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Men's European Volleyball Championship (EuroVolley) History & Hosts
The Men's European Volleyball Championship (EuroVolley) was first staged in 1948 and has been held every two years since 1975, with a one-off three-year gap between 2023 and 2026 when the calendar moved to even-numbered years. Twenty-four teams currently compete, a format in place since 2019, having previously been 16 teams (2007–2017) and fewer before then.
Italy's silver in 2023 moved them past the Soviet Union for the most medals of any nation (counting the Soviet Union and Russia separately), and they have won fifteen in total. However, the Soviet Union are still well ahead with twelve golds compared to Italy's seven. Poland retained the title in 2026, beating France 3–1 in the final, and now has twelve medals, three of them gold. Those three countries alone have claimed roughly 40% of the 102 medals awarded at the championships.
Italy have hosted this tournament more than any other nation, and their co-hosting role in 2026 was the sixth time they have staged it. Bulgaria have hosted five times and Finland four, whilst the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands and Poland have all hosted three times each. Montenegro will stage the pool phase of the 2028 tournament for the first time.
| Nation | Times Hosted | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | 6 | 1948, 1971, 2005, 2015, 2023, 2026 |
| Bulgaria | 5 | 1950, 1981, 2015, 2023, 2026 |
| Finland | 4 | 1977, 1993, 2021, 2026 |
| Czech Republic | 3 | 2001, 2011, 2021 |
| France | 3 | 1951, 1979, 2019 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 1985, 1997, 2019 |
| Poland | 3 | 2013, 2017, 2021 |
| Romania | 3 | 1955, 1963, 2026 |
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2028 Men's European Volleyball Championship (EuroVolley) Preview
The 2028 Men's European Volleyball Championship, the 35th edition of the tournament, is organised by the CEV (European Volleyball Confederation). Following the realignment of European competitions to even-numbered years in 2026, the championship is back on a two-year cycle.
Like the past four tournaments, the 2028 Men's European Volleyball Championship will be co-hosted across four countries. Montenegro has been confirmed as the first host, with the three remaining co-hosts still to be announced.
The tournament is due to take place shortly after the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, with exact dates and venues still to be confirmed. Twenty-four teams will compete, with the hosts joined by sides qualifying through the European League and the European ranking.
Poland head into the tournament as defending champions, having beaten France 3–1 in the 2026 final in Milan to retain the title they won in 2023.
Can Poland make it three in a row? It will be difficult. Their 2026 success was the first successful defence since Italy won in 2003 and 2005, and the eight champions in between (2007–2021) all failed to retain their crown.
2028 Men's European Volleyball Championship Venues & Hosts
Hosting Venues
The 2028 Men's European Volleyball Championship will be staged across four countries, with Montenegro the only host confirmed so far. The three remaining co-hosts and their venues are still to be announced.
Montenegro
Montenegro will stage the pool phase of the tournament for the first time, with matches at the Morača Sports Centre in Podgorica. The main hall seats around 6,000 following its 2018 renovation and expansion, and the venue has previously hosted group matches at EuroBasket 2005 and the 2022 Women's European Handball Championship.
Venues at a glance
| Venue | City | Country | Capacity | Rounds hosted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morača Sports Centre | Podgorica | Montenegro | 6,000 | Pool phase |
2028 Men's European Volleyball Championship Qualified Teams & Groups
The group draw for the 2028 Men's European Volleyball Championship has not yet been made, as qualification runs through to the summer of 2027. The 24 teams will be made up of the four host nations, defending champions Poland, eight teams qualifying through the Men's European Volleyball League (the semi-finalists from the 2026 and 2027 editions) and the highest-ranked remaining teams in the European ranking.
Six nations have secured their places so far. Montenegro qualified as hosts and Poland as defending champions, while Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Israel earned theirs as 2026 European League semi-finalists. Finland won that competition, with the Netherlands runners-up and Denmark third.
| Team | How they qualified |
|---|---|
| Montenegro | Host nation |
| Poland | Defending champions |
| Finland | 2026 European League winners |
| Netherlands | 2026 European League runners-up |
| Denmark | 2026 European League semi-finalist |
| Israel | 2026 European League semi-finalist |
Men's European Volleyball Championship Past Winners & Finals
Poland head into 2028 as back-to-back champions, having retained the title in 2026 with a 3–1 win over France to add to their golds in 2009 and 2023. Slovenia, meanwhile, remain the tournament's nearly men, finishing runners-up in 2015, 2019 and 2021 before taking bronze in 2023. They missed out on the podium in 2026, losing the bronze-medal match 3–0 to Finland, who claimed their first European Championship medal. Could Slovenia finally claim a maiden gold in 2028?
| Year | Champions | Score | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Poland | 3–1 | France |
| 2023 | Poland | 3–0 | Italy |
| 2021 | Italy | 3–2 | Slovenia |
| 2019 | Serbia | 3–1 | Slovenia |
| 2017 | Russia | 3–2 | Germany |
| 2015 | France | 3–0 | Slovenia |
| 2013 | Russia | 3–1 | Italy |
| 2011 | Serbia | 3–1 | Italy |
| 2009 | Poland | 3–1 | France |
| 2007 | Spain | 3–2 | Russia |
Men's European Volleyball Championship 2028 Betting Tips & Predictions
During the 2028 Men's European Volleyball Championship, there are two ways to find predictions on the matches at OLBG. First, you can head to the Volleyball Predictions page, which lists every upcoming game and highlights the outcome backed by the most tips.
You can also click any game on that page to reach the match page, which lists all the markets and outcomes along with the number of tips each has been given.
Alternatively, try the Best Volleyball Tipsters page, which lists only those tipsters who have made a profit on volleyball over the past year, so you can follow the predictions of tipsters with a profitable recent record.
Favourites at the European Championship
The success rate for favourites at the European Championship is broadly in line with the other major men's tournaments: favourites win around 81% of the time at the World Cup and 76% at the World Championships, so this event's 79% sits between the two. There have been plenty of short-priced favourites: 134 in total have been priced at 1.10 or shorter (an implied probability of 91% or more), and 122 of those went on to win, a success rate of 91%. Favourites priced at 1.41 or bigger are the ones to potentially take on, as they win just 56% of the time (37 from 66).
| Edition | Favourites (won–total) | Success rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 27–36 | 75.00% |
| 2019 | 61–76 | 80.26% |
| 2021 | 64–76 | 84.21% |
| 2023 | 59–76 | 77.63% |
| 2026 | 57–76 | 75.00% |
| Overall | 268–340 | 78.82% |
EuroVolley Set Score Statistics
From the 340 games across the last five tournaments, the average number of sets completed is just 3.70, and since it only takes three sets to win a match, that tells you a lot of these ties are finishing in clean sweeps. That has been the case in 166 games (3–0 or 0–3), 49% of the total, or nearly half. A striking 81% of games (276) were done in four sets or fewer, whilst just 19% (64) went the distance to a deciding fifth set.
| Set score | Games | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 3–0 | 96 | 28.24% |
| 0–3 | 70 | 20.59% |
| 3–1 | 48 | 14.12% |
| 1–3 | 62 | 18.24% |
| 3–2 | 26 | 7.65% |
| 2–3 | 38 | 11.18% |
| Total | 340 | 100% |
Men's European Volleyball Championship Medal Table
The Soviet Union dominated the early years of this tournament, much as they did in volleyball in general. Over the first seventeen editions (1948–1991), they collected twelve gold medals, including nine consecutive titles between 1967 and 1987. Italy then enjoyed a golden spell of their own, winning six of the nine tournaments between 1989 and 2005, though their triumph in 2021 was their first title since.
Poland are the modern force. Their 2026 win was a third gold after 2009 and 2023, taking them to the top of the three-gold group of nations ahead of Czechoslovakia and Serbia. They also hold five silvers, all won as runners-up to the Soviet Union in consecutive tournaments between 1975 and 1983. Elsewhere, Finland claimed their first European Championship medal in 2026, taking bronze.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Soviet Union | 12 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| 2nd | Italy | 7 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| 3rd | Poland | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| 4th | Czechoslovakia | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| 5th | Serbia | 3 | 1 | 8 | 12 |
| 6th | Russia | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
Nations are ranked by gold medals, then silver. The Soviet Union and Russia are listed separately, while Serbia's figures include medals won as Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro.
Meet the author
Our volleyball content, including this Men's European Volleyball Championship 2028 preview, is researched and maintained by Andy Powell, who updates the page ahead of and throughout the tournament.
About the author
More Volleyball Previews & Betting Guides
As well as this tournament, we cover volleyball's other major men's and women's competitions. Take a look at our previews and betting guides for each:
