This article describes the qualification for the 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship.CEV EuroVolley 2026 Official Communications No. 1
Qualification Bulgaria, Finland, Italy and Romania as host countries were directly qualified. The eight best placed teams at the 2023 edition also gained direct entries into the tournament. 21 teams compete for the remaining 12 places at the final tournament.
{|class="wikitable" !style="width:210px"|Means of qualification !style="width:140px"|Qualifier !colspan=2 style="width:210px"|Means of qualification !style="width:140px"|Qualifier |- | align=center rowspan=4|Host Countries|||| align=center rowspan=12|Qualification || align=center|Pool A || |- ||| align=center|Pool B || |- ||| align=center|Pool C || |- ||| align=center|Pool D || |- |align=center rowspan=8| ||| align=center|Pool E || |- ||| align=center|Pool F || |- ||| align=center|Pool G || |- ||| align=center rowspan=5| ||
!colspan=5|Total 24
Direct qualification All of the host countries' teams directly qualified for the tournament. Then, the top eight teams from previous edition also automatically qualified.
2023 Men's European Volleyball Championship final standings Qualified for the 2026 European Championship Qualified as hosts for the 2026 European Championship RankTeam456789101112131415161718192021222324
Format There are seven pools of three teams each; the winners of each pool and the best five runners-up will qualify for the 2026 European Championship. The pools are played in a double round-robin.
Schedule Original schedule Round Round date Matchday 1 17/18 August 2024 Matchday 2 24/25 August 2024 Matchday 3 31 August–1 September 2024 Matchday 4 14/15 June 2025 Matchday 5 21/22 June 2025 Matchday 6 28/29 June 2025 The dates were updated to adapt to the new FIVB calendar.
Round Round date Matchday 1 17/18 August 2024 Matchday 2 24/25 August 2024 Matchday 3 28/29 August 2024 Matchday 4 9/10 August 2025 Matchday 5 13 August 2025 Matchday 6 16/17 August 2025
Pools composition The pools were set following the Serpentine system according to their European Ranking for national teams as of 6 November 2023. Rankings are shown in parentheses.
Pool APool BPool CPool DPool EPool FPool G (8) (11) (13) (16) (17) (18) (19) (27) (26) (24) (23) (22) (21) (20) (28) (29) (31) (34) (35) (37) (NR)
Pool standing procedure Number of matches won Match points Sets ratio Points ratio If the tie continues as per the point ratio between two teams, the priority will be given to the team which won the last match between them. When the tie in points ratio is between three or more teams, a new classification of these teams in the terms of points 1, 2 and 3 will be made taking into consideration only the matches in which they were opposed to each other.
Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 match points for the winner, 0 match points for the loser Match won 3–2: 2 match points for the winner, 1 match point for the loser
Results The winners in each pool and the top five of the second-ranked teams will qualify for the 2026 European Championship.
Pool A
Pool B
Pool C
Pool D
Pool E
Pool F
Pool G
Ranking of the second-placed teams The top five of the second-placed teams will qualify for the 2026 European Championship.
See also 2026 Women's European Volleyball Championship qualification
References
External links Official website