The Serbian men's national team officially began its preparations for the 2026 European Championship. The team, led by Romanian specialist Gheorghe Crețu, gathered in Belgrade, with 16 volleyball players called up for the first camp.
Among the setters are Nikola Jovović, Vuk Todorović, and Aleksa Batak. At the opposite hitter position, Crețu will rely on Dražen Luburić and Veljko Mašulović, while the outside hitters include captain Marko Ivović, Miran Kujundžić, Pavle Perić, Vuk Kulpinac, and Lazar Marinović. The middle blockers are Aleksandar Nedeljković, Nemanja Mašulović, Aleksandar Stefanović, and Stefan Kokeza, and the liberos are Vukašin Ristić and Stefan Negić.

The preparation will take place in Belgrade, with the first two test matches scheduled for August 19 and 20 against Slovenia. After that, the Serbs will arrive in Sofia, where they will play two friendly matches against Bulgaria on September 1 and 2. These control matches will be the final test for both teams before the start of the European Championship.
At EuroVolley 2026, Serbia will play in Group C in Tampere (Finland), along with hosts Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark. The team's first match is on September 11 against Estonia.
The European Championship will be held from September 9 to 26 in Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, and Finland. An interesting detail is that the official announcement of the Serbian Volleyball Federation still states that the round of 16 and quarter-finals will be played in Turin and Varna. However, this is outdated information, as CEV officially moved the Bulgarian matches of the elimination phase from Varna to Sofia back in October 2025. The semi-finals and medal matches will take place in Milan.
The 2026 European champion will secure a direct quota for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov