The Bulgarian women's national team is in 29th place in the FIVB world ranking despite losing to Serbia 0-3 (18:25, 14:25, 20:25) in their third match at EuroVolley 2026.
The defeat by the current European vice-champion cost Marcello Abbondanza's team 3.11 ranking points. Before the match, Bulgaria had 141.08 points, and after it, the national team's total decreased to 137.97.
Interestingly, Bulgaria climbed to 29th position just before the match with Serbia, without even playing themselves. The reason was Romania's loss to Azerbaijan, which cost our northern neighbors over 7 points and dropped them to 31st place.
Thus, after the update, Bulgaria remains No. 29 in the world with 137.97 points. Immediately ahead of the national team is Hungary, which occupies 28th position with 146.65 points. Behind Bulgaria is Cuba – No. 30 with 137.38 points, and Romania is now No. 31 with 134.90.
The differences around Bulgaria are minimal. The lead over Cuba is only 0.59 points, and over Romania – 3.07, which means that every subsequent match at EuroVolley 2026 could lead to a new reshuffle in this part of the world ranking.
For Bulgaria, this is another significant change within just a few days. After the 3-0 victory over Ukraine at the start of the European Championship, the national team gained 12.91 points and jumped four positions. The subsequent 1-3 (20:25, 25:21, 18:25, 23:25) loss to Greece took away 7.85 points and dropped Bulgaria to 30th place.
After the defeat by Serbia, the team lost another 3.11 points, but thanks to Romania's drop, they managed to hold onto 29th position.

photo:cev.eu