EuroVolley 2026 is here: Europe’s best are ready for another battle for the crown

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The wait is almost over.
Tomorrow, on September 9, the 2026 CEV Enel EuroVolley Men gets underway, bringing 24 national teams together across Italy, Bulgaria, Finland and Romania for 18 days of competition, from the opening whistle of the pool stage to the medal matches in Milan on September 26.
And this time, the European title comes with an extra prize, as the new continental champions will not only lift the EuroVolley trophy: they will also secure a direct qualification quota for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, while the three teams finishing on the podium will also earn their place at the 2027 FIVB Volleyball World Championship, making the knockout rounds particularly valuable for teams chasing more than just a medal.
Poland arrive as the defending European champions after beating Italy in the 2023 final in Rome, but the landscape has changed considerably since that night. Italy are now the reigning world champions, France remain the Olympic champions, and Slovenia have once again established themselves among the teams nobody wants to meet when the pressure rises.

The tournament will begin across four pools, with the top four teams from each group advancing to the Round of 16.

Pool A could be one of the most intriguing groups from the very beginning. Italy will have home advantage and begin their campaign against Sweden, before facing Slovenia and Czechia, two teams with very different but equally convincing credentials. Czechia were one of the surprise packages of the 2025 World Championship, reaching the semifinals, while Slovenia have become almost permanent residents of the late stages of major European tournaments. Greece and Slovakia complete the group and will be looking to disrupt the expected order.

Pool B brings together defending champions Poland and hosts Bulgaria, alongside Ukraine, Portugal, North Macedonia and Israel. On paper, Poland are the team to beat, but Bulgaria are hardly arriving as ordinary hosts. Their rise to the silver medal at the 2025 World Championship transformed expectations around the team and generated a remarkable wave of enthusiasm at home.
The decision to move the Bulgarian matches from Varna to Sofia was made partly to capitalise on that momentum, with the Arena 8888 expected to provide one of the loudest environments of the tournament.
Portugal could also be one of the stories worth following. Their programme has been developing steadily, and they enter an increasingly demanding international environment with ambitions of making the knockout stage. Ukraine, meanwhile, have enough experience and physicality to make Pool B considerably less predictable than the traditional favourites might suggest.

Pool C is arguably the most balanced group. Finland will have the advantage of playing at home in Tampere, but Serbia, Belgium and the Netherlands all have realistic ambitions of reaching the knockout phase. Estonia and Denmark complete a group in which the fight for the final qualifying positions could be decided by very small margins. The Nokia Arena, opened in 2021 and already established as one of Finland’s major sporting venues, will provide the backdrop.

Then there is Pool D, where France enter as the Olympic champions and the obvious headline name. But Germany, Türkiye and hosts Romania could make life complicated, while Switzerland and Latvia will be hoping to turn the group into one of the tournament’s surprises.
France have the pedigree to go all the way, but this is not a tournament in which reputations alone will be enough. Their ability to manage long rallies, pressure from the service line and the physical demands of a deep knockout run could once again make the difference when the margins become microscopic.

Italy, meanwhile, have perhaps the most interesting combination of pressure and opportunity.
They are playing another major championship largely on home soil, but unlike in 2023, when Poland denied them the European title in Rome, they now arrive as world champions.
Italy will open their EuroVolley campaign in spectacular fashion at Naples’ Piazza del Plebiscito before moving to Modena for the remainder of the pool stage.
The Italian route towards the final is equally ambitious. After the pool stage, the Round of 16 and quarterfinals will be played at Turin’s Palavela, before the tournament moves to Milan for the semifinals and medal matches on September 25 and 26. The final will crown the new European champions at the Unipol Forum.

There is also a particular sense of continuity around this edition.
Italy are hosting the European Championship for the second consecutive edition, following the hugely successful 2023 tournament, while Bulgaria return to the spotlight with a men’s team that has rapidly become one of the most interesting stories in European volleyball. Finland and Romania complete a four-country hosting concept that will take EuroVolley well beyond the traditional strongholds of the sport.

So who are the favourites?

Poland have the most obvious claim as defending champions.
France have the Olympic pedigree.
Italy have the world title and home advantage.
Slovenia remain one of the most dangerous knockout-stage teams in Europe.
And then there is Bulgaria, whose extraordinary 2025 World Championship campaign means they can no longer be treated simply as an ambitious host.
Behind them, Serbia, Germany, Türkiye, Czechia, Ukraine and Belgium all have the potential to turn one bad night for a favourite into a completely different tournament.
That may ultimately be the most attractive feature of EuroVolley 2026. There is no shortage of established powers, but there is also very little room for complacency. With 16 teams advancing from the pools, the competition will effectively become a race to survive the first week before the real pressure begins.

And once the tournament reaches Turin and Milan, every match will carry a little more weight.
A European title.
A World Championship place. And, for the team that finishes on top, the first European ticket to Los Angeles 2028.

EuroVolley is ready to begin!

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