Perugia, Zawiercie and the world’s best clubs: the 2026 Club World Championship pools are set

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The road to the 2026 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship is taking shape, with the eight qualified teams now divided into two pools for the tournament in Poland’s Silesian Region.

The competition will be played from December 15 to 20, with the pool phase scheduled for Arena Katowice and Arena Sosnowiec before the decisive stage moves to Częstochowa for the semi-finals and medal matches. Eight clubs will contest a total of 16 matches for the world title.

Pool A brings together hosts Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie, Brazil’s Vôlei Renata, Türkiye’s Ziraat Bankkart and Iranian champions Foolad Sirjan Iranian.
Zawiercie will therefore have the chance to compete for the world crown on home soil after already making history in the previous edition.
The Polish side, in fact, claimed bronze at the 2025 Club World Championship in Brazil, winning the third-place match against Vôlei Renata.
The presence of Vôlei Renata makes Pool A particularly intriguing: the Brazilian club reached the podium in 2025, finishing fourth after losing the bronze-medal match to Zawiercie, while their return to the competition gives them another opportunity to challenge the leading European and international clubs.
Ziraat Bankkart adds another European heavyweight to the group.
The Turkish side reached the 2026 CEV Champions League Final Four in Turin, where they defeated PGE Projekt Warszawa in the bronze-medal match after losing their semi-final to eventual champions Zawiercie.
Foolad Sirjan Iranian completes a genuinely international Pool A, giving the group representation from Europe, South America, Asia and the Middle East.

Pool B could be even more explosive, with defending champions Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia drawn alongside Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi, Egypt’s Al Ahly SC and Brazilian powerhouse Sada Cruzeiro.
Perugia arrive in Poland as the team to beat: the Italian side won the 2025 Club World Championship in Belém and then successfully defended their CEV Champions League crown in May 2026, defeating Zawiercie 3-0 in the European final in Turin.
The Block Devils will therefore attempt to defend both their European and world titles in the same season.
Their 2025 triumph was particularly impressive: Perugia won all five of their matches in Brazil, including a dramatic five-set victory over Osaka Bluteon in the pool phase and a straight-sets victory over the Japanese side in the final.
Sada Cruzeiro will provide another major test. The Brazilian club is one of the most successful forces in the history of the competition and will return to the global stage with ambitions of challenging Perugia for the top position in Pool B.
Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi will bring Indonesia into the spotlight, while Al Ahly SC represent Egypt and the African continent, making the second group another four-continent meeting.

The format will leave little room for mistakes.
With only eight teams competing, every pool match will carry significant weight before the tournament moves into its decisive knockout phase. The Silesian Region is also set for a major volleyball showcase, with Poland hosting the Club World Championship for two consecutive editions in 2026 and 2027.

And there is an additional storyline already written into the draw: Perugia and Zawiercie, the two finalists from the 2026 CEV Champions League, could meet again on the biggest club stage in the world.

This time, however, the prize will be the one title neither club will want to leave Poland without.

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