According to FIVB, the Saturday win in Ardabil secured Iran’s top spot in the table and “mathematically the Asian side cannot be outside of the top six.”
The competition is being held between May and July 2019 and the final round will take place in the Credit Union 1 Arena, Chicago, United States, on July 10 to 14.
The 16 teams compete in a round-robin format with every core team hosting a pool at least once. The teams are divided into four pools of four teams at each week and compete five weeks long, for 120 matches. The top five teams after the preliminary round will join the hosts of the final round to compete for VNL title.
Iran has recorded 10 wins out of 11 matches in 2019 VNL so far, sitting at top of the table with 30 points.
The Asian powerhouse will take on the 2018 VNL silver medalist, France, on Sunday that is the final match of Pool 15, being held in northwest city of Ardabil, Iran. The Persians have already gained two victories against Portugal and Australia this week.
MAH/PR