For what looks like it is going to be a really hot summer for international youth and junior volleyball, the pools were drawn for three of the four age-group FIVB Volleyball World Championships to be played in July and August. The draws for the men’s events in the U21 and U19 age categories, as well as that for the U19 women’s competition were conducted in Lausanne of Friday afternoon and streamed live on the **Volleyball World YouTube channel**. The draw for the U21 women’s tournament will take place in Mexico City on May 12.

Men’s U21 World Championship

The two finalists of the Boys' U19 World Championship two years ago, winners Poland and silver medallists Bulgaria, will clash with each other in a Pool C encounter that is likely to be the most anticipated match in the first phase of this year’s U21 competition in Bahrain.

The 16 teams to compete in the capital Manama from July 7 through 16 were drawn into four round-robin pools of four. All pool winners and pool runners-up will continue the race for the medals in another two pools of four for the second phase of the tournament. The top two teams from those pools will qualify for the semifinals. All teams will continue playing in the competition to determine the final standings in the places from 1st to 16th.

Pool A: Bahrain, Iran, Thailand, Tunisia

Pool B: Italy, Brazil, Egypt, Mexico

Pool C: Poland, Bulgaria, Canada, India

Pool D: Argentina, Belgium, Czechia, United States

Boys' U19 World Championship

The Boys' U19 World Championship will unfold from August 2 through 11 in San Juan, Argentina. 20 teams from all five continents will battle it out in an attempt to take over the throne from Poland. The representatives of 2021 silver medallists Bulgaria and bronze medallists Iran lead Pools B and C, respectively. Hosts Argentina, who are also reigning South American youth champions from 2022, headline Pool A, while continental runners-up Brazil and incumbent European youth champions Italy will go head to head in Pool D.

The first four teams in the final standings of each pool will move on to the eighthfinals to start the direct elimination phase. The remaining four teams, as well as all knockout round losers will keep playing to fix the final standings in all classification positions.

Pool A: Argentina, Egypt, United States, Serbia, Costa Rica

Pool B: Bulgaria, India, Japan, France, Slovenia

Pool C: Iran, Nigeria, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Korea

Pool D: Italy, Brazil, Belgium, Mexico, Chile

Girls' U19 World Championship

Pool D can reasonably be dubbed “the group of death” as representatives of many powerful volleyball nations will take on each other as they try to make it among the top four of the pool and advance to the eighthfinals. The pool includes the United States and Serbia, who met in the bronze medal match of the Girls’ U18 World Championship two years ago, but also a few other strong teams that will make the outcome completely unpredictable. The other three pools are also quite impressive, especially Pool C, where 2021 U18 silver medallists Italy will take on mighty Brazil.

The U19 Girls' World Championship will be held in Osijek, Croatia and Szeged, Hungary from August 1 through 11. While the top four teams from each of the four pools will progress to the eighthfinals and then hope to keep winning on the way to the final, all 24 participants will continue competing to determine the final standings in the places from 1st to 24th.

Pool A: Hungary, Argentina, Egypt, Cameroon, China, Chile

Pool B: Croatia, Turkiye, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Nigeria, Germany

Pool C: Italy, Brazil, Thailand, Peru, Canada, Bulgaria

Pool D: United States, Serbia, Poland, Mexico, Japan, Korea

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