Eight countries end the year qualified for Los Angeles 2028

The NORCECA Continental Championship, which came to an end on Sunday in Puerto Rico, concluded the first part of the beach volleyball qualification process for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Even though 17 of the 24 berths in each gender won't be assigned until 2028, eight countries will reach the end of 2026 with their spots guaranteed in the next edition of the Games.

Already guaranteed a berth in each gender as the host country, the United States managed to claim a second men's spot through the continental qualifiers, while Brazil and Australia dominated their continents in both genders and Canada, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Sweden claimed a spot each.

The qualification process continues in 2027 with the winners of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship qualifying, and concludes in 2028, when 14 berths will be assigned via the FIVB Olympic Rankings and another three will be put up for contest in the Olympic Qualifier series.

Here's how it all unfolded across the five continents in 2026:

Europe

Europe was the first continent to host its continental tournament, with the best teams in the region competing in Stare Jablonki, Poland, in August at the EuroBeachVolley, which served as the first qualifier for Los Angeles 2028.

Two-time Olympians Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam took the women's title, qualifying the Netherlands for the Games, while Swedish Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson qualified their country among the men after taking down Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway.

Africa

Also in August, the African beach volleyball elite reunited in Alexandria, Egypt, to compete for the continent's spots at the next Olympics.

History was made among the women, with Esther Mbah and Pamela Bawa taking gold at the African Championship and qualifying Nigeria for the Games for the first time. The men's berth went to Morocco, which saw Zouheir Elgraoui and Soufiane El Gharouti come out on top in the tournament.

Asia

Asia was the next stage for the Olympic qualification showdown in early September, when Shangluo, China, played host to the Asian Championship.

The tournament was entirely dominated by Australia, which topped the podium in both genders and claimed the two Olympic spots in play, with Paris Olympians Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher prevailing among the men and Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist Taliqua Clancy and new partner Stefanie Fejes winning the women's event.

South America

South America had fierce competition for the continent's Olympic berths as the top teams in the region met in João Pessoa, Brazil, in September for the qualifier.

Home sand advantage played a big role and favored hosts Brazil, which triumphed in both genders, with Andre Loyola and Renato Lima leading the men and Thâmela Coradello and Victoria Lopes dominating on the women's side.

North, Central America and the Caribbean

The NORCECA (North, Central America and the Caribbean) region was the last one to assign its Olympic spots, which only happened in November, when Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, hosted the area's continental championship, which also served as a qualifier.

The women's final reunited the region's main powerhouses and ended with Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson beating Americans Kelly Chang and Megan Kraft. The Americans did take the men's title and Olympic spot with Chase Budinger and Trevor Crabb.

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