2026 Women's European Volleyball Championship

For the equivalent men's tournament, see 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship.
2026 Women's European Volleyball Championship
Tournament details
Host nations Azerbaijan
 Czech Republic
 Sweden
 Turkey
Teams24
Venue(s)4 (in 4 host cities)

The 2026 Women's European Volleyball Championship will be the 34th edition of the Women's European Volleyball Championship, organised by Europe's governing volleyball body, CEV. For the fourth consecutive time, the EuroVolley will be held in four countries. Turkey are the defending champions.

Year change

On 22 June 2023, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) announced that, starting in 2026, all continental competitions would be played in even-numbered years, rather than odd-numbered.[1]

Host selection

Czech Republic was announced as the first co-host on 6 December 2023, with games at a new arena in Brno.[5][6] On 6 March 2024, Sweden became the second host with games to take place at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg.[7][8][9] On 12 March 2024, Azerbaijan became the third host with one group to be held in the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku.[10][11] Finally, while widely reported to be a host,[12][13] Turkey was officially announced as the final host on 8 November 2024.[14]

Qualification

Main article: 2026 Women's European Volleyball Championship qualification
Map of qualifiers for the 2026 Women's European Volleyball Championship:
  Team qualified for 2026 Women's European Volleyball Championship
  Team failed to qualify
  Team banned from competition
  Did not enter

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 off each teams' ranking.

Of the 24 teams who qualified, 20 of them were present at the previous tournament. Montenegro are the only debutants, after winning Group D.[15] Austria will return after 55 years, breaking the record for the longest-ever gap for any team between appearances;[16][17] alongside the record, Austria qualified on merit for the first time. Latvia comes back for the first time since 1997.[18][19] Portugal advanced for the first time after their debut in 2019.

Of the non-qualifiers, Finland and Switzerland both missed out in Group A, with the two taking part in the three previous editions. Bosnia and Herzegovina didn't qualify after withdrawing from the first half of qualification, causing controversy in the country. 2023 co-hosts, Estonia, failed to qualify aswell.

Means of qualification Qualifier Means of qualification Qualifier
Host Countries  Azerbaijan Qualification Pool A  Germany
 Czech Republic Pool B  Belgium
 Sweden Pool C  Slovenia
 Turkey Pool D  Montenegro
2023 European Championship  Serbia Pool E  Spain
 Netherlands Pool F  Greece
 Italy Pool G  Croatia
 Poland Best runners-up  Romania
 France  Hungary
 Bulgaria  Portugal
 Ukraine  Latvia
 Slovakia  Austria
Total 24

Summary of qualified teams

Team Qualification method Date of qualification App First Last Streak Best placement in tournament WR
 France Top eight in 2023 26 August 2023 19th 1949 2023 4 Fourth place (1951) TBD
 Italy 28th 1951 23 Champions (2007, 2009, 2021) TBD
 Turkey[a] 27 August 2023 17th 1963 12 Champions (2023) TBD
 Netherlands 31st 1949 18 Champions (1995) TBD
 Poland 33rd 16 Champions (2003, 2005) TBD
 Bulgaria 32nd 1950 31 Champions (1981) TBD
 Serbia 28 August 2023 10th 2007 10 Champions (2011, 2017, 2019) TBD
 Czech Republic[b] 13th 1995 3 Third place (1997) TBD
 Ukraine Ninth in 2023 26 September 2023 11th 1993 5 Third place (1993) TBD
 Slovakia Tenth in 2023 6 December 2023 7th 2003 4 Twelfth place (2003, 2019) TBD
 Sweden Host nation 6 March 2024 6th 1967 3 Eighth place (2021) TBD
 Azerbaijan 12 March 2024 11th 2005 11 Fourth place (2005, 2017) TBD
 Slovenia Pool C winner 2 August 2025 4th 2015 2 Round of 16 (2019) TBD
 Germany Pool A winner 6 August 2025 18th 1991 18 Runners-up (2011, 2013) TBD
 Romania Five best runner-ups 28th 1949 4 Third place (1963) TBD
 Greece Pool F winner 8th 1985 4 Eighth place (1991) TBD
 Spain Pool E winner 9th 2005 4 Ninth place (2009) TBD
 Montenegro Pool D winner 1st Debut TBD
 Belgium Pool B winner 13th 1967 2023 7 Third place (2013) TBD
 Croatia Pool G winner 9 August 2025 16th 1993 11 Runners-up (1995, 1997, 1999) TBD
 Austria Five best runner-ups 10 August 2025 4th 1958 1971 1 Twelveth place (1958, 1963) TBD
 Latvia 4th 1993 1997 1 Eighth place (1997) TBD
 Hungary 20th 1949 2023 6 Runners-up (1975) TBD
 Portugal 2nd 2019 1 24th place (2019) TBD

Venues

Each venue will host a group, while Ankara and Brno will organise the knockout stage, with Ankara hosting the semi-finals and final, just as in 2019. Turkish Volleyball Federation president, Mehmet Akif Üstündağ declared the plans about the hosting the opening match in the new national stadium that is currently under construction in Ankara.[20]

Turkey Ankara
Czech Republic Brno
Ankara Arena
Capacity: 10,400		 Arena Brno
Capacity: 13,300
Gothenburg Baku
Scandinavium
Capacity: 10,000		 National Gymnastics Arena
Capacity: 9,000

Notes

  1. ^ Turkey also belated qualified as a 2026 host nation.
  2. ^ Czech Republic also belated qualified as a 2026 host nation.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Volleyball Calendar 2025-2028 Approved By The FIVB Board Of Administration". FIVB. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Český volejbal se přihlásil o pořadatelství evropského šampionátu žen 2026". Český Volejbal (in Czech). Czech Volleyball Federation. 22 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Ανανέωσε με την Τσεχία ο Αθανασόπουλος". ERT Sports (in Greek). 22 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Türkiye Set to Host the 2026 CEV Women's European Volleyball Championship Finals". FTN News. 26 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Brno, Czechia to host CEV EuroVolley 2026 Women up to quarterfinals!". CEV. 6 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Český volejbal uspěl se svojí kandidaturou!". Český Volejbal (in Czech). Czech Volleyball Federation. 6 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Sweden poised to co-host CEV EuroVolley 2026 Women!". CEV. 6 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Volleyboll-EM 2026 till Sverige – Göteborg blir värdstad". Svensk Volleyboll. 6 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Volleyboll: Sverige klart som arrangör för damernas volleyboll-EM 2026". SVT Sport. 6 March 2024.
  10. ^ "CEV EuroVolley Women returns to Azerbaijan!". CEV. 6 March 2024.
  11. ^ "2026-cı ildə voleybol üzrə Avropa çempionatı Azərbaycanda keçiriləcək". Report İnformasiya Agentliyi. 12 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Türkiye to host 2026 CEV Women's European Volleyball finals". TRT World. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Avrupa Şampiyonası, 2026'da Türkiye'de yapılacak". Gazete Duvar. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Türkiye to host CEV EuroVolley 2026 Finals!". CEV. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  15. ^ "Odbojkašice na Evropskom prvenstvu!".
  16. ^ "Historisch! Österreichs Volleyball-Damen lösen erstmals über Qualifikation das EM-Ticket!". August 10, 2025.
  17. ^ "Historischer Sonntag für ÖVV-Damen – Stimmen zum EM-Traum". August 11, 2025.
  18. ^ ""Tas ir neticami!" Latvijas sieviešu volejbola izlase pēc 28 gadiem kvalificējas Eiropas čempionāta finālturnīram". LA.LV.
  19. ^ ""Tas ir milzīgs panākums" – ticība ļāva Latvijas volejbolistēm sasniegt finālturnīru". www.delfi.lv.
  20. ^ "Mehmet Akif Üstündağ: Filenin Efeleri'nin yeni başantrenörünü cuma açıklayacağız". Voleybol Plus. 10 February 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
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