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Cuba finally got some breathing space after escaping the bottom of the standings yesterday, while Canada are tired of wasting opportunities and will be hoping to end their losing streak. Which side will come out on top?
Canada Desperate to End Losing Run
Canada’s Nations League 2026 playoff hopes disappeared long ago, and they entered the final week focused solely on avoiding relegation, sitting 17th in the standings with a 1-9 record.
The Canadians were competitive throughout Week 2 but lacked consistency, suffering consecutive defeats to Slovenia (3-1), Ukraine (3-2) and Bulgaria (3-2).
Their losing streak stretched to four matches in late June when they pushed one of the tournament favourites, Brazil, all the way before eventually losing 3-2 after twice coming from behind to force a deciding set.
Earlier this week, Canada suffered a fifth consecutive defeat in another five-set thriller against Argentina after throwing away a 2-0 lead, while an identical scenario unfolded against Japan yesterday.
Red-Hot Cuba
Cuba endured a disastrous opening two weeks of the Nations League 2026 but have found their rhythm recently and finally escaped the bottom of the standings, improving to a 2-8 record.
The Cubans opened Week 2 with a heavy 3-0 defeat to the United States before coming close to ending their losing run against France. They led 2-1 in sets but failed to close out the match, eventually losing 3-2, before suffering further 3-1 defeats to Serbia and Iran.
That miserable losing streak finally came to an end on Wednesday as Cuba caused a major upset by defeating Belgium 3-0, then backed it up with another victory, beating Argentina 3-2 yesterday.