Bulgaria, Finland, Italy and Romania co-host men’s EuroVolley on road to LA 2028 and World Cup 2027

The 2026 CEV Men’s Volleyball European Championship, officially dubbed CEV Enel EuroVolley 2026 Men, is set to get underway on Wednesday, September 9. It will be co-hosted by four different countries – Bulgaria, Finland, Italy and Romania. The medal matches will be played in the northern Italian town of Assago on September 26 and will not only determine this year’s continental champion, who will get Europe’s first ticket to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games men’s volleyball event, but will also issue three tickets to the 2027 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Cup.

Europe’s best 24 men’s national volleyball teams are split into four round-robin pools of six, one per host country. The top four teams in each pool will then advance to the eighthfinals to be played in Bulgaria and Italy (Turin). The same two venues will host the quarterfinals, before all the final-four action takes place at the Unipol Forum in Assago to finalize the medal winners.

EuroVolley 2026 will open for business with the first game in Pool B on Wednesday evening. Bulgaria will entertain North Macedonia at Arena 8888 in Sofia, serving off at 19:00 local time (16:00 UTC). The youthful, but talented Bulgarian team will be eager to excel in front of the home crowd, following their success at last year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, where they earned silver. However, they have not made a European Championship podium since 2009, when they added the fourth bronze to their collection, which also contains one silver.

The pool in Sofia is highlighted by the presence of the number one team in the FIVB World Ranking – Poland. Defending EuroVolley champions, gold medalists of the last two editions of the Volleyball Nations League, silver medalists of the last Olympic Games and bronze medalists of the last World Championship, the Poles are among the favorites for the 2026 continental title and the ticket to LA 2028. As hosts, they are automatically qualified for the 2027 World Cup. Poland’s EuroVolley medal record features two titles (2009 and 2023), five silvers and four bronzes.

Pool B also features Ukraine, Portugal, Israel and North Macedonia – in the order they follow in the World Ranking.

Pool D to be played at the BT Arena in Cluj Napoca will also get into action on Wednesday evening, with a game between hosts Romania and Latvia. France, Turkiye, Germany and Switzerland are also in that pool.

The champions of the last two editions of the Olympic Games France are the highest ranked team in the pool at number eight. However, Turkiye at number 10 and Germany at number 12 are not too far behind. France won the European Championship in 2015. They also have four silvers and two bronzes in their collection.

Hosts Romania are the only other member of the pool to have ever triumphed as continental champions, but that happened way back, in 1963. Their EuroVolley showcase also features two silvers and two bronzes. Germany have one silver medal on their record and they are also the only member of the pool to have ever reigned as world champions, back in 1970.

Arena Tampere will host the matches in Pool C, which will get underway on Thursday evening with a game between hosts Finland and Denmark. These teams will be in tough competition with Serbia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Estonia.

The world’s number 13 Serbia are the highest ranked team in the pool. Also as successors of Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro, they are one of the most decorated teams in EuroVolley history, with three titles (2001, 2011, 2019), one silver and eight bronzes. They were also Olympic champions at Sydney 2000.

The Netherlands are the only other team in that pool to have medaled in EuroVolley history, with gold in 1997, two silvers and two bronzes. They also have bragging rights over the Atlanta 1996 Olympic title.

Pool A in Italy will be the last one to serve off, on Thursday evening. The opening match between the home team and Sweden will be played at Arena Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples. The rest of the Pool A fixtures will take place at the Panini hall in Modena.

Number two in the world Italy are the clear favorites in this pool. They are the second most decorated team in the history of the European Championships, with seven crowns, five silver and three bronze medals. The southern European squad finished runners-up at the last EuroVolley in 2023. They also have as many as five World Championship titles in their showcase. As defending world champions, they are already qualified for World Cup 2027.

Slovenia are expected to deliver the biggest challenge to Italy in the pool. They are number four in the World Ranking. They medaled at four of the last five European Championships with three silvers and a 2023 bronze. They also took bronze in this year’s VNL.

Czechia, Greece, Sweden and Slovakia are the other teams in Pool A. When two of these nations were parts of the same country – Czechoslovakia – its team collected three continental crowns (1948, 1955, 1958) and four silvers, as well as two World Championship titles. Sweden and Greece have also been on the European Championship podium – the northerners with a 1989 silver and the southerners with a 1987 bronze.

CEV Men's Volleyball European Championship: schedule and results

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