The 2026 Men's African Nations Volleyball Championship was the 25th edition of the Men's African Nations Volleyball Championship, a biennial international volleyball tournament organised by the African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) for national men's volleyball teams in Africa. The tournament took place from 15 to 25 September. It was originally supposed to be held in Kinshasa, DR Congo but due to the Ebola epidemic in the country, the tournament was moved to Tunisia.
For the first time, a qualification took place and was held between June and July 2026. Central African Republic make their debut. After FIVB's calendar changes starting 2025, this was the first Championship since 1976 to be held in an even-numbered year. Egypt was the defending champion, but they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Algeria, whom they defeated 3–1 in the 2023 final in Cairo.
Tunisia won a record-extending 12th title by defeating Cameroon 3–0 in the final, and thus qualified for the 2028 Summer Olympics. They, along with Algeria who placed third after defeating Morocco 3–0, also qualified for the 2027 FIVB World Cup as the top three teams.
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 29 December 2025, the African Volleyball Confederation announced that the 25th edition of the Men's African Nations Volleyball Championship would be held in Kinshasa, DR of Congo from 5 to 15 September 2026.
On 16 August 2026, the Tunisian Volleyball Federation announced, based on the decision of the Executive Committee of the African Volleyball Confederation that the tournament would be moved to Tunisia due to the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, and the tournament dates were changed from 15 to 25 September 2026. This is the seventh time that Tunisia has hosted the tournament after 1967, 1976, 1987, 1995, 2013 and 2019.
Teams Initially, 27 teams entered the competition. However, due to the amount of teams entering, the CAVB asked each region to organise qualifiers to narrow the volume of teams to 16. Of the 16 qualified teams, 12 were present at the previous edition. Central African Republic made their debut. Of the returnees, DR Congo and Nigeria return after not appearing in 2023. Libya withdrew from the competition due to financial difficulties and a lack of preparation. Numbers in brackets indicate their ranking before the tournament.
Qualified teams Qualification Host Dates Vacancies QualifiedOriginal hosts January 2026 1 Top ten in 2023 Cairo 3–13 September 2023 10 Zone 2 qualifier Banjul 18–20 June 2026 1 Zone 3 qualifier Abidjan 14–18 July 2026 1 Zone 4 qualifier Bangui 22–26 June 2026 1 Zone 5 qualifier Kampala 1–5 June 2026 1 Zone 6 qualifier Harare 10–13 June 2026 1
Draw results
+ Pool A Team A1 A2 A3 + Pool B Team B1 B2 B3 + Pool C Team C1 C2 C3 + Pool D Team D1 D2 D3 D4
Venue The El Menzah Sports Palace hosted all the championship matches; this marks the fifth time the venue has hosted the tournament, following the 1967, 1976, 1987, and 1995 editions.
TunisEl Menzah Sports PalaceCapacity: 6,000
Format The teams were drawn into four groups, three with four teams and one with three. The group stage is used for seeding as every team advances to the round of 16 where it is a straight knockout from then on.
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
Tiebreakers 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 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, 3 and 4 will be made taking into consideration only the matches in which they were opposed to each other.
Preliminary round All times are West Africa Time (UTC+01:00).
Pool A
Pool B
Pool C
Pool D
Final round All times are West Africa Time (UTC+01:00).
Round of 16
9th–13th quarterfinals
Quarterfinals
9th–12th semifinals
5th–8th semifinals
Semifinals
11th place match
Ninth place match
Seventh place match
Fifth place match
Third place match
Final
Final standing
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
Most valuable player Ben Romdhane Oussama Best setter Ben Slimene Khaled Best outside hitters Badawe Djakode Elie Farouk Tizit Best middle blockers Voukeng Mbativou Christian William Darrel Tanga Mvilongo Best opposite spiker Bahid Mourad Best libero Korbosli Taieb
Statistics
Top 5 Scorers RankNamePoints Dusenge Wicklif Abdul-Hameed Ibrahim Farouk Tizit Imoro Iddi Alhassan Ezeofor Amstrong Udoka
See also 2026 AVC Men's Volleyball Continental Championship 2026 Men's NORCECA Volleyball Championship 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship 2026 Men's South American Volleyball Championship 2026 Women's African Nations Volleyball Championship
References
External links
CAVB website FIVB live center