Portugal gears up for Golden League campaign

The Portuguese men’s national team have just started their preparations for the 2025 edition of the CEV European Golden League. The training camp is taking place at the Municipal Pavillion of Santa Maria Maior in Viana do Castelo.

Under the leadership of head coach João José – a former star player and captain of the team –, Team Portugal is set to debut in the European Golden League at Tournament 3, which will be held in Greece. During the weekend from June 6 to 8, Portugal will face Spain on Saturday and Greece on Sunday, while Greece and Spain will compete against each other on Friday.

Portugal's home debut is scheduled for June 13 at the Municipal Pavillion Prof. Joaquim Vairinhos in Loulé, a venue that previously hosted matches for the European Golden League in 2024 as well. 

Roster
AA Espinho: Rafael Pinto
Castêlo da Maia GC: Guilherme Menezes
Leixões SC: André Pereira, Rafael Santos
SC Espinho: José Pedro Andrade
SL Benfica: Tiago Violas, Ivo Casas
Sporting CP: Gonçalo Sousa, Kelton Tavares
Vitória SC: Manuel Figueiredo
CV San Roque Batán (Spain): José Pinto
Nice Volley-Ball (France): Bruno Dias
Saint-Nazaire VB Atlantique (France): Lourenço Martins
Helios Grizzlys Giesen (Germany): Miguel Sinfrónio
Tokyo Great Bears (Japan): Alexandre Ferreira
Nova Technology Lycurgus BV (Netherlands): Nuno Marques
Aluron Warta Zawiercie (Poland): Miguel Tavares Rodrigues
SC Municipal Zalau (Romania): Filip Cveticanin
 
The preliminary round of the 2025 European Golden League will span from June 6 to 22, thereby maintaining the format of the previous edition. The 12 participating national teams will each have the opportunity to host a tournament, consistently facing different opponents, and totalling six unique matchups.

Each tournament, comprising three national teams, will see the host nation play on Friday and Sunday, while the visiting teams will compete against each other on Saturday. The overall standings will encompass all teams, with the top four advancing to the Final Four, slated for July 5-6 in Ostrava, Czechia. 

From June 13 to 15, Portugal will host Tournament 8 in Loulé, where they will face Slovakia on Friday and Israel on Sunday. Slovakia and Israel will play each other on Saturday.

Tournament 12 of the preliminary round, to be held in Czechia, is scheduled for June 20 to 22. Romania and Czechia will play on Friday, followed by Portugal’s matches against Romania on Saturday and the Czechs on Sunday.

The Czech city of Ostrava will be the venue for the 2025 European Golden League Final Four, scheduled for the first weekend of July. This decisive stage will feature the top four teams from the group phase. This event marks the return of high-calibre Volleyball to Ostrava, which previously hosted the CEV EuroVolley Men in 2021 and the Women’s Golden League Final Four in 2024.

Playing on home ground, Czechia will aim to improve upon their bronze medal from the 2024 European League. Ukraine, the reigning champions, will not defend their title, having qualified for the 2025 Volleyball Nations League (VNL). The Ukrainians defeated Croatia to claim the gold medal in the 2024 Golden League, while Czechia secured third place by defeating Estonia in the bronze medal match.

As the host of the Final Four, Czechia is automatically qualified for the final stage. Should they finish below 4th place in the group phase, they will replace the 4th ranked team from the preliminary round in the semi-finals.

In the 2024 European Golden League, held from May 17 to June 2 under a revised format, Portugal hosted Luxembourg (3-0) and Spain (3-1) in Loulé. Subsequently, in Romania, they faced Croatia (1-3) and Romania (3-2). Portugal’s campaign continued in Poland (neutral territory for Ukraine), where they played against Ukraine (1-3) and Belgium (2-3), ultimately finishing in 6th place overall. 

Team Portugal has directly qualified for the final phase of the 2026 European Championship, which will be co-hosted by Italy, Bulgaria, Finland, and Romania. This marks Portugal’s fourth consecutive appearance and eighth overall participation in the European Championship finals, with previous such achievements claimed in 1948, 1951, 2005, 2011, 2019, 2021, and 2023. 

Portugal will also compete in the final phase of the 2025 World Championship, scheduled to take place in the Philippines from September 12 to 28. This will mark Portugal’s return to the World Championship finals after 23 years since their historic participation in the Argentina World Championship in 2002, thereby securing Portugal’s third appearance in the tournament’s history.

Portugal will play their first match at the 2025 World Championship against Cuba. This rematch of several historic encounters with Cuba (in the former World League) is scheduled for September 13. This will be followed by matches against the United States on September 15 and Colombia two days later. 

The 2025 World Championship will be held from September 12 to 28 in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Spectators can look forward to a total of 64 matches throughout the 17-day competition.