Bulgaria and the Czech Republic will meet again almost 11 months after the historic semifinal of the 2025 World Championship in the Philippines, which sent the "Lions" into the battle for the world title. Nine volleyball players from the Czech squad for that match are part of Jiri Novak's current team preparation and may once again face the Bulgarians in Samokov.
The first friendly match between the two teams is on August 25 at 7:00 PM in "Arena SamElyon" and will be open to the public. A day later, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic will play a second test match, which will remain closed to spectators. The Czech Federation has also officially included the two matches on August 25 and 26 in its national team's program as part of the preparation for EuroVolley 2026.
The last match between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic was on September 27, 2025, in Pasay, Philippines. The stakes were huge then – a place in the World Championship final.3:1 (25:20, 23:25, 25:21, 25:22)and qualified for the battle for the world title for the first time since 1970.
Almost a year later, a large part of the Czech volleyball players from that match may once again find themselves on the other side of the net against Bulgaria. Jiri Novak's current group includes nine of the 14 players who were in the squad for the 2025 World Championship semifinal – Lukas Vasina, Patrik Indra, Antonin Klimeš, Marek Sotola, Adam Zajicek, Luboš Bartunek, Matouš Drahoňovský, Milan Monik, and Jiri Benda.
Currently, the Czech Republic is preparing in Tabor with a group of 16 volleyball players. In addition to the nine participants from the World Championship semifinal, the group includes setters Ondřej Roman and Šimon Bryknar, outside hitters Daniel Cech and Matěj Pastrňák, middle blockers Jakub Klaymon and Štěpán Svoboda, and libero Jan Pavlíček. The official nomination from the Czech Federation confirms the full group of 16 players for the camp from August 13 to 18.
The squad may undergo changes for the Czech Republic's next camp immediately before traveling to Bulgaria, but at this stage, there are no indications of a serious reshuffle in the group. Therefore, it is entirely possible that a large part of these 16 volleyball players, including the nine participants in the 2025 World Championship semifinal, will be available to Jiri Novak for both test matches in Samokov.
Another interesting storyline is emerging around Antonin Kliješ before the August 25 match. The Czech middle blocker will continue his club career at Cucine Lube Civitanova, where he will be teammates with Aleksandar and Simeon Nikolov in the new season.
Thus, in Samokov, Kliješ may face his two future Lube teammates for the first time before the three reunite in Civitanova. Both Kliješ and the Nikolov brothers were part of the 2025 World Championship semifinal, but then Bulgaria and the Czech Republic were playing for a place in the world final.
Now, of course, the stakes are completely different. The matches in Samokov are part of the preparation for EuroVolley 2026, and the results have no official value. However, the matches will bring back two teams against each other that only 11 months ago were battling for the world final, and nine of the then Czech national players may once again face the "Lions".