This article describes the qualification for the 2026 Women's European Volleyball Championship.[1]
Qualification edit
Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Sweden and Turkey as host countries were directly qualified. The eight best placed teams at the 2023 edition also gained direct entries into the tournament. 21 teams compete for the remaining 12 places at the final tournament.
| Means of qualification | Qualifier | Means of qualification | Qualifier | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host Countries |  Azerbaijan |
Qualification | Pool A | |
 Czech Republic |
Pool B | |||
 Sweden |
Pool C | |||
 Turkey |
Pool D | |||
| 2023 European Championship |  Serbia |
Pool E | ||
 Netherlands |
Pool F | |||
 Italy |
Pool G | |||
 Poland |
Best runners-up | |||
 France |
||||
 Bulgaria |
||||
 Ukraine |
||||
 Slovakia |
||||
| Total 24 | ||||
Direct qualification edit
All of the hosted countries' teams directly qualified for the tournament. Then, the top eight teams from previous edition also automatically qualified.
- 2023 Women's European Volleyball Championship final standing
| Qualified for the 2026 European Championship | |
| Qualified as hosts for the 2026 European Championship |
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
|
Turkey
|
|
Serbia
|
|
Netherlands
|
| 4 | Italy
|
| 5 | Poland
|
| 6 | France
|
| 7 | Bulgaria
|
| 8 | Czech Republic
|
| 9 | Ukraine
|
| 10 | Slovakia
|
| 11 |  Romania
|
| 12 |  Germany
|
| 13 |  Spain
|
| 14 |  Switzerland
|
| 15 |  Belgium
|
| 16 | Sweden
|
| 17 | Azerbaijan
|
| 18 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
| 19 |  Greece
|
| 20 |  Slovenia
|
| 21 |  Finland
|
| 22 |  Croatia
|
| 23 |  Estonia
|
| 24 |  Hungary
|
Format edit
There being seven pools of either three teams each, the winners of each pool and the 5 best runners-up qualified for the 2026 European Championship. The pools were played in a double round-robin.
Schedule edit
| Original schedule[1] | |
|---|---|
| Round | Round date |
| Matchday 1 | 17/18 August 2024 |
| Matchday 2 | 24/25 August 2024 |
| Matchday 3 | 31 August–1 September 2024 |
| Matchday 4 | 19/20 July 2025 |
| Matchday 5 | 26/27 July 2025 |
| Matchday 6 | 2/3 August 2025 |
The dates were updated to adapt to the new FIVB calendar.
| Round | Round date[1][2] |
|---|---|
| Matchday 1 | 17/18 August 2024 |
| Matchday 2 | 24/25 August 2024 |
| Matchday 3 | 28/29 August 2024 |
| Matchday 4 | 2/3 August 2025 |
| Matchday 5 | 6 August 2025 |
| Matchday 6 | 9/10 August 2025 |
Pools composition edit
The pools were set following the Serpentine system according to their European Ranking for national teams as of 6 November 2023. Rankings are shown in brackets.[1]
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D | Pool E | Pool F | Pool G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany (6)
|
Belgium (10)
|
Slovenia (13)
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina (15)
|
Spain (16)
|
Greece (17)
|
Romania (18)
|
| Switzerland (26)
|
Hungary (25)
|
 Israel (24)
|
 Montenegro (23)
|
 Portugal (22)
|
 Austria (21)
|
Croatia (19)
|
| Finland (27)
|
 Denmark (28)
|
Estonia (29)
|
 Latvia (31)
|
 Georgia (32)
|
 North Macedonia (33)
|
 Kosovo (NR)
|
Pool standing procedure edit
- Number of matches won
- Match points
- Sets ratio
- Points ratio
- If the tie continues as per the point ratio between two teams, the priority will be given to the team which won the last match between them. When the tie in points ratio is between three or more teams, a new classification of these teams in the terms of points 1, 2 and 3 will be made taking into consideration only the matches in which they were opposed to each other.
Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 match points for the winner, 0 match points for the loser
Match won 3–2: 2 match points for the winner, 1 match point for the loser
Results edit
- The winners in each pool and the top five of the second ranked teams qualified for the 2026 European Championship.
Pool A edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship |
| 2 | Switzerland
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship if one of five best second-ranked team |
| 3 | Finland
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
Source: [citation needed]
Pool B edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship |
| 2 | Hungary
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship if one of five best second-ranked team |
| 3 | Denmark
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
Source: [citation needed]
Pool C edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slovenia
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship |
| 2 | Israel
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship if one of five best second-ranked team |
| 3 | Estonia
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
Source: [citation needed]
Pool D edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship |
| 2 | Montenegro
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship if one of five best second-ranked team |
| 3 | Latvia
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
Source: [citation needed]
Pool E edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship |
| 2 | Portugal
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship if one of five best second-ranked team |
| 3 | Georgia
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
Source: [citation needed]
Pool F edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greece
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship |
| 2 | Austria
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship if one of five best second-ranked team |
| 3 | North Macedonia
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
Source: [citation needed]
Pool G edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romania
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship |
| 2 | Croatia
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship if one of five best second-ranked team |
| 3 | Kosovo
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
Source: [citation needed]
Ranking of the second placed teams edit
- Matches against the fourth placed team in each pool were not included in this ranking.
- The top five of the second placed teams qualified for the 2026 European Championship.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2026 European Championship |
| 2 | Team 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | Team 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 4 | Team 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 5 | Team 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | Team 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 7 | Team 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
Source: [citation needed]