Volleyball Women's Club World Championships 2026

Stellar Squads Announced for 2026 Women’s Club World Championship

Some of the best players in the world will be in action in São Paulo from December 8-13

Published 09:00, 13 Nov 2026

Four-time world champions VakıfBank of Türkiye have a strong roster highlighted by Zehra Güneş and Tijana Bošković (Photo: CEV)

Volleyball stars from all over the world will be in São Paulo, Brazil, from December 8-13, representing their teams in the 19^th edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship.

Featuring some of the top players in the world, the official roster announcement for the eight participating teams, made less than a month before the start of the tournament, increases the excitement for the event that will take place at Wlamir Marques Multi-Sports Gymnasium in the Tatuapé region.

Watch the Women's Club World Championship live on VBTV

Four-time world champions VakıfBank SK of Türkiye will go for their fifth world title with a squad filled with international stars and led by local star middle blocker Zehra Güneş, one of the best in the world in her position. Veteran Italian head coach Giovanni Guidetti has several other weapons in his team, most notably Serbian opposite Tijana Bošković, Russian outside hitter Marina Markova and Turkish setter Cansu Özbay.

Their domestic rivals Eczacıbaşı Peron Istanbul, who hold three world titles, are not behind when it comes to star power. The Turkish giants have two elite scorers in Turkish outside hitter Ebrar Karakurt and Italian opposite Ekaterina Antropova, the MVP in last year’s Savino Del Bene Scandicci’s victory in São Paulo, and elite players in every position, including Japanese national team captain Mayu Ishikawa, American Olympic medalist middle blocker Dana Rettke and Turkish setter Elif Şahin.

Hosts Osasco São Cristovão Saúde, who won the Club World Championship in 2012 and took bronze last year, looked mostly abroad to boost their chances of reclaiming the title. The team coached by veteran Luizomar de Moura brought Polish star opposite Magdalena Stysiak and a pair of Italians in setter Marta Bechis and outside hitter Anastasia Guerra to join a strong core of Brazilians formed by national team libero Marcelle Arruda, veteran outside hitter Amanda Campos and up-and-coming middle blocker Larissa Besen.

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Women's Club World Championship Squads

The second Brazilian team in the event, SESI Vôlei Bauru trust the guidance of Olympic champion setter Dani Lins to challenge the best teams in the world. The reigning South American champions also have national team middle blocker Diana Duarte and a promising international trio formed by American opposite Morgahn Fingall, Mexican outside hitter Sofia Maldonado and Venezuelan outside hitter Roslandy Acosta.

Six-time Peruvian champions Club Alianza Lima are set to compete at the Club World Championship for a second straight season and have Colombian setter María Alejandra Marín and Peruvian national team libero Esmeralda Sánchez as some of their key players. Offensively, Argentine outside hitter Daniela Bulaich and veteran Romanian opposite Ioana-Maria Baciu will carry their scoring load.

Reigning Asian champions NEC Red Rockets Kawasaki of Japan will have Italian opposite Sylvia Nwakalor as a key piece in their plans for the event. The European heavy-hitter will be surrounded by some Japanese national team players, including middle blocker Nichika Yamada and setter Tsukasa Nakagawa.

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The second Asian representative in the event, Kazakhstan’s Zhetysu VC will be back in São Paulo after finishing seventh last year. In 2026, veteran outside hitter Irina Kenzhebaeva will lead the team alongside Serbian setter Marija Miljević and Chinese outside hitter Yiwen Miao.

African champions Al Ahly SC of Egypt are the eighth and last team set to compete in Brazil. Some of the standouts in their squad, which is entirely formed by Egyptian players, are middle blocker Mayar Mohamed, libero Nada Walid, setter Doaa Mohamed and outside hitter Dooa Elghobashy, a two-time beach volleyball Olympian.

The eight participating teams were split into two pools, with Osasco, Eczacıbaşı, NEC Red Rockets and Alianza going into Pool A and SESI, VakıfBank, Zhetysu and Al Ahly forming Pool B. Pool play will take place from December 8-10, and the two best teams in each pool will advance to compete in the semifinals on December 12 and the medal matches on December 13.