The Portuguese national team began today (August 3) its preparations for the 2026 European Championship. João José's team gathered in Viana do Castelo, from where they start preparations for the country's fourth consecutive participation in the finals of the Old Continent's championship.

The biggest surprise in the announced squad is the absence of the starting setter Miguel Tavares. One of the leaders of the Portuguese national team was not among the 16 chosen by the coach, and the Portuguese Federation did not state a reason for his absence.

Tavares was Portugal's main setter in the last official match against Bulgaria – the round of 16 at the 2025 World Championship in the Philippines, when the "Lions" won convincingly 3:0 (25:19, 25:23, 25:13) on their way to a historic silver medal.

In Tavares' absence, Bruno Dias is expected to be the starter in that position. Last season, he played for the French Tourcoing, where he was a teammate of Bulgarian international Venislav Antov. From the new season, Dias will play for the French giant Tours. The second setter in the squad is Diogo Fevereiro from Benfica.
Among the more experienced names in the Portuguese squad are also opposite Alexandre Ferreira, who plays for Japan's Tokyo Great Bears, and outside hitter Nuno Marques from Belgium's Lindemans Aalst.
Portugal squad:
Setters:Bruno Dias (Tours, France), Diogo Fevereiro (Benfica).
Opposites:Alexandre Ferreira (Tokyo Great Bears, Japan), Rodrigo Costa (Castelo da Maia).
Outside Hitters:Lourenço Martins (Sporting), Tomás Teixeira (Benfica), Nuno Marques (Lindemans Aalst, Belgium), André Pereira (Martigues, France), Manuel Figueiredo (Volley Näfels, Switzerland).
Middle Blockers:Kelton Tavares (Sporting), Nuno Teixeira (Vitória Guimarães), José Pinto (Académica Espinho), Guilherme Menezes (Espinho), Filip Cveticanin (Zalău, Romania).
Liberos:Gonçalo Sousa (Sporting), Gonçalo Gomes (Vitória Guimarães).

photos: Nikolay Varadinov