Seven African girls’ pairs lead chase for Youth Olympic Games glory in Dakar

The beach volleyball event at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games will take place at Saly Beach West in Dakar from 31 October to 4 November with 24 girls’ teams set to contest for the title.

It will be the first time Africa will be hosting an Olympic Games competition (junior or senior).

Mozambique’s Assucena Xavier Mabjaia & Célia Nelson Machava will start as the highest ranked African side as fifth seeds. They are in Pool E together with Argentina’s Angeles Frascaroli & Garcia Curado Isabella, Guam’s Alessandra Leon Guerrero & Erica Cassidy and the empowered Mathilde Berthaudeau & Malo Mir of France.

Buoyed by the home crowd, Senegal’s sixth seeds Nafi Segnane & Fatou Thiam will start as favourites in Pool F which also has Malaysia’s Goh Yu Heng & Jing Yi Ong, Zoe Paniagua Portorreal & Yerelin Carlenis Reyes Montero of the Dominican Republic and Gabriela De Fátima Santos Dos Reis & Yenda Sofia Wahnon Neves Mendes of Cape Verde.

Top seeds Ming Zhuang & Siyu Qi of China are in Pool A together with Sofia Martinez & Maria Estefania Gomez Martinez of Paraguay, Canada’s Julia McDougall & Natalia Casas and Fatima Sanneh & Kaddy Saidy of The Gambia.

Jara Both & Matilda de Groot of The Netherlands claimed bronze at this year’s FIVB U18 Beach Volleyball World Championships in The Hague. The Dutch second seeds have been placed in Pool B together with Tunisia’s Lamis Lourassi & Israa Bouaziz, Thailand’s Ainthira Ninsonthi & Phatthanan Wongnongwaeng and Angeliki Charissaki & Grigoria Anna Margaritopoulou of Greece.

Seeded third, Anja Gähwiler & Noemi Eugster will fly Switzerland’s flag in Dakar. They are in Pool C alongside Ecuador’s Isabella Habze Amoretti & Katherine Scarlette Parraga Barela, Angela Perez Araujo & Celia Yazbeth López Higuera of Mexico and Puerto Rico’s Dana Marina Rodriguez Vives & Arialeey Sofia Serrano Villanueva.

Italy’s fourth seeds Margherita Coretti & Micol Lafuenti headline Pool D that also has Japan’s Auru Kato & Mei Nakagawa, Egypt’s Karma Badawy & Marwa Mamdouh Salem Saleh and Nigeria’s Pamela Miyoum Bawa & Joy Lawrence.

The girls’ competition will feature 24 teams divided into six pools of four. The pool phase will take place on 31 October and 1 November, with teams competing in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each pool, together with the two best third-placed teams, will advance directly to the Round of 16.

The four remaining third-placed teams will compete in an additional qualification round on 2 November, with the two winners securing the final spots in the 16-team single-elimination phase.

The Round of 16 will also take place on 2 November, followed by the quarterfinals and semifinals on 3 November. The competition will conclude on 4 November with the bronze and gold medal matches.

Click here to visit the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games Beach Volleyball event page.