Israel seal historic #EuroVolleyU22M semi-final spot

On Monday, the #EuroVolleyU22M Final Round kicked off in spectacular fashion in Albufeira, European City of Sport 2026, bringing together the absolute elite of European Volleyball and showcasing the rising stars of the sport. The opening day of action immediately lived up to the immense hype, delivering gruelling five-set dramas, tactical masterclasses, and raw emotional intensity that proved there are no weak teams among the eight nations competing for the European crown.

In Pool I, Israel made history by securing a spot in the semi-finals for the first time ever, following a commanding 3-0 victory over the home team, Portugal (25-22, 25-18, 25-21). Despite a spirited effort by the Portuguese side fuelled by the setting of Diogo Almeida and the spikes of Ricardo Pedrosa, Israel proved to be too precise in the decisive moments. Mark Rura and Shay Mayo Liberman led the charge with 15 and 16 points respectively, dismantling the host’s strategies.

Portugal’s coach João Franco acknowledged the gap after the match, stating, “Israel is probably the best team in the group. At least they have the best individual talent. It was a complicated game, largely because we were not consistent with our service. And in this faster type of game, the serve is even more crucial. That greatly hindered our blocking action. Anyone who knows Volleyball and knows their individual players knows it would be very difficult to do much better in these two games, and therefore I am super happy with my players.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s head coach Noam Katz could not hide his pride, saying, “We are happy with our two victories. We secured our place in the semi-final for the first time in Israel’s history. We are very happy with this achievement. Now we will continue, as I said after the first game, working to keep winning and to improve our team’s performance from game to game.” 

The other Pool I clash of the day was an absolute thriller as Ukraine staged a phenomenal comeback to upset Poland 3-2 (15-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-14, 15-13). After a completely one-sided first set dominated by the Poles, the Ukrainian squad inverted the roles and pushed the match into a high-stakes fifth-set tie-break. A nail-biting rollercoaster, which included a dramatic video challenge was finally settled by an extraordinary performance from Ukraine’s opposite Maksym Tonkonoh, who hammered an incredible 34 points, complemented by a match-winning block from Andrii Chelenyak. With this result, Ukraine bypassed a ticket back home and threw themselves right back into semi-final contention. Reflecting on the emotional victory,

Ukraine’s coach Kostiantyn Riabukha commented: “This result is great for us; it was an important game that we needed to win, and now we feel we are in the fight. If we had lost today, we would have had to buy a ticket back home. We are feeling what a European Championship is really like. Tomorrow, I have only one certainty: it will not be an easy game. It is the home team, and we have to rest mentally and physically to be ready for another battle.” 

As the Pool I standings shape up after Day 2, Israel sits comfortably at the top with two wins and maximum six points and a guaranteed semi-final ticket. Poland follow with one win and three points, Ukraine have moved to one win and two points, and Portugal hold one point with two losses. Wednesday’s final pool matches will determine the second semi-finalist, with Poland taking on Israel and Ukraine clashing with Portugal in a must-win scenario for both sides.

Czechia catch Italy off guard

Over in Pool II, the hierarchy was heavily shaken. Czechia stepped onto the court with zero fear against the vice-champions Italy, freezing the notorious firepower of Diego Frascio and Manuel Zlatanov. With an incredibly aggressive service line and heavy tactical discipline, the Czechs captured a fundamental 3-1 victory (25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-16), leaving the Azzurrini scrambling for answers.

Czechia’s coach Michal Nekola praised his team’s serving display, remarking, “It was a fantastic game in which the serve played a huge role. In the first two sets, especially the first, we were better in serving and defence. The second was almost, almost the same. In the third set, Italy improved their service, but in the fourth set, we served like crazy, and decided the game. Now that we got the three points, we are already focused on the next game against Bulgaria. We want to beat Bulgaria and advance to the semi-finals. That is our big goal.”

Closing out the day, reigning U22 European champions France overcame a bumpy start against Bulgaria to seal their second victory of the tournament with a 3-1 scoreline (19-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-18). Bulgaria claimed the opening set by exploiting French unforced errors, but France quickly stabilised their reception, turning to middle blocker Joris Seddik and the potent serving of Arthur Kleynjans to dictate the pace for the remainder of the match.

Despite the victory, French head coach Slimane Belmadi remains highly cautious about the open state of the group, explaining, “In the first set, I wanted to give some playing time to players who did not play much yesterday, or who were not very good yesterday, so that they could regain their confidence. We lacked efficiency in attack. We had many opportunities, but we could not convert, make the points. Then we were put in a bit of trouble by their service; they served very well. The Bulgarians are very strong when they are ahead on the scoreboard, but we know they make many more mistakes and are under much more stress when they are behind. Our lack of efficiency allowed them to be ahead, and then it was a bit difficult for us, as we could not stabilise our reception, so we lost the first set. Then we made changes, which made those who came in more effective, and we stabilised the reception a bit too. Finally, we managed to play a bit more through the centre, which is a strong suit for us. We had some doubts during the first set; today we tended to go a bit more for the pipe attacks, forgetting the middle, so we should have stuck to the centre first and then played the pipes and the outside. We are not qualified yet because there was a surprising result today with Italy losing, and so that has blown the group wide open, and we could find three teams with two wins in the end. So, for now, nothing is certain. Tomorrow will basically be the equivalent of a Round of 16. For us, it will be necessary for the players to approach the game as if it were a Round of 16 that we absolutely must win, to finish first if possible. So, there will be two challenges tomorrow in the game against Italy, and Italy is a very strong team. It is always difficult to play against Italy, and even more difficult to defeat them.” 

With France currently leading Pool II with two wins and five points, Czechia and Italy follow next with one win apiece and four and three points, respectively. Bulgaria, with two losses and zero points, are already eliminated. Czechia will seek to finalise their dream run against Bulgaria, while Italy and France prepare for an epic showdown where every single set and point will count towards a spot in the semis.