia, where they are preparing for the final week of the preliminary phase.

Reflecting on Iran's performance, Totolo said the team had taken important steps forward despite recording only one win in Week 2.

"We are quite happy with our second week because we improved both our style of play and our system. Unfortunately, we earned only one victory, and that's the only thing we are missing. We definitely deserved two more wins, but we are pleased with the progress the team have made in every aspect," the Italian coach said.

Totolo highlighted Iran's competitiveness against some of the world's strongest teams.

"The most important thing was that we played against very powerful teams such as France, Japan, and the U.S., and we were on the same level as all of them. That's something we should be happy about," he said.

"Of course, we have to finish matches better because the difference between winning and losing came down to only a few points. We missed opportunities that we should have converted."

Iran have once again chosen Serbia as their training base before the final week of the competition, a decision Totolo believes will benefit the squad.

"We had a very good training camp here last year, and it helped the team improve. Everything is ideal for training, and we believe staying here is much better than continuing to travel around the world, which we've been doing for the past month," he said.

Looking ahead to Week 3, Totolo expects another tough challenge but remains optimistic.

"We definitely expect to perform better in the third week. We want to finish matches more effectively and achieve better results. Every team in this year's Volleyball Nations League are of a high standard, so every match will be difficult."

Iran will face Ukraine, Germany, Slovenia, and Turkey in Belgrade from July 15 to 19.

Totolo warned that Ukraine, in particular, have become a much stronger side.

"Ukraine are a different team compared to last year. They had a good VNL campaign then, but this year they have higher-ranked and more experienced players. Slovenia, Germany, and Turkey are also very strong teams."

"Our objective is to win as many matches as possible because we want to improve not only our VNL standing but also our position in the FIVB World Ranking. Above all, however, our priority is to continue raising the level of our performance," he concluded.