2026 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U17 World Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host nation | Qatar |
| City | Doha |
| Dates | 19–29 August 2026 |
| Teams | 24 (from 5 confederations) |
| Official website | |
| 2026 Boys' U17 World Championship | |
The 2026 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U17 World Championship will be the 2nd edition of the FIVB Volleyball Boys' U17 World Championship, the biennial international youth volleyball championship contested by the men's national teams under the age of 17 of the members associations of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. It will be held in Doha, Qatar from 19 to 29 August 2026.[1]
Italy are the defending champions having won the inaugural edition in 2024.[2]
Host selection
On 17 April 2025, FIVB opened the bidding process for member associations interested in hosting one of the two U17 World Championships in 2026 (i.e., Girls' or Boys' U17 World Championships) planned to take place in August 2026.[3] The expression of interest of the member associations had to be submitted to FIVB no later than 18:00 CEST (UTC+2) on 30 May 2025.[4]
FIVB announced the hosts for both Boys' and Girls' U17 World Championships on 1 July 2025, choosing Qatar to host the second edition of the Boys' U17 World Championship, with the capital Doha as host city.[1][5] It will be the first time that Qatar hosts an FIVB World Championship in any age or gender category.[6] Qatar recently hosted the last edition of the defunct FIVB Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup in 2023.[7]
Competition format changes
On 10 April 2025, during a two-day meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland the FIVB Board of Administration approved the proposal made by its Volleyball Council to increase the number of participating teams in its U17 World Championship (in both genders) from 16 to 24, as well as to standardize its competition format and qualification process with those of the U19 and U21 World Championships.[8][9][5] Consequently, the distribution of quotas by confederation for the Boys' U17 World Championship was modified regarding the inaugural edition, ensuring one automatic quota for the defending champion and assigning two quotas based on the corresponding FIVB Age Group World Ranking.[4]
With the new competition format the 24 teams were split into four single round-robin pools of six with the top four teams from each pool advancing to the round of 16, while the ramaining two teams continuing their participation in the playoffs for places from 17th to 24th. The round of 16 winners advances to the quarter-finals, while the losers continue their participation in the playoffs for places from 9th to 16th. Finally, the 24 teams go through another three rounds: quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals for each team's final placement level (17th–24th, 9th–16th and 1st–8th).
Teams
Qualification
A total of 24 national teams qualified for the final tournament.[4] In addition to the host Chile and defending champions Italy which qualified automatically, 20 other teams qualified through five separate continental competitions which have to be completed before 31 December 2025. Two remaining teams entered the tournament via the Boys' U17 FIVB World Ranking (as of 31 December 2025) among the teams not yet qualified.
The slot allocation was set as follows:[4]
- Defending champion (Italy): 1
- Host (Qatar): 1
- AVC (Asia & Oceania): 4
- CAVB (Africa): 3
- CEV (Europe): 6
- CSV (South America): 3
- NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean): 4
- Top teams not yet qualified as per Boys' U17 FIVB World Ranking: 2
Qualified teams
The following twenty-four teams qualified for the tournament.
| Confederation | Qualifying tournament / Method of qualification | Team qualified | Previous appearances | Previous best performance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | First | Last | ||||
| AVC (Asia & Oceania) |
Host nation |  Qatar
|
0 | None
|
Debut | |
| 2025 Asian Men's U16 Championship (  Nakhon Pathom, 12–19 July)
|
 Iran
|
1 | 5th place (2024) | |||
 Pakistan
|
0 | None
|
Debut | |||
 Japan
|
0 | None
|
Debut | |||
 India
|
0 | None
|
Debut | |||
| CAVB (Africa) |
2025 Boys' U16 African Nations Championship (  Tripoli, July)
|
|||||
| CEV (Europe) |
Defending champions |  Italy
|
1 | Champions (2024) | ||
| 2025 Men's U16 European Championship (  Yerevan, 23 July–3 August)
|
 Spain
|
1 | Fourth place (2024) | |||
 France
|
0 | None
|
Debut | |||
 Poland
|
0 | None
|
Debut | |||
 Czech Republic
|
0 | None
|
Debut | |||
 Romania
|
0 | None
|
Debut | |||
 Turkey
|
0 | None
|
Debut | |||
| CSV (South America) |
2025 Boys' U17 South American Championship (  San Juan de los Morros, 11–17 October)
|
|||||
| NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean) |
2025 Boys' U17 NORCECA Continental Championship (  TBD, 16–24 November)
|
|||||
| TBC | Boys' U17 FIVB World Ranking | |||||
See also
References
- ^ a b "Chile and Qatar to host next year's U17 World Champs". FIVB. 1 July 2025.
- ^ "Italy rise from beyond to snatch U17 boys' world title". FIVB. 3 September 2024.
- ^ "FIVB opens bidding for 2026 FIVB Volleyball U17 World Championships". FIVB. 17 April 2025.
- ^ a b c d "FIVB VOLLEYBALL U17 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2026 Expression of Interest and Hosting Conditions" (PDF). FIVB. 17 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Qatar to host 2026 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U-17 World Championship". The Peninsula. 3 July 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ^ Al-Kazar, Abdul Majid Ait (2 July 2025). "قطر تستضيف بطولة العالم لكرة الطائرة للناشئين" [Qatar to host the Boys' Volleyball World Championship] (in Arabic). Al Sharq.
- ^ "لأول مرة في الشرق الاوسط ..قطر تستضيف بطولة كأس التحدي العالمي للكرة الطائرة" [For the first time in the Middle East, Qatar hosts the World Volleyball Challenge Cup] (in Arabic). Qatar Volleyball Association. 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Exciting year of volleyball events tops agenda at Volleyball Council meeting". FIVB. 3 March 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ^ "Progress and empowerment: FIVB Board of Administration approves key proposals from FIVB Commissions and Councils". FIVB. 13 April 2025.