TEHRAN – Iran lost to Bulgaria 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11) in the 2023 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Week 3 early Friday.

Asparuh Asparuhov scored 23 points for Bulgaria and Iran’s Ali Hajipour scored 17 points.             

Iran, who had lost to France 3-0 in their opening match, will play Argentina and Cuba in their following matches in Anaheim, the U.S.

Iran have lost to Japan, Poland, Slovenia, Italy, the Netherlands, the U.S., France and Bulgaria and defeated China and Germany.

The VNL Preliminary Phase features three weeks of competition, with each of the 16 teams playing 12 matches.

The eight best-ranked national teams in the Preliminary Phase will qualify for the Final Phase, which will be held in Gdańsk, Poland, from July 19-23 – host country Poland are already guaranteed a spot.