Draws set tone for much-anticipated U22 European Championships

Eight teams per gender will contest later this summer the 2026 edition of the U22 European Championships, with the men’s event scheduled for late June / early July in Albufeira, Portugal – and the women due to take to the court in early July as well in The Hague, the Netherlands. The draws for the pool stage of the competition were held on Thursday morning at the home of European Volleyball in Luxembourg, thereby setting the tone for championships were France’s men and Italy’s women will be trying to retain their titles from the 2024 edition. 

Albufeira will welcome the rising stars of European Volleyball from June 29 to July 4 as it holds the status of European City of Sport for 2026. Home heroes Portugal will be playing Poland, Ukraine and Israel in Pool I. Ukraine sensationally beat Italy in one of last year’s qualifiers. Titleholders France will go for a repeat of the 2024 gold medal match with Italy in Pool II where they are joined also by Bulgaria and Czechia. 

The U22 women’s event in The Hague will run concurrently with the FIVB U18 Beach Volleyball World Championships, thereby providing local fans as well as those travelling from abroad with a week filled with action at the iconic Zuiderpark. The Netherlands will be playing Türkiye, Ukraine, and Spain in Pool I – whereas defending champions Italy will take on Serbia, Poland, and Portugal in Pool II. Italy and Serbia contested the gold medal match in 2024 – albeit with a different generation of players. 

After completion of the pool phase, the top two teams will advance and play crossed semi-finals followed by the subsequent bronze and gold medal matches. The teams finishing third and fourth in the groups will travel home after completion of the pool phase. The detailed match schedule will be released next week after it is finalised in close cooperation with the respective local Organising Committees. 

The U22 European Championship (originally U21 for women) was introduced in 2022 to provide up-and-coming players with an additional opportunity to compete internationally and to ease their transition from the age-group environment to the senior ranks. Historically, Italy has been the dominant force to this day with three gold medals to their name secured in the four such championships contested this far.