Four countries welcome EuroVolley on the road to LA 2028 and World Cup 2027

The 2026 CEV Women’s Volleyball European Championship, officially dubbed CEV Trendyol EuroVolley 2026 Women, is set to get underway in four different countries – Azerbaijan, Czechia, Sweden and Turkiye – on Friday, August 21. The medal matches will be played in Istanbul on September 6 and will not only determine this year’s continental champion, who will get Europe’s first ticket to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games volleyball events, but will also issue the continent’s first three tickets to the 2027 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Cup.

Europe’s best 24 women’s national volleyball teams are split into four round-robin pools of six, one per host country. The top four teams in each pool will then advance to the eighthfinals to be played in Czechia and Turkiye. The same two venues will host the quarterfinals, before all the final-four action takes place at the Sinan Erdem hall in Istanbul to finalize the spots on the podium.

EuroVolley action in Istanbul will start off with the matches in Pool A. Hosts Turkiye are the number three team in the FIVB World Ranking and one of the favorites for the continental crown. They are the defending title holders, after their historic victory at the previous EuroVolley edition in 2023. In fact, they have been on the podium at each of the four most recent European Championships and have overall collected two silvers and three bronzes. Earlier this summer, Turkiye triumphed as Volleyball Nations League champions, last year they reached the final of the FIVB World Championship for the first time, and two years ago they achieved another historic result, fourth place at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Poland, the world’s number five team, who have two titles, four silvers and five bronzes on their EuroVolley record, will play in the same pool along with two-time continental champions Germany, who also have six silvers and three bronzes, four-time medalists Hungary, Latvia and Slovenia.

The Brno Exhibition Center in Czechia will host the matches of Pool B. Three-time European champions and 2023 runners-up Serbia, with another two silvers and two bronzes in their showcase, also two-time world champions, will be challenged by pool hosts Czechia and Bulgaria, who won the continental crown in 1955 (as Czechoslovakia) and in 1981, respectively, as well as Austria, Greece and 1993 bronze medalists Ukraine.

The bronze medalists of the previous edition – 1995 continental champions and seven-time medalists Netherlands – highlight the Pool C line-up in Baku. Belgium and Romania are the other teams in this pool to have ever won EuroVolley medals, bronze in 2013 and in 1963, respectively, while hosts Azerbaijan have two fourth-place finishes on record. Portugal and Spain complete the field at the National Gymnastics Arena in the Azeri capital.

The world’s number one team – reigning Olympic and world champions Italy – are the heavy favorites in Pool D, to be played at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg. The Italians are three-time champions and eight-time medalists in EuroVolley history. They also have one Olympic and two world champions’ titles. Croatia, whose European Championship collection boasts three silver medals, will also compete in Pool D along with France, Montenegro, Slovakia and hosts Sweden.

The competition will open on Friday with a game between Slovakia and France in Gothenburg, serving off at 13:00 local time (11:00 UTC).

CEV Women's Volleyball European Championship: schedule and results

Quick links:
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter