The long-list rosters with up to 25 players per team for the inaugural editions of the FIVB Volleyball Boys’ and Girls’ U17 World Championships to take place in August 2024 in Sofia and Lima, respectively, have been released. The rosters will eventually be reduced to 12 players per team for the tournaments.
The Peruvian capital will welcome the rising stars of the world’s women’s volleyball from August 17 through 24, and the Bulgarian capital will set the stage for the exciting battles of the male stars-to-be from August 24 through 31. A total of 16 youth national teams will compete in each of the two newly-introduced biennial FIVB tournaments and fight for the historic titles of first-ever U17 volleyball world champions. Although these talented hopefuls are still too young to have already earned a stellar status, there are plenty of familiar names on the rosters.
Find the long-list team rosters for U17 men here and for U17 women here.
The Italian team for the boys’ event in Bulgaria, for example, will feature outside hitter Manuel Zlatanov. Just days ago, the son of Italian star Hristo Zlatanov and grandson of Bulgarian legend Dimitar Zlatanov was named on the Dream Team of the 2024 CEV U18 Men’s Volleyball European Championship. Brazil will be led by Lucas Righi, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2023 CSV U17 Men's Volleyball South American Championship, while Mohammadraouf Khoshhaldashiboroun, who was honoured with two individual awards, MVP and Dream Team outside hitter, at the 2023 Asian Men's U16 Volleyball Championship, will star on the Iranian squad in Bulgaria.
Outside Maximiliano Aponte, who was honoured as MVP and also named on the Dream Team of the 2023 NORCECA U17 Boys’ Continental Championship, looks set to lead the Puerto Rican team at the U17 World Champs, while the Best Scorer and the Best Server of that tournament Emi Diaz will shine in the Mexican line-up.
On the women’s side, the Italian squad will be headlined by Ludovica Tosini, the MVP of the 2023 CEV U17 Women's Volleyball European Championship, while her 2023 South American U17 Girls' Volleyball Championship counterpart Justina Fortes is one of the highlights on the Argentinean team.
The MVPs of the 2023 NORCECA U17 Girls’ Continental Volleyball Championship and the 2023 Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship, Mexico’s Dibanhi Barrera and Japan’s Yuzuki Baba, respectively, will also head to Lima for next month’s U17 World Championship.
For the first stage of each U17 World Championship, the teams are split into four single round-robin pools of four and their places in the final pool standings will determine their starting positions in the playoffs, consisting of eighthfinals, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals at each level of the playoff bracket.
