The 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship, commonly referred to as EuroVolley Men 2026 (and the CEV Enel EuroVolley 2026 for sponsorship reasons), was the 34th edition of the Men's European Volleyball Championship, a biennial international volleyball tournament organised by European Volleyball Confederation (CEV). The tournament took place from 9 to 26 September 2026 across Bulgaria, Finland, Italy, and Romania, marking the fourth consecutive time EuroVolley has been hosted by four nations since the multi-country hosting system was first used in 2019. Italy hosted the final in Milan.
24 teams participated for the fourth time. Qualification took place in August 2024 and 2025 to decide the final 12 spots. The four co-hosts qualified automatically.
After FIVB's calendar changes starting 2025, this would be the first European Championship since 1958 to be held in an even-numbered year.
The winner qualified for the 2028 Summer Olympics while the top three finishers qualified for the 2027 FIVB World Cup.
Poland were the defending champions, having beaten Italy 3–0 in the final of the 2023 tournament in Rome. They retained the title after defeating France 3–1 in the final.
Finland claimed their first-ever medal at the European Volleyball Championship by defeating Slovenia 3–0 in the bronze medal match.
Year change On 22 June 2023, the (FIVB) announced a comprehensive restructuring of the international calendar for the 2025–2028 cycle. As part of this overhaul, continental championships shifted from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, beginning in 2026. The structural change was implemented to prioritize athlete health and recovery by reducing calendar congestion, as well as to streamline the qualification pathways for major global tournaments such as the FIVB World Cup and the Olympic Games.
Host selection – On 5 December 2022, Romania was announced as the first host. This is Romania's first time hosting since 1963 and third in total after 1955 and 1963.
– Bulgaria was confirmed as the second host on 26 February 2024, becoming the first ever country to host back to back European Championships. This is Bulgaria's fifth organisation of EuroVolley, after 1950, 1981, 2015 and 2023.
– Finnish city, Tampere, was given the hosting rights on 14 March 2024 and will host a group. This is the Finns fourth time holding the event, with Finland previously hosting in 1977, 1993 and 2021.
– On 25 March 2024 Italy was announced as the fourth and final host. Alongside Bulgaria, Italy becomes the second country to host consecutive championships. The tournament has previously taken place in Italy in 1948, 1971, 2005, 2015 and 2023.
Rejected countries The following countries had expressed interest but didn't make the cut:CEV Board of Administration Minutes - Term 2020-2024 – Germany had stated their interest in November 2022 and by May 2023, Germany's interest was approved by CEV with the SAP Garden in Munich being proposed as a possible venue. However, in February 2024, Germany said to CEV that they were not ready to host the event and they would focus on the 2028 edition. The Germans were in line to become the main hosts before their withdrawal. The Italians then took their hosting place as they wrote to CEV saying they wanted to host, which would later be approved. – Serbia was briefly mentioned as a possible host in February 2023, but this never materialised.
Preparations On 11 December 2024, the four organisers of EuroVolley 2026 Men held a meeting.https://inside.cev.eu/articles/cev/cev-eurovolley-2026-men-kick-off-meeting-held-at-home-of-european-volleyball/ Tickets Tickets were released on 7 November 2025.
Official ticket websites
Official tickets in Bulgaria Official tickets in Finland Official tickets in Italy Official tickets in Romania
Qualification
24 teams qualify for the championship. The four co-hosts and the eight best teams from the 2023 edition automatically progress (in the event that one of the best eight teams is also a co-host, the next best team will inherit their place).
21 teams took part in qualification, with 12 spots on the line. The 21 teams were divided into seven groups of three, with the seven group winners plus the five best second place teams qualifying. The games were played in August 2024 and 2025. The groups were divided by the Serpentine system based on each teams' ranking.
Of the 24 teams who qualified, 21 of them were present at the previous tournament. After not even entering qualification for the 2023 edition, Sweden qualified for the first time since 1993. Latvia and Slovakia returned after a one edition absence.
Israel qualified on merit for the first time. Israel and Switzerland qualified for a second consecutive edition for the very first time. North Macedonia and Portugal continued their record appearance streaks with four.
Of the non-qualifiers, Spain failed to qualify after qualifying for the previous four championships. Montenegro failed to advance after qualifying every time since their debut in 2019. Despite narrowly missing out on qualifying automatically, Croatia was winless in qualification and didn't manage to successfully qualify.
Summary of qualified teams TeamQualification methodDate of qualificationAppearance(s)Previous best performanceWR Host nation19th 1950 20232 35 Top eight in 202332nd 194815 8 11th 200110 4 33rd 194832 2 9th 19934 11 29th 19487 21 30th 200715 13 29th 195013 1 Host nation32nd10 9 Ninth in 202316th 199125 12 Host nation21st 195510 16 Tenth in 20238th 19484 26 Pool C winner15th 19959 20 Pool B winner19th 19484 18 Five best runner-ups13th 19585 10 Pool D winner8th 20096 30 Pool F winner18th 19674 23 Pool G winner12th 1997 20211 44 Pool E winner3rd 1971 20232 28 Pool A winner6th 19582 31 Five best runner-ups7th 1971 19931 33 3rd 1995 20211 51 4th 1951 20232 29 4th 20194 54
Venues Seven venues in seven cities, will host the tournament. After meetings in March 2025, the same city and venue as in 2023, the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, was chosen as Bulgaria's venue. In the same month, the BTarena in Cluj-Napoca was announced as the venue for the group in Romania. On 6 June 2025, the Nokia Arena was announced as Finland's venue. On 19 August 2025, Naples, Modena, Turin and Milan were announced as Italy's venues. On 14 October it was announced that Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, would replace Varna as the country's host city with Arena 8888 as the selected venue. This is due to the country's increased interest in volleyball after their second place finish at the 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship. Sofia is allocating 500,000 Bulgarian lev for the tournament. Prior to the venue change, Varna MPs Desislav Taskov and Kristian Ganchev sent a letter asking for reassurance that Varna would keep the hosting rights after reports of Varna being replaced by Sofia came out. The director of Sports in Varna, Kristian Dimitrov, was reportedly angry with the venue swap. Varna had previous allocated 420,000 Bulgarian lev for the tournament before the change of venue.
Overview of venues Italy Four Italian venues will be used during the tournament. The Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples will host the opening match at the temporary venue at the square. The rest of the group phase will take place in Modena at the PalaPanini, the home for numerous Modena-based clubs.
Italy's round of 16 and quarterfinal matches will be held at Turin's Palavela. The venue was built in 1961 but renovated in 2004 for the 2006 Winter Olympics, where it held figure skating and short track speed skating events. It has since organised championships in both aforementioned sports, plus Gymnastics and the 2015 Men's European Volleyball Championship.
The semifinals and final will take place at the Unipol Forum in Milan.
Bulgaria In Bulgaria, the nation's biggest indoor facility, Arena Sofia, would be chosen, replacing the originally chosen Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna. The established venue has hosted various competitions, with this being their third major volleyball tournament after the 2015 Men's European Volleyball Championship and 2018 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship. The venue has also hosted Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015.
Finland In Finland, the Nokia Arena would host games. Constructed in time for the 2022 IIHF World Championship, it has since hosted the 2023 IIHF World Championship and EuroBasket 2025, plus numerous high-profile concerts.
Romania In Romania, the BTarena will organise matches. The venue was built in 2014 but expanded in preparation for EuroBasket 2017. Romania's largest arena would later host the 2021 Women's European Volleyball Championship. Basketball team, U-BT Cluj-Napoca, plays their home games here.
+Distribution of tournament Milan will host the semifinals and final. Sofia and Turin will host the knockout stage up to the quarterfinals. Cluj-Napoca, Modena, Sofia and Tampere will host preliminary round games. Naples hosted the opening match.
Milan Turin Naples Modena Unipol Forum Palavela Piazza del Plebiscito PalaPanini Capacity: 16,000 Capacity: 9,200 Capacity: 6,500 Capacity: 4,968 Sofia Tampere Cluj-Napoca Arena 8888 Nokia Arena BTarena Capacity: 15,373 Capacity: 13,455 Capacity: 10,000
+Tournament venues information Venue Unipol Forum Semifinals and Final 4 Palavela Round of 16 and Quarterfinals 6 Arena 8888 Pool B, Round of 16 and Quarterfinals 21 Piazza del Plebiscito Opening game 1 PalaPanini Pool A 14 Nokia Arena Pool C 15 BTarena Pool D 15
Group allocation of hosts As the main organisers, Italy were seeded into Pool A, As the secondary venue, the Bulgaria were positioned in Pool B As the two countries hosting a single group, Finland and Romania are placed into Pool C and D respectively.
Final draw
The final draw took place at 20:45 CET in Bari, Italy on 4 October 2025 at the Castello Normanno-Svevo.https://www.cev.eu/articles/volleyball/iconic-bari-to-provide-perfect-setting-for-the-drawing-of-lots-for-the-cev-eurovolley-2026-men/https://www.cev.eu/articles/volleyball/mouthwatering-clashes-stem-from-drawing-of-lots-for-the-cev-eurovolley-2026-men/ Italian journalist, Simona Rolandi and CEV press officer, Federico Ferraro, were the hosts of the final draw. Bulgarian libero Damyan Kolev, Finnish outside hitter Luka Marttila, Italian setter Fabio Vullo and Romanian middle blocker Bela Bartha were the guests for the final draw. The final draw started with the co-hosts and chosen teams being placed into their respective groups and continued with, in order, pots 1, 2, 3 and 4 being drawn, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically.
Chosen teams The organizers could select one team to join their pools. Host team Chosen team
Seeding The teams are seeded according to the CEV National Team rankings before the draw.
The only restriction is that the two finalists from the previous edition, Italy and Poland, were drawn in different preliminary pools so that can only play each other in the final if they win their groups respectively. Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
Draw results
Pool A in ModenaPool B in SofiaPool C in TamperePool D in Cluj-Napoca (H) (H) (H) (H)
Schedule
The schedule was announced on 5 November 2025. ScheduleRoundMatchdayDatePreliminary roundAll matches 9–17 September 2026Knockout stageRound of 16 19–21 September 2026Quarterfinals 22–23 September 2026Semifinals 25 September 20263rd place & Final 26 September 2026
Squads
Referees The following referees were selected for the tournament.
+ Refereeing teamsRefereeCountryPool phaseRound of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinalJurkovic Ksenija✓✓✓Kellenberger JorgLuts Koen✓✓Varbanov Atanas✓✓Yener Seckin✓✓Cildir CanerKalin YvesLot Dominga✓✓✓Mokry Juraj✓✓✓✓Rogic Dejan✓✓Jacob SebastienMinins IljaPorvaznik IgorRodin SergejSzabo-Alexi Paul Catalin✓✓✓Goncalves VitorKovar Vlastimil✓✓Alexandros Mylonakis✓✓✓Rodriguez MachinYalcin Suleyman