Tine Urnaut is only 7 points away from breaking Tsvetan Sokolov's record for most points scored at European Championships since 2011.
The Bulgarian opposite is #1 in the CEV-published ranking with 583 points, while the Slovenian outside hitter starts EuroVolley 2026 with 577. The difference between the two is only six points, which means that with his seventh point in the current championship, Urnaut will take the sole lead.

In third position in the ranking is Nimir Abdel-Aziz with 546 points, followed by Georg Grozer with 524 and Aleksandar Atanasijević with 522.
Of these five, it is Urnaut who has the opportunity to increase his tally at EuroVolley 2026. Nimir Abdel-Aziz will not participate in the championship, Georg Grozer is also not in the German squad, and Aleksandar Atanasijević has ended his career in the Serbian national team.
Interestingly, the last match between Sokolov and Urnaut within EuroVolley was in Varna in 2023 – Slovenia defeated Bulgaria 3:0 (31:29, 25:22, 32:30), and Sokolov was the top scorer in the match with 23 points, while Urnaut scored 14.

Thus, Tsvetan Sokolov's record is under immediate threat right at the start of EuroVolley 2026. If Tine Urnaut scores at least 7 points, the Slovenian will take the lead in the CEV ranking for the top scorers at European Championships since 2011.
CEV itself put this statistic in focus just before the first serve of EuroVolley 2026. And for Bulgarian fans, the intrigue is more than curious – Tsvetan Sokolov's 583 points are now only 7 points away from Tine Urnaut.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov