Cuba has finalized its men's team that will begin competition from June 10 to 14 during the first week of the 2026 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) preliminaries, hosted in the Chinese city of Linyi, where they will open against Poland. Head coach Jesús Cruz announced the 14 roster members on Tuesday. The team will be officially presented on Thursday afternoon at the National School of Volleyball in Havana.

Cruz specified that the middle blockers will be David Fiel (Havana), Alexis Wilson (Havana), Thiago Suárez (Pinar del Río), and Jakdiel Contreras (Mayabeque). The outside hitters will be Julio César Cárdenas (Matanzas), Nivaldo Díaz (Havana), Víctor Ramón Andreu (Camagüey), and Bryan Camino (Mayabeque). The opposites will be Alejandro Miguel González (Matanzas) and Daniel Martínez (Matanzas). The setters will be Christian Thondike (Havana), who will also serve as team captain, and Julio Alberto Gómez (Havana). The selected liberos are Yonder García (Havana) and Lázaro Yudiel Arrechea (Cienfuegos).

Assistant coaches will be Mario Izquierdo and Manuel Espinosa, along with physiotherapist Eladio Vives. Yumilka Ruiz, national commissioner, will serve as head of delegation. The team is scheduled to travel to China on May 30. It was also learned that in the city of Linyi, Cuba will play three preparatory matches against the host nation. Making their senior team debuts are Martínez, Cárdenas, Andreu, Díaz, Wilson, Contreras, and Arrechea.

Another important point noted by Cruz is that on July 13, the squad will be reinforced by Havana middle blockers Robertlandy Simón and Javier Concepción, outside hitters Marlon Yant (Villa Clara) and Miguel Ángel López (Cienfuegos), and opposite José Massó (Guantánamo). The Cuban head coach explained to the sports publication JIT: "Our fundamental objective is to fight to remain in the top 12 of the rankings. Once we get through the first week, we will have a clearer idea of what our final goal will be."

According to the International Volleyball Federation's website (www.fivb.com), Cuba will open its schedule in Pool 3 on June 10 against Poland, the current world champion and top-ranked team. They will then face Ukraine (June 12), Slovenia (June 13), and China (June 14). During the second week, in Pool 4, they will play in the French city of Orléans against the United States (Olympic bronze medalists in Paris 2024) on June 24, followed by the host French team (Olympic champions) on June 25, Serbia on June 26, and Iran on June 28.

The Japanese city of Kansai will host the third and final preliminary phase for Cuba, with Pool B opponents Belgium (July 15), Argentina (July 17), Canada (July 18), and Italy (July 19), the reigning world champions. The VNL men's final is scheduled for July 29 to August 2 in the Chinese city of Ningbo. In this edition of the VNL, Cuba will not face Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria, Japan, or Turkey.