The countdown is on: Milan and Sofia step into the EuroVolley spotlight!

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The countdown to the 2026 CEV Men’s European Volleyball Championship has officially reached two of its most important host cities.
After Milan launched its official EuroVolley countdown in the spectacular setting of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Sofia is joining the celebration, with its own clock marking the final days before Europe’s biggest men’s national-team volleyball tournament gets underway.

The symbolism is particularly fitting.
Milan will host the decisive weekend of the championship, while Sofia will be one of the key venues from the very beginning, hosting Bulgaria’s Pool B campaign as well as the subsequent knockout matches assigned to the Bulgarian capital.
In Milan, the countdown clock was unveiled in the heart of the city, bringing EuroVolley into one of Italy’s most recognisable landmarks. The ceremony was attended by Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala, Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana, Italian Volleyball Federation President Giuseppe Manfredi and representatives of the city’s sporting institutions. Former Italian international Matteo Piano, an Olympic silver medallist at Rio 2016, was also among the special guests.
The clock will continue counting down towards the climax of the championship at the Unipol Forum in Assago, where the semi-finals will be played on September 25 before the new European champions are crowned on September 26. The final weekend will also carry an additional prize: the European title comes with a coveted qualification place for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
But Milan will have to wait until the second half of the tournament to take centre stage.
The Italian chapter begins on Thursday, September 10 with the opening match in Naples, where the hosts will face Sweden in the spectacular surroundings of Piazza del Plebiscito. Italy will then continue its Pool A campaign in Modena, before Turin takes over for the round of 16 and quarter-finals.

Sofia, meanwhile, will enter the story almost immediately.
The Bulgarian capital is hosting Pool B, featuring the hosts alongside Israel, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal and Ukraine.
Fifteen pool-stage matches will be played in Sofia, followed by four round-of-16 encounters and two quarter-finals, meaning the city could remain at the heart of the tournament for more than a week.
For Bulgaria, that makes today’s unveiling particularly significant.
The national team will begin its EuroVolley campaign on home soil, in front of what is expected to be an enthusiastic Bulgarian crowd, with the ultimate ambition of reaching the final stages.
The clock in Sofia therefore represents more than a promotional symbol. It marks the beginning of the final countdown to a championship in which Bulgaria will have the advantage of playing in front of its home supporters, while Milan represents the destination every team ultimately wants to reach.

The 2026 edition will bring together 24 national teams across four countries — Italy, Bulgaria, Finland and Romania — with 76 matches scheduled from September 9 to September 26. The competition will travel from Naples, Modena and Sofia to Tampere and Cluj-Napoca before eventually reaching Turin and Milan for the decisive stages.

Also Sofia is now officially in the rhythm of the upcoming Men’s European Volleyball Championship.
Five days before Bulgaria’s first match, the symbolic clock counting down to EuroVolley 2026 was launched in the center of the capital.
A large-scale installation in the shape of a volleyball was unveiled at Sveta Nedelya Square, which will be one of the visible symbols of the championship in the days leading up to its start. A clock is embedded in it, which is now counting down the remaining time until the first whistle in Sofia.
The symbolic start of the countdown was given by Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev and the President of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, Lyubomir Ganev.
The ceremony was also attended by the captain of the national team, Alex Grozdanov, head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini, and his assistant Andrey Zhekov.
EuroVolley 2026 for Bulgaria begins on September 9th. At 7:00 PM in “Arena 8888 Sofia”, the world vice-champions will face the Republic of North Macedonia in their first group stage match.
The organizers are also preparing a number of accompanying events, with which the European Championship should extend beyond the confines of the hall.
During the tournament, sports activities will be held in six metropolitan parks, and a special fan zone will be built near “Arena 8888 Sofia”.
Two more points in the city are planned with special installations where fans will be able to follow Bulgaria’s matches from EuroVolley 2026.

Two cities, two countdown clocks and two very different moments of the same tournament.

In Sofia, the numbers are ticking towards Bulgaria’s first serve.

In Milan, they are already pointing towards the moment when Europe will have a new champion.

The countdown is no longer a distant promise. EuroVolley 2026 is almost here.

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