Strongest teams to clash in dramatic 2024 CEV Volleyball European Golden League Women Final Four

The top four teams in the 2024 CEV Volleyball European Golden League Women will take the court two times this weekend in the RT Torax Arena Ostrava, Czechia with the big prize on display, as hosts Czechia, Romania, Belgium and Sweden are vying for the title.

The Final Four of the 2024 CEV Volleyball European Golden League Women will be played over two days, with the semi-finals opposing Czechia and Romania on one side and Sweden and Belgium on the other side, being scheduled for Saturday, 15 June, while the bronze medal match and the big final played on day later, on Sunday, 16 June.

Only one side has secured six wins in the first six matches, Belgium, which have conceded only four sets so far, one against Spain, Croatia, Czechia and Ukraine each, and will be favoured against Sweden, a team which have won against in straight sets in Week 1, in Lund.

Back then, on 19 May, Sweden rested superstar Isabelle Haak, and stood little chance against Belgium, which secured a clear win, 25:17; 25:19 and 25:14, clearing their path towards their six-match winning streak, which set them on the top of the table at the end of the league round.

“Belgium is a very good team, but I feel that the gap between them and us is not very big. They have skilled players, but we can challenge them. They are in no way unbeatable. We need to have our game plan ready for us and succeed in executing it, we want step into the match with the right attitude and show that we want to win. We are determined to make a better effort than when we met in Lund during the premiere weekend, says Sweden’s coach, Giulio Cesare Bregoli.

Bregoli will have Haak at his disposal for this match, which can be a gamechanger, but Belgium try to secure the win and progress to the final, avenging their losses from last season’s CEV Volleyball European Golden League Women. In the semi-finals, Sweden, which were the runners-up, won twice against Belgium, 3:2 and 3:0, and will hope to secure another win, their fourth in the last six matches.

In the second semi-final, Czechia will face a stern test in the shape of Romania, with the hosts boasting a 5-1 record, while Romania have four wins and two losses in the league round, as the two teams have already met in the first week of the competition, when Czechia took a 3-1 win (25:18; 22:25; 25:23; 25:23).

On the other hand, Romania have the top two scorers of the competition, with captain Rodica Buterez having 128 points, followed closely by Ana Cristina Miron, who has 124 points. On the third spot on the podium is Czechia’s Gabriela Orvosova, with 115 points, as the top three scorers will be on the court in the RT Torax Arena Ostrava.

Czechia have always made the semi-finals in the new format of the competition, finishing fourth in 2021, securing the silver medal in 2022 and the bronze medal in 2023, as they now look to complete the puzzle with a title.

The two sides have also met in the semi-finals in Czechia in 2022, with the hosts taking a dramatic 3:2 win, with a 15:11 win in the fifth set.