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The story
In the final of the Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship, Japan defeated Iran 3-0 to secure a spot in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. It’s the earliest Japan has qualified before an Olympic year since 1976. On the forum thread, some praised Iran for enduring a grueling schedule, while others — recalling Japan’s collapse against Italy at the Paris Olympics — warned the team “don’t choke when it counts.” Others pushed back, citing Japan’s third-place finish in this year’s Nations League (VNL) as proof they’re plenty strong, leaving opinions on the team’s true strength divided.
Sponichi
[Sept. 13, 2026, 21:02]
Men’s Volleyball Asian Championship Final Japan 3-0 Iran (Sept. 13, 2026, Kitakyushu City General Gymnasium, Fukuoka)
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Wait, was it only Iran dealing with that?
Every country's under the same conditions though. Soccer's the ugly one — teams play on 4 or 5 days' rest between matches.
They were world No. 3 in this year's VNL. That's plenty strong.
Baseball, rugby, volleyball, badminton, table tennis
Ball sports where Japan is hopeless globally:
Soccer (lit. "ball-kicking" — a dismissive nickname used by anti-soccer posters), basketball
Baseball got crushed by Venezuela though
They've kept up that strategy for over 20 years and it's worked reasonably well, so why not?
I'm a middle-aged guy, but I'm enough of a fan to go watch matches in person. Just don't know anyone else like me around here.
They played Italy in Paris and had it down to match point, but then blew it with a huge comeback loss — I remember them in tears.
Soccer
670M Ronaldo
510M Messi
240M Neymar
Cricket
270M Kohli
50.53M Dhoni
46.44M Sharma
Basketball
150M LeBron
57.11M Curry
21.79M Westbrook
Tennis
21.12M Nadal
16.72M Djokovic
8.74M Alcaraz
American Football
16.54M Beckham
15.53M Brady
6.46M Mahomes
Baseball
10.82M Ohtani
2.48M Tatis
2.36M Yamamoto
Volleyball
2.47M Takahashi
2.04M Ishikawa
1.91M Souza
Volleyball's got fewer followers than baseball, huh lol
The women's Olympic qualification looks hopeless now.
Yesterday's Korea match, Japan was basically just goofing around lol
7.73M J1 (soccer, top division)
4.84M B.League (basketball)
2.91M J2 (soccer, 2nd division)
1.28M J3 (soccer, 3rd division)
0.66M SV League (Japan's top volleyball league)
0.50M Volleyball Serie A1 (volleyball's top league worldwide)
Even the world's top volleyball league draws smaller crowds than soccer's J3 or basketball's B2. Salaries for even the best volleyball players in the world are dirt cheap too.
Think about the size of a soccer pitch versus a volleyball court. Then think about stadium capacity too.
If Ishikawa stays consistent, they're strong.
Korea's not that bad though — they went on to win bronze in the third-place match after that. It's just that Japan is a cut above the rest of Asia.
#1 Ronaldo (660M)
#2 Messi (510M)
#3 Neymar (230M)
#4 Mbappé (130M)
#5 Salah (65.58M)
Baseball players' Instagram followers
#1 Ohtani (10.83M)
#2 Tatis Jr. (2.48M)
#3 Yamamoto (2.36M)
#4 Trout (2.22M)
#5 Judge (2.06M)
Volleyball players' Instagram followers
#1 Güneş (3.92M)
#2 Carvalho (3.55M)
#3 Takahashi (2.44M)
#4 Valdés (2.33M)
#5 Altynbekova (1.14M)
*All except Takahashi are women
So Japanese soccer players don't measure up globally in skill OR social media popularity, huh. Meanwhile baseball and volleyball at least have a few Japanese names in there.
The commentators were working hard to defend him, but surprisingly the announcer showed no mercy.
Volleyball's popular worldwide, so the competition's fierce. Not quite on soccer's level, but the US, Russia, and Europe — Italy, France, Poland, plus a bunch of smaller countries — are all pretty strong. Brazil and Argentina too.
Really? That's rough.
Background and key discussion points
Olympic qualification for men’s volleyball is decided through results at the Asian Championship and world rankings, and clinching a spot before the Olympic year itself is the fastest Japan has managed since 1976. The thread split over whether the team’s current form will actually hold up when it matters — memories of the come-from-ahead loss to Italy at the 2024 Paris Olympics collided with confidence built on this year’s third-place VNL finish, producing both bullish and cautious takes. Comparisons with J.League and pro baseball attendance and social-media follower counts also came up, highlighting how the sport’s name recognition doesn’t always match its on-court strength. Worth noting as backdrop: the women’s national team was eliminated around the same time and is considered all but out of Olympic contention, a stark contrast to the men’s success.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Volleyball] Japan men clinch LA Olympic berth! Rout Iran, secure spot before Olympic year for the first time since 1976 / Final: Japan 3-0 Iran”.
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