Madrid poised to stage CEV Nations Cup double-gender qualifier

The state-of-the-art facilities of the Parque Deportivo de Puerta de Hierro in Aravaca, Madrid, have opened their doors for the fourth year in a row to host a CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup qualifier. The country vs country competition brings the heat to Spain’s capital right after having completed the men’s event of the Beach Pro Tour Futures, which concluded with the triumph of Latvia’s Edgars Tocs and Gustavs Auzins. The Beach Volleyball party will continue when the Nations Cup ends with the women’s only Feature starting on Thursday.

The CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup is a competition between national selections in which each country is represented by two teams. All countries in a group face all other nations in a league format in search of a spot in the Nations Cup Final, which will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from July 16 to 19. There, the winner in each gender will secure a spot at the EuroBeachVolley 2026 in Stare Jablonki, Poland.

Madrid will host both a men’s and a women’s qualifier. For the men, Pool D comprises hosts Spain, Italy, Serbia and Luxembourg, with players like the four-time Olympian Adrián Gavira due to compete. As for the women, the sand will witness the likes of Tania Moreno/Sofia Izuzquiza for Spain, Emi van Driel/Mila Konink for The Netherlands or the other Dutch pair of Tess Spaansen/Trijntje Veerbeek battle it out for a ticket to Budapest. Denmark and Israel complete the line-up for the women’s competition. 

Eight countries will participate in the final stage. Among them there will be the group winners from each qualifier and the host country. In the men’s event, the best non-qualified country will also move on to Budapest while, for the women, two runners-up from the Preliminary Phase will get the pass to the Hungarian capital according to the relevant European country ranking as of February 6, 2026.