FIVB Volleyball Boys' U17 World Championship

Race for the first boys' U17 world title begins on Saturday in Sofia

Watch every match of the tournament free of charge on VBTV

Published 09:00, 23 Aug 2024

Outside hitter Manuel Zlatanov, who helped Italy take silver at the U18 European Championship last month, will be in action this week (Photo: CEV)

The 16 best U17 men’s national teams on the planet begin on Saturday the race to claim the first-ever world title in the age group as the maiden edition of the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship starts in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

Watch the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship free of charge on VBTV

With matches split between the Levski Sofia sports hall and the Hristo Botev volleyball hall, the tournament will have eight days of action from August 24-31 – there will be one day off on August 28, between the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals.

Featuring national teams representing all five continental confederations, the event will start with four pools of four teams each. Hosts Bulgaria are in Pool A, alongside European rivals Spain, Mexico and the Chinese Taipei.

We have to fight for every ball and show the other teams that against us it will not be easy for them to score a point and if they want to, they will have to win them the hardest way. I expect the boys to be calm, play with a lot of desire, fight for every ball and improve our game with each passing game. I hope the audience will support the boys and that will give them wings. Teodor Bogdanov, head coach of Bulgaria

Bulgaria played preparation matches against Brazil, Iran and Italy, getting one win and two losses (Photo: Bulgarian Volleyball Federation)

Pool B will feature three teams from Africa – Egypt, Libya and Tunisia – and one from Asia – Iran -, while Pool C has representatives from South America – Argentina -, Europe – Italy – and the NORCECA region – Cuba and Puerto Rico. Finally, Pool D has two national teams from South America – Brazil and Chile -, one from Europe – Belgium – and another one from Asia – Uzbekistan.

All 16 national teams will advance to the Round of 16 and their pool positions will determine their matchups. The eight teams that prevail in their first elimination matches move forward to the quarterfinals, while the losers play the playoffs from ninth to 16^th place.

Eight matches on the opening day

Eight matches will take place on Saturday, the tournament’s opening day in Sofia, with two duels happening at a time. The first encounters, scheduled for 11:00 local time (8:00 GMT), will have Mexico facing the Chinese Taipei in Pool A and Iran meeting Libya in Pool B.

FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship: match schedule

Three hours later, the African derby between Egypt and Tunisia will be held in Pool B, as well as the match between Argentina and Puerto Rico in Pool C. At 17:00 (14:00), hosts Bulgaria will make their debut, featuring in their first Pool A match against Spain, while Belgium and Uzbekistan clash in Pool D.

The opening day schedule will be completed at 20:00 (17:00), when Italy play Cuba in Pool C and Brazil face South American rivals Chile in Pool D.