The Men's European Volleyball Championship starts tomorrow, and Bulgaria enters the tournament in a completely different role compared to recent years.
Our national team is a world vice-champion, plays the group stage in front of its home crowd in Sofia, and starts the competition as No. 9 in the world ranking.
Bulgaria is one of the four hosts of EuroVolley 2026, along with Italy, Finland, and Romania.
"Arena 8888 Sofia" will host the matches from Group B, and after the end of the preliminary phase, four more round of 16 matches and two quarter-finals will be played in the capital.
Thus, Sofia will host a total of 21 matches from the championship.
For Bulgaria, everything starts on September 9 against North Macedonia, and the last match in the group is on September 16 against world No. 1 Poland.
Bulgaria's Group
The national team was drawn into Group B along with Poland, Ukraine, Portugal, Israel, and North Macedonia.
According to the FIVB world ranking, updated on September 8, 2026, Bulgaria starts EuroVolley as No. 9 in the world with 272.25 points.
Group B – Sofia
Poland – No. 1, 407.56 points
Bulgaria – No. 9, 272.25 points
Ukraine – No. 11, 247.16 points
Portugal – No. 26, 138.86 points
Israel – No. 30, 133.53 points
North Macedonia – No. 55, 83.17 points
When Bulgaria plays and where to watch the matches
All five of Bulgaria's group stage matches start at 7:00 PM.
The first three will be broadcast on MAX One, and the last two on bTV Action and VOYO.
| Date | Time | Match | Television |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 9 | 19:00 | Bulgaria – North Macedonia | MAX One |
| September 11 | 19:00 | Portugal – Bulgaria | MAX One |
| September 12 | 19:00 | Bulgaria – Ukraine | MAX One |
| September 14 | 19:00 | Bulgaria – Israel | bTV Action and VOYO |
| September 16 | 19:00 | Poland – Bulgaria | bTV Action and VOYO |
If Bulgaria qualifies for the knockout phase, the matches of our national team will be broadcast simultaneously on the channels of A1 and bTV Media Group.
How to advance to the round of 16
There are six teams in each of the four groups.
The first four advance to the round of 16, while the fifth and sixth conclude their participation.
Group B, which includes Bulgaria, crosses with Group D.
The scheme is:
| Place in Group B | Opponent in the round of 16 |
|---|---|
| 1st | 4th from Group D |
| 2nd | 3rd from Group D |
| 3rd | 2nd from Group D |
| 4th | 1st from Group D |
Who could await Bulgaria in the round of 16
The opponent will be one of the top four teams in Group D, which includes France, Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, Romania, and Latvia.
Group D
France – No. 8, 302.59 points
Turkey – No. 10, 268.49 points
Germany – No. 12, 241.87 points
Switzerland – No. 28, 134.76 points
Romania – No. 35, 124.47 points
Latvia – No. 50, 92.47 points
The concentration of leading teams around Bulgaria in the world ranking is particularly impressive.
France is No. 8, Bulgaria No. 9, Turkey No. 10, Ukraine No. 11, and Germany No. 12.
Bulgaria fell into the tougher half of the bracket
Group B crosses with Group D.
The B–D stream includes six teams from the Top 12 of the world ranking – Poland No. 1, France No. 8, Bulgaria No. 9, Turkey No. 10, Ukraine No. 11, and Germany No. 12.
For comparison, in the other stream – A–C – there are only two teams from the Top 12: world champion Italy No. 2 and Slovenia No. 4.
Thus, the ratio between the two streams is 6:2 in terms of the number of teams from the world Top 12.
Italy is in Group A, which crosses with Group C in the knockout stage, and cannot meet Poland, France, Bulgaria, Turkey, Ukraine, or Germany before the semifinals.
This shows a significantly higher concentration of teams from the top part of the world ranking in the B–D stream.
It is through this stream that Bulgaria must pass on its way to Milan.
When will Bulgaria play in the Round of 16?
The exact date of Bulgaria's potential Round of 16 match cannot yet be specified.
CEV clarified specifically forVolleyweek.bg, that the final schedule will be made after the completion of the group stage.
The requirements of the local organizer and broadcasters will also be taken into account when determining the program.
However, there are two fixed groups of Round of 16 pairs, and the matches in each of them must be played on the same day:
B1 – D4 and D2 – B3
D1 – B4 and B2 – D3
At the moment, CEV cannot confirm which of these two groups of matches will be on September 19th and which – on September 20th.
Therefore, the exact day and time of Bulgaria's potential Round of 16 match will become clear after the end of the group stage.
The road to Milan passes through Sofia
If Bulgaria passes the group stage and wins its Round of 16 match, it will also play its quarter-final in front of a home crowd.
Sofia hosts a total of four Round of 16 matches and two quarter-finals.
If they win the quarter-final, Bulgaria will qualify for the semi-finals in Milan, where the medal matches will also be played.
Thus, the national team can play all their matches up to and including the quarter-final in front of their home crowd, and if they win that too, the road continues to Milan.
Another huge stake – Los Angeles 2028
EuroVolley 2026 also has direct Olympic significance.
The European champion receives a direct quota for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
Thus, the European title brings not only the gold medal but also a guaranteed spot at the next Olympic Games.
