EuroVolley 2026 DOL coming up this Saturday, tickets to go on sale November 7!

With the eagerly anticipated Drawing of Lots coming up this Saturday at the iconic Norman-Swabian Castle in Bari (live streaming on the CEV YouTube channel here), the countdown to the CEV EuroVolley 2026 has already begun. The continental championship will be taking place across as many as eight countries – four in each gender – and feature as many as 24 men’s and just as many women’s national teams. Tickets for the Volleyball party of the year 2026 will go on sale in about a month – on November 7 – so you can already save the date and mark your agenda to secure your place there! 

Later this week, the teams due to contest the 2026 edition of the CEV EuroVolley will know their fate at least as far as the pool stage of the competition is concerned. The women’s tournament will unfold from August 21 to September 6 with matches held in Istanbul (Türkiye), Brno (Czechia), Gothenburg (Sweden), and Baku (Azerbaijan). The ‘Sultans of the Net’ will be trying to retain their historic title from the 2023 edition in front of their home fans – buoyed by their historic silver medal from this year’s World Championship in Thailand. 

The men’s competition will be taking place in Italy, Bulgaria, Finland, and Romania, with an unmissable open-air opening match at Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples scheduled for September 10. The event will be reaching its climax in Milan – when the semis and medal matches are contested in the state-of-the-art Arena Santa Giulia on September 25-26 – the very same venue that is due to host ice hockey competition at the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Other host cities for the men’s event include Modena and Turin (Italy), Varna (Bulgaria), Tampere (Finland), and Cluj-Napoca (Romania). Poland are the defending champions following their triumph in Rome in the late summer of 2023. 

Before the schedule for the pool stage is confirmed and tickets can go on sale, there is obviously a Drawing of Lots coming up first. This will be taking place this Saturday, October 4, in Bari, with star players and many more members of the Volleyball family all in attendance. The four host countries in each gender will be head of the respective groups and, as per the regulations in place, they all had the right to choose one team to join their pool – these will all be disclosed live on Saturday night! The draw will subsequently continue with all remaining teams grouped into four cups in each gender on the basis of the relevant European ranking. The DOL will be covered extensively across all CEV digital channels, so make sure you follow every bit of it for a night that will set the tone for the majestic party coming up next summer! 

For further information, visit https://eurovolley.cev.eu