Vietnam women's volleyball suffered a significant point deduction after losing to Kazakhstan

The loss against Kazakhstan has severely affected the prospects of coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet's squad in retaining their AVC Cup championship.

The Vietnamese women's volleyball team lost 2-3 to Kazakhstan in their final group B match of the 2026 AVC Cup on the morning of June 12 (Hanoi time). This also marked the first defeat for Tran Thi Thanh Thuy and her teammates in the history of competing in this top Asian tournament.

This relatively surprising loss negatively affected Vietnam women's volleyball's points on the FIVB world rankings. As a result, they lost 4.96 points, now standing at only 143.93 points.

The nearly five-point loss after this defeat was not unexpected, as Kazakhstan is ranked five places below Vietnam in the world volleyball standings. Fortunately, coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet's team maintained their 27th position and still have a margin of over 10 points from the nearest team outside the top 30, currently held by Cuba.

However, if they lose another match in this year's AVC Cup, Vietnam women's volleyball may find it difficult to keep their current 27th ranking. Their potential opponent in the semifinals is South Korea—a strong team but ranked only 34th in the world, below Kazakhstan. In case of a 0-3 or 1-3 loss, Vietnam's accumulated points are expected to be deducted quite heavily.

The 2-3 result against Kazakhstan placed Vietnam second in Group B, meaning they will face the top team of Group A (likely South Korea). The journey to defend their title for three consecutive years, already expected to be tough, has become even more difficult for Thanh Thuy and her teammates.

Vietnam's opponent in the final four will be confirmed after the match between South Korea and Chinese Taipei concludes on the evening of June 12. The two AVC Cup 2026 semifinals will take place on June 13—the penultimate day of the tournament.