Four teams, four stories: the final battle for EuroVolley 2026 begins in Milan

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Four teams remain.
Four very different journeys have brought them to Milan, but from this point on, the margins disappear.

Poland and Slovenia meet this afternoon in the first EuroVolley 2026 semi-final, renewing one of the most familiar rivalries of the European Championship. Later tonight, France will face the tournament’s great revelation, Finland, with a place in Saturday’s final on the line. Both semi-finals will be played at the Unipol Forum in Assago, with the first match scheduled for 17:00 and the second for 21:00 local time.

The stakes could hardly be higher. Poland are defending the European title they won in 2023, while the eventual champions will also secure a direct quota place for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Yet when the four teams met the media in Milan on the eve of the semi-finals, there was little talk of history or predictions. At this stage of the tournament, preparation can only take a team so far. The opponents are known, the tactics have been studied and the strengths and weaknesses are familiar. What remains is the ability to execute under pressure.

For Poland, that pressure is largely self-imposed.
Aleksander Śliwka knows exactly what is expected from the defending champions, but the Polish captain insists that the greatest demands are coming from inside the team itself.

“So far the season is great, but we don’t want to stop here. We are happy to be in Milan and fighting for the European title and a ticket to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The pressure comes primarily from ourselves.”

Nikola Grbić sees the situation in much the same way. Poland have reached the point of the competition where understanding the opponent is only part of the equation. Every team facing the reigning champions will be prepared to take risks, and the Polish coach expects moments when even good volleyball may not immediately produce the desired result.

The challenge, therefore, is to remain patient and continue playing their own game when the pressure rises.

Standing in Poland’s way is a Slovenian side that has become almost synonymous with the latter stages of the European Championship.
This will be the fourth consecutive EuroVolley semi-final between the two nations. Slovenia won the previous two encounters, in 2019 and 2021, both by 3-1, before Poland reversed the result in 2023 and went on to lift the trophy.

Fabio Soli, however, is not interested in taking comfort from the past.
The Italian coach knows the depth and quality of the Polish squad, but his message to Slovenia is much simpler: stay in the match.

“We want to develop our volleyball and get closer to the limit of our capabilities. Against Poland, we might even need something more. We want to take a step forward compared to the Nations League semi-final, when we couldn’t stay in the match – this time the goal is to be equal throughout,” he explained.

That ability to remain connected to the game could be decisive against a Poland side capable of applying pressure in every area of the court. Serve, attack and block all provide weapons, while the depth of Grbić’s squad gives the defending champions plenty of options when the match changes direction.

For Alen Pajenk, though, there is little mystery left between these two teams. After so many encounters over the years, neither side is likely to produce a tactical surprise. Execution, concentration and the ability to perform on the day will decide who reaches the final.

The second semi-final brings an entirely different story.

France arrived in Milan expecting to face Italy. Instead, the reigning world champions were eliminated by Finland in Turin, and Andrea Giani’s staff had to quickly redirect their preparation towards an opponent they know only too well.
Finland had already shown France exactly what they can do.
At the 2025 World Championship in Quezon City, the Finns defeated France 3-2, contributing to the French side’s early elimination from the tournament. A year later, the two teams meet again, this time with a place in the European Championship final at stake.

Pierre Pujol, France’s national team manager, has no intention of underestimating the Finns.
He describes them as a complete team, highlighting the quality of brothers Luka and Nooa Marttila on the wings, the continued development of setter Fedor Ivanov, their serving pressure, physical presence in the middle and tactical organisation.
And there is an important difference compared with last year.
France know exactly what is coming.
The Finnish performance against Italy may have turned them into the sensation of EuroVolley, but their semifinal appearance is not the product of one extraordinary night in Turin. Finland entered the Final Four after winning the 2026 European League with a perfect ten victories from ten matches, following their 2025 title in the competition.

Their belief, as Olli Kunnari has repeatedly stressed, was built long before the quarter-final against Italy.
The victory over France at last year’s World Championship was one of those moments. It gave a young team evidence that they could compete with the very best, and that belief has continued to grow through the past twelve months.

Then came Turin.

Finland recovered from 1-2 down against Italy, survived the pressure of the home crowd and came back from 8-11 in the deciding set before closing out a remarkable 15-13 victory. It was their second appearance in the EuroVolley semi-finals in history, following their first in 2007.
But for Kunnari and his players, the real story is not that Finland suddenly discovered how to beat the best.
It is that they have gradually stopped being surprised by themselves.
That may be their greatest asset heading into another enormous challenge. They have already played through difficult moments at this EuroVolley, and their response has consistently been built around the same idea: stay composed, keep playing and do not allow the score to dictate their behaviour.

France, meanwhile, will know that Finland cannot be treated as a pleasant surprise anymore.
There are no secrets left.

Poland carry the expectations of the defending champions. Slovenia return to a semi-final they have made their own in recent years. France arrive determined not to repeat the lesson learned in Quezon City.
And Finland, once the outsiders of this Final Four, now stand one victory away from playing for the European title.
The road to Milan has ended.
Now the tournament becomes something else entirely.
Two matches will decide who reaches Saturday’s final, and at this stage, preparation can only take the teams so far. The rest will be decided on the court.

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