Finland stirred the biggest shocker of the 2026 CEV Men’s Volleyball European Championship, officially dubbed CEV Enel EuroVolley 2026 Men, so far by knocking out co-hosts and reigning world champions Italy in the last quarterfinal on Wednesday evening, thus gaining passage not only to the semifinals of the competition, but also to the 2027 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup, picking up the three continental berths along with fellow semifinalists France and Slovenia. The fourth EuroVolley semifinalist – Poland – are already qualified for next year’s premier competition as hosts. On Friday and Saturday, the four squads will battle it out for the spots on the European Championship podium and for Europe’s continental ticket to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games men’s volleyball event.
Finland were also one of the four co-hosts of EuroVolley 2026. Playing the Pool C matches at home in Tampere, they achieved victories over Denmark, Belgium, Serbia and the Netherlands, but after losing their last home game to Estonia in five sets, they finished pool runners-up to Belgium. Moving to Turin, Italy for the next two rounds of the competition, Finland came back from a set down twice during their eighthfinal against Greece to celebrate a narrow 3-2 (22-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13) win. In front of well over eight thousand fans in the stands in Turin on Wednesday evening, Finland produced a shocking 3-2 (21-25, 28-26, 25-16, 20-25, 15-13) quarterfinal victory over the home squad, reigning world champions and the number two team in the FIVB World Ranking Italy, and made it among the top four in Europe for the second time, after their historic fourth place in 2007. The northern European team will play at the World Cup (previously the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship) for the 10th time, with a ninth-place finish in 2014 as their best result. With this stunning success against the southern European powerhouse, Finland jumped up to number 12 in the World Ranking.
