We’re already well underway in the 2023 Women’s EuroVolley with the group stages coming to a close and the Round of 16 games starting this Saturday (26 August). Organised by the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV), this year’s edition of the biennial event to determine the best team in Europe is taking place across venues in Belgium, Italy, Estonia, and Germany. Having started on 15 August, teams have been battling it out to progress to the next stage and hope to reach the final on 3 September at Palais 12 in Brussels, Belgium.
The current champions Italy will be hoping that their home advantage will spur them on to the latter stages of the competition. The Turkish team are also one to watch after winning this year’s FIVB Volleyball Women’s Nations League and serving up a win against Sweden in their first match of the European Championships. If you want to follow your chosen side, there’s still tickets left for most matches with prices starting from EUR €10.00.
As volleyball fever has gripped the continent, the top European men’s teams will be champing at the bit to get started with the 2023 Men’s EuroVolley. The competition gets underway with the group stages on Monday 28 August. Venues across Italy, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Israel will host games with the final taking place at PalaLottomatica in Rome, Italy on 16 September.
As in the women’s equivalent, the Italians are the defending champions, and the men will be keen to reach the final where a home crowd will roar them on. However, it was Poland who were victorious in this year’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League finals only a month ago. There is much to be decided at the Men’s EuroVolley and ticket prices start at just EUR €7.66.
Both tournaments are being played with one eye on the upcoming Olympics in 2024. There are several FIVB Olympic Qualification Tournaments (OQTs) for each gender to determine which nations will qualify for the Olympics, and in order to make it to those tournaments, teams will have to perform well at continental championships.