The Men's European Volleyball Championship (EuroVolley) is the official competition for senior men's national volleyball teams of Europe, organized by the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV). The initial gap between championships was variable, but since 1975 they have been awarded every two years. The current champion is Poland, which won two consecutive titles at the 2023 and 2026 editions.
History The first tournament was held in 1948 with participation of six national teams. Being only participant from Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia captured gold. The teams from Eastern Europe dominated at the tournament for next four decades. The next two editions held in 1950 and 1951 were won by the Soviet Union (who also won two World Championships in 1949 and 1952). However, in late 1950s Czechoslovakia returned to first position. They captured European gold in 1955 and repeated this success at next edition in 1958 (also winning World Championship in 1956). In 1963, twice runner-up Romania won its maiden European title at the home tournament.
The victory in 1967 marked the beginning of the 20-year era of dominance of the Soviet Union. From 1967 to 1987, Soviet team didn't lose any tournament by winning 9 European titles in a row. The names of leading Soviet players of these times such as Vyacheslav Zaytsev, Aleksandr Savin, Vladimir Kondra, Viljar Loor, Yury Panchenko and Vladimir Chernyshyov are known to volleyball enthusiasts all over the world. From 1977 to 1985, Soviet team was coached by Vyacheslav Platonov who led national team to five European titles in a row as well as to two World Championship titles (1978, 1982), two World Cup titles (1977, 1981) and Olympic gold in 1980. The main European rival of Soviet team at these times, Poland (1974 World Champion and 1976 Olympic Champion) was runner-up for the five times in a row (from 1975 to 1983).
Soviet domination was ceased in 1989 when Italy under leadership of Argentinian coach Julio Velasco unprecedentally won their first ever official tournament. Soviet team surprisingly failed to even reach podium after losing to Sweden (hosts) in semifinals and to Netherlands in a bronze-medal match. However, in 1991, in their last participation at the competition, Soviet Union won European title for the 12th time after 3–0 victories over a Netherlands in semifinals and Italy in the final match. Vyacheslav Platonov won European title as head coach for the record sixth time.
Following the Soviet Union's dissolution in December 1991, Italy led by such players as Andrea Gardini, Andrea Giani, Paolo Tofoli and Lorenzo Bernardi became indisputably the best team not only in Europe but also in the world. They won three World Championships in a row (1990, 1994, 1998) and also dominated at European Championships by winning five of the next seven tournaments (from 1993 to 2005). However, ironically they never managed to win Olympic gold. Netherlands who became Olympic Champion in 1996 also won their maiden European title at the home tournament next year. FR Yugoslavia who won Olympic gold in 2000 also became European Champion for the first time at the next-year tournament.
After victory in 2005, the period of Italy's dominance came to end, and more national teams won their maiden European titles. The next tournament was surprisingly won by Spain who beat home favorites – Russia – in a closest 5th-set tie-breaker. In 2009, Poland became European Champion for the first time. The next tournament was won by Serbia for the first time since dissolution of the Serbia and Montenegro (the country which was previously known as FR Yugoslavia). In 2013, Russia (who became Olympic Champion in 2012) finally won their first European title since the Soviet Union's dissolution. The next edition was successful for France who also won their maiden European gold.
The 2017 European Championship took place in Poland. It was won by Russia who defeated Germany in a 5th-set tie-breaker. The 2019 European Championship was co-hosted by four countries for first time – France, Slovenia, Belgium and the Netherlands. Serbia won this tournament after 3–1 victory over Slovenia in the final match in Paris. The co-host countries of 2021 edition were Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia and Finland. In the final match held in Katowice, Italy defeated Slovenia in a 5th-set tie-breaker and won their seventh European title – the first in 16 years. Next year Italy achieved another success in Katowice by defeating Poland at the opponent's home ground in the final match of the 2022 World Championship. However, next year Poland took revenge by beating Italy 3–0 in a final match of the 2023 European Championship which was held in Rome. It was the second European victory in the history of Polish men's national volleyball team.
The 33 European Championship tournaments have been won by nine different nations. Russia have won fourteen times (twelve as Soviet Union). The other European Championship winners are Italy, with seven titles; Czech Republic (as Czechoslovakia), Serbia (one as FR Yugoslavia) and Poland with three titles each; and France, Netherlands, Romania and Spain, with one title each.
In the 21st century, Italy and Poland are the only national teams to have successfully defended their European Championship titles, winning consecutive editions in 2003 and 2005 and 2023 and 2026.
The current format of the competition involves a qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding two years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament phase, which is often called the European Championship Finals. 24 teams, including the automatically qualifying host nation(s), compete in the tournament phase for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about two weeks.
Italy holds record for the participation at the European Championships (32 times) by missing only one tournament. Bulgaria and France participated at the 31 continental tournaments each. Russia also participated at the 31 European Championships (sixteen as Soviet Union).
Results summary YearHostFinal3rd place matchTeamsChampionsScoreRunners-up3rd placeScore4th place1948DetailsItalyRound-robin(3–0)Round-robin(3–0)61950DetailsBulgariaRound-robin(3–0)Round-robin(3–2)61951DetailsFranceRound-robin(3–0)Round-robin(0–3)101955DetailsRomaniaRound-robin(3–1)Round-robin(3–2)141958DetailsCzechoslovakiaRound-robin(3–1)Round-robin(3–2)201963DetailsRomaniaRound-robin(3–0)Round-robin(3–2)171967DetailsTurkeyRound-robin(3–2)Round-robin(1–3)201971DetailsItalyRound-robin(0–3)Round-robin(3–0)221975DetailsYugoslaviaRound-robin(3–0)Round-robin(3–2)121977DetailsFinland 3–13–0121979DetailsFranceRound-robin(3–0)Round-robin(3–0)121981DetailsBulgariaRound-robin(3–0)Round-robin(3–1)121983DetailsEast GermanyRound-robin(3–1)Round-robin(2–3)121985DetailsNetherlandsRound-robin(3–0)Round-robin(3–1)121987DetailsBelgium3–13–2121989DetailsSweden3–13–0121991DetailsGermany3–03–0121993DetailsFinland3–23–1121995DetailsGreece3–23–0121997DetailsNetherlands3–13–1121999DetailsAustria3–13–082001DetailsCzech Republic 3–03–2122003DetailsGermany 3–23–1122005Details Italy / Serbia and Montenegro 3–23–0122007DetailsRussia3–23–1162009DetailsTurkey 3–13–0162011Details Austria / Czech Republic3–13–1162013Details Denmark / Poland 3–13–0162015Details Bulgaria / Italy3–03–1162017DetailsPoland 3–23–2162019Details France / Slovenia / Belgium / Netherlands3–13–0242021Details Poland / Czech Republic / Estonia / Finland 3–23–0242023Details Italy / Bulgaria / North Macedonia / Israel3–03–2242026Details Bulgaria / Finland / Italy / Romania3–13–0242028Details Montenegro24
Medals summary
Total hosts HostsNations (Year(s)) 6 (1948, 1971, 2005*, 2015*, 2023*, 2026*) 5 (1950, 1981, 2015*, 2023*, 2026*) 4 (1977, 1993, 2021*, 2026*) 3 (2001, 2011*, 2021*) (1951, 1979, 2019*) (1985, 1997, 2019*) (2013*, 2017, 2021*) (1955, 1963, 2026*) 2 (1999, 2011*) (1987, 2019*) (1991, 2003) (1967, 2009) 1 (1958) (2013*) (1983) (2021*) (1995) (2023*) (2028*) (2023*) (2007) (2005*) (2019*) (1989) (1975) * = co-hosts
Participating nations Legend – Champions – Runners-up – Third place – Fourth place – Did not enter / Did not qualify – Hosts Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
Team1948(6)1950(6)1951(10)1955(14)1958(20)1963(17)1967(20)1971(22)1975(12)1977(12)1979(12)1981(12)1983(12)1985(12)1987(12)1989(12)1991(12)1993(12)1995(12)1997(12)1999(8)2001(12)2003(12)2005(12)•••10th11th•13th••••••••••••••••••••13th18th16th19th21st••••••••••••8th•••5th•6th12th17th13th12th10th12th•11th•••7th••••••••••4th2nd3rd4th4th9th7th5th5th10th3rd3rd5th11th6th5th5th4th9th7th6th9th•Part of ••••••8thPart of 10th6th4th4th10th9th••••20th17th•20th•••••••••••••••••••14th15th•••••••••••••••••••Part of ••••••••••11th14th14th17th13th•11th•9th7th•••8th10th•12th••••2nd•3rd8th8th8th10th14th8th10th4th8th12th3rd2nd5th9th9th•4th6th7th2nd7thPart of and 4th4th8th10th•11th7th•••••••20th18th••12th•9th8th3rd10th11th•7th11th••11th6th•3rd•7th5th2nd6th5th11th4th8th•11th••••••••9th••••10th•••11th12th••••••••••••••••3rd•8th9th10th10th8th8th10th8th5th7th4th6th9th1st2nd1st1st3rd1st2nd1st1stPart of •11th•••••Part of Part of 6th•9th•13th12th15th9th9th12th••10th10th5th3rd3rd2nd2nd1st5th8th6th11thPart of ••••••••6th•6th6th6th3rd6th2nd2nd2nd2nd2nd4th•7th7th7th6th••5th5th5th4th•7th••••••••••••••••••••10th•5th4th2nd2nd1st5th3rd4th3rd7th5th8th7th10th12th••12th•••••Part of 3rd5th5th2nd3rd3rd2nd•••••••22nd••••••••••••••••Part of Part of Part of •8th•10th12th•Part of ••••12th•••••••••••••12th•12th12th••11th••••8th4th••••••16th17th•••••9th4th2nd10th12th•••••••••••••19th••••••••••••••••••••16th•••••••••••••••••••••••12th11th14th15th••••••••••••••••Part of 6th9th7th•••12thDiscontinued nations1st2nd•1st1st5th2nd2nd6th6th6th4th5th2nd6th•12th8thdiscontinued••••9th9th4th4th7th9th9th6th6th••9thdiscontinuedPart of •3rd2nd3rd1st4th3rd•1st1st4th3rd3rd1st1st1st1st1st1st1st1st1st4th1stdiscontinued••••19th15th18th16th•••11th•••11thdiscontinued••5th5th7th7th7th11th3rd7th3rd10th•11th8th8th6thdiscontinuedTeam1948(6)1950(6)1951(10)1955(14)1958(20)1963(17)1967(20)1971(22)1975(12)1977(12)1979(12)1981(12)1983(12)1985(12)1987(12)1989(12)1991(12)1993(12)1995(12)1997(12)1999(8)2001(12)2003(12)2005(12)
Team2007(16)2009(16)2011(16)2013(16)2015(16)2017(16)2019(24)2021(24)2023(24)2026(24)2028(24)Total•••••••••• 3••16th•••23rd••• 8•••15th16th•22nd17th•• 410th•13th7th10th4th9th18th14th6th 198th3rd6th4th4th6th11th12th15th9th 3214th•••15th••14th11th• 5•16th10th16th13th7th13th8th12th12th 15•••12th••••24th14thQ7•••••••••• 2•14th12th•11th13th24th20th22nd17th 84th12th8th8th12th12th14th11th19th3rdQ229th2nd7th5th1st9th4th9th4th2nd 325th6th15th6th8th2nd8th6th9th7th 1613th8th••••16th22nd20th11th 18•••••••••• 11••••••••18th22ndQ66th10th2nd2nd3rd5th6th1st2nd5th 33•••••••16th•15th 3••••••18th24th21st•Q47th7th•10th9th14th10th5th5th23rdQ30••••••17th23rd16th20th 411th1st3rd9th5th10th3rd3rd1st1stQ30••14th•••20th15th10th16th 8••••••21st•7th8th 192nd4th4th1st6th1st5th7th•• 15•••••••••• 13rd5th1st3rd7th3rd1st4th6th13th 1012th11th5th11th14th15th19th19th•24th 1216th15th9th13th2nd8th2nd2nd3rd4th 111st9th•••16th15th21st17th• 12•••••••••18th 8••••••••23rd21st 3•••••••••• 115th13th11th14th•11th12th10th13th19th 13••••••7th13th8th10th 8Team2007(16)2009(16)2011(16)2013(16)2015(16)2017(16)2019(24)2021(24)2023(24)2026(24)2028(24)TotalDiscontinued nations 16 10 6 16 6 14
Most valuable player by edition
1948–1977 – Not awarded 1979 – 1983 – 1985 – 1987 – 1989 – 1991 – 1993 – 1995 – 1997 – 1999 – 2001 – 2003 – 2005 – 2007 – 2009 – 2011 – 2013 – 2015 – 2017 – 2019 – 2021 – 2023 – 2026 –
Most successful players Boldface denotes active volleyball players and highest medal count among all players (including these who not included in these tables) per type.
Multiple gold medalists