Azeri stars eager to welcome EuroVolley 2026 and perform in front of the home crowd

Just days away from the serve-off of CEV Trendyol EuroVolley 2026, the excitement among Azerbaijan’s national team players about the upcoming European Championship, which they are co-hosting in Baku, is exponentially rising. They are continuing to train hard for the important competition ahead and are eager to delight the home fans at the National Gymnastics Arena in the Azeri capital with a good performance.

As a part of their preparation, Azerbaijan played several friendly games – with Greece on the road, and with Belarus and Latvia at home. Captain Ayshan Abdulazimova and one of the team’s leading stars and scorers – Yelizaveta Ruban – shared their thoughts on the ongoing preparation and the upcoming challenge.

“Our training sessions continue on a very intensive schedule,” said 33-year-old middle blocker Abdulazimova. “We have played several friendly matches. These games helped us identify the shortcomings within the team and see our mistakes. We are working as hard as possible in training to address these issues and we are applying the tactical and technical instructions of our coaches in our game.”

“I am eagerly looking forward to the start of the European Championship. Most of the preparation process is already behind us. We tested our strength in several friendly matches, identified our weaknesses and worked on them,” confirmed 31-year-old outside hitter Ruban. “There are now only a few days left until the tournament begins…”

Azerbaijan is set to welcome women’s European Championship matches for the second time in history. The first time, in 2017, when they co-hosted EuroVolley with Georgia, their team finished in fourth place to match their best result in the competition, dating back to 2005.

“You can't live with history. Our players understand this very well,” commented head coach Faig Garayev. “If we perform successfully, there will be a revival in Azerbaijani volleyball. As coaching staff, we must bring the girls' psychological, tactical and physical preparation to a high level. The team is well aware that serious games are ahead. It is nice that the girls are playing in their homeland. Our main goal is to get past the pool with a good result. Our team has previously demonstrated a good game against strong opponents. The current players have enough experience.”

“Each of us understands very well how important the European Championship is for us,” continued Ruban. “We are very happy that our home country Azerbaijan is co-hosting this prestigious tournament. As they say, playing on home soil gives you strength. We are looking forward to the support of our fans and everyone who loves volleyball. We will also do our best to play well, achieve victories, live up to the trust placed in us and advance to the next stage.”

“Playing at home, in front of our own fans, will give us additional motivation. Of course, playing at home also brings greater responsibility. However, the home-court advantage and the support of our fans will help us a lot. As we have said before, our main goal is to put in a strong performance in the group and advance to the next round. As players, we will do everything we can to achieve this,” Abdulazimova concluded.

On Monday, Azerbaijan’s senior internationals held a joint training session with the members of the youth national team at the National Gymnastics Arena, a memorable moment that added further to the anticipation of the big tournament in the country.

From August 21 to 28, Baku is hosting the matches of EuroVolley Pool C, also featuring the teams of Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Spain.