Bulgaria can secure direct qualification for the 2027 U20 European Championship today. To do this, Ventsislav Simeonov's national team must defeat Belarus in their fourth match of the qualification tournament in Sofia.
The situation seems a bit more complicated due to the unusual regulations of the competition and the participation of Russia and Belarus. The six teams play in a round-robin format, with each team completing the tournament with five matches.
Normally, the winner of the BVA zonal qualification receives a direct quota for EuroVolley 2027. However, due to the participation of Russia and Belarus, CEV has introduced a special rule. If one of these two teams wins the tournament, they also qualify directly, but the Balkan Volleyball Association does not lose its quota – the highest-ranked team from BVA member countries also advances to the finals. Thus, if Russia or Belarus win, the tournament in Sofia will send two direct participants to EuroVolley.
Bulgaria already has 3 wins from 3 matches and 8 points after successes against North Macedonia with 3:0, Serbia with 3:2, and Turkey with 3:0. Of the remaining Balkan teams, only Serbia or Turkey can still achieve three wins.
Interestingly, the two teams meet each other today at 3:00 PM – two and a half hours before Bulgaria plays against Belarus. Both Serbia and Turkey enter the match with one win each, so the winner will record their second success and will remain the only one of the two teams that can equal Bulgaria in terms of number of wins.
If Turkey wins today, tomorrow they will meet North Macedonia and can finish with 3 wins. If Serbia wins, the Serbs will have the opportunity to reach the same tally tomorrow against Belarus. Therefore, the result of Serbia – Turkey will show who remains Bulgaria's last real competitor for the highest-ranked team from BVA.
However, all these calculations become irrelevant if Bulgaria defeats Belarus. Then our national team will have 4 wins, while neither Serbia, nor Turkey, nor North Macedonia can reach such a tally. Thus, Bulgaria will 100% guarantee its direct qualification for EuroVolley U20 in 2027 even before its last match against Russia on Saturday.
photo: Nikolay Varadinov
