The 2026 Sitting Volleyball World Championships – Men's event is the 14th edition of the quadrennial world championship, contested by the senior men's national sitting volleyball teams, sanctioned by World ParaVolley. It was held in Hangzhou, China from 10 to 17 July 2026, marking the first time the event is held in the country and the first time it was held in East Asia.
16 teams took part for the third time since the expansion in 2018. Hosts China automatically qualified as hosts. Qualification took place between May and November 2025, with continental, world tournaments and rankings being used as qualification. Thailand made their debut.
This was the first edition to implement video challenge system. On 11 July, the tournament was suspended for a day after Typhoon Bavi hit Hangzhou. Play commenced the next day with an updated schedule.
The winners secure a ticket to the 2028 Summer Paralympics.
Iran are the defending champions, after beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 3–0 in the 2022 final in Sarajevo.
Host selection After withdrawing from hosting the 2022 edition, Hangzhou was given the 2026 hosting rights instead. Hangzhou had already been stated as the host on the events section of the World ParaVolley website but it was made official in July 2025. This marks the first time the event is held in the country and the first and second time it will be held in East Asia and Asia respectively.
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Preparations On 29 July 2025, the host contract was signed. On 7 July 2026, the official website went live.
Opening ceremony On 9 July 2026, a day before the competition started, the opening ceremony took place. The opening ceremony consisted of dances where the performers wore traditional costumes. Live piano and violins were also played. As tradition, the parade of nations took place.
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Qualification Slot allocation Host nation: 1 2024 Summer Paralympics champions: 1 2028 Summer Paralympics hosts: 1 ParaVolley Asia Oceania: 2 ParaVolley Africa: 2 ParaVolley Americas: 2 ParaVolley Europe: 3 2025 World Cup: 2 World rankings: 2
16 teams will take part for the third time since the expansion in 2018. Hosts China automatically qualified as hosts. Qualification took place between May and November 2025, with continental, world tournaments and rankings being used as qualification. A total of 32 countries took part in qualification, excluding Iraq who qualified despite not taking part in a qualifier.
Of the qualified teams, 14 took part in 2022. Thailand will make their debut, marking the first time a team from Southeast Asia qualified. Hosts, China return after missing out on 2022 due to Covid.
Of the absentees, two-time champions, Netherlands, the only team to have taken part in every edition, missed out for the first time ever. Serbia missed out after their sporadic appearance in 2022. Similar to 2022, Russia was banned from taking part in qualification.
For the first time, Canada qualified for the second successive time. For the first time ever, Europe doesn't have the most teams at the championship, as Asia and Oceania have six teams taking part compared to Europe's five.
The highest ranked team to not qualify was 2024 Paralympic Games hosts, France, ranked 15th, while the lowest ranked team to qualify was Thailand, placed 20th.
Qualified teams Qualification Host Dates Vacancies QualifiedHost nation Hangzhou 29 July 2025 1 2024 Summer Paralympics winners Paris 29 August – 7 September 2024 1 2028 Summer Paralympics hosts Lima 13 September 2017 1 2025 Pan American Championships Denver 24–28 May 2025 2 2025 Asia and Oceania Championships Hangzhou 9–14 June 2025 2 2025 African Championships Nairobi 4–9 July 2025 2 2025 European Championships Győr 28 July – 2 August 2025 3 2025 World Cup Fort Wayne 12–18 October 2025 2 World rankings 12 November 2025 2
World rankings The final 2 places belonged to the top 2 teams as per the sitting volleyball world rankings who had not yet qualified as of 12 November 2025.World rankings
Top 20 in world rankings Qualified for the 2026 Sitting Volleyball World Championships Qualified for the 2026 Sitting Volleyball World Championships via World Ranking
RankTeamPoints14,71424,29734,15044,00053,87263,37973,34382,62892,594102,342112,253121,966131,643141,632151,487161,282171,059189801981520794
Summary of qualified teams TeamQualification methodDate of qualificationAppearance(s)2026 Sitting Volleyball World Championships historyPrevious best performance Host nation 6 February 2025https://web.archive.org/web/20250315053135/https://worldparavolley.org/2026wchqualificationpathway/5 142024 Summer Paralympics winners10 42028 Summer Paralympics hosts7 62025 Pan American Championships27 May 20255 228 May 20252 82025 Asia and Oceania Championships13 June 20253 514 June 20251stDebut202025 African Championships8 July 20258 13 162025 European Championships1 August 20258 314 72 August 20255 92025 World Cup17 October 20254 1118 October 20256 10World rankings12 November 20253 122 13
Composition of teams On 15 March 2026, the pools were announced. The groups were decided via the Serpentine system. As hosts, China is seeded into position 1.
+ Pool A Team1 14 (H)8 7 9 8 16 20 + Pool B Team2 1 7 6 10 10 15 15 + Pool C Team3 2 6 5 11 10 14 13 + Pool D Team4 3 5 4 12 11 13 12
Schedule The schedule was announced on 17 June. Due to Typhoon Bavi, the schedule was later adjusted. ScheduleRoundMatchdayDatePreliminary roundAll matches 10–13 July 2026Knockout stageRound of 16 14 July 2026Quarterfinals 15 July 2026Semifinals 16 July 20263rd place & Final 17 July 2026
Original scheduleRoundMatchdayDatePreliminary roundAll matches 10–12 July 2026Knockout stageRound of 16 13 July 2026Quarterfinals 14 July 2026Semifinals 15 July 2026Third place 16 July 2026Final 17 July 2026
Venue The World ParaVolley Development Centre in Hangzhou was the venue. The venue hosted the 2017 and 2025 Asia and Oceania Sitting Volleyball Championships, plus the 2017 World ParaVolley Women's Super 6. The venue has also hosted numerous other events in other Paralympic sports. Three courts were used during the event. HangzhouWorld ParaVolley Development CentreCapacity: Unknown
Format 16 teams are split into four groups of four, where every team advances to the Round of 16. In the Round of 16, teams who finished 1st play the teams that finished fourth, and the teams who finished 2nd play the teams that finished third. The eight winners advance to the Quarter Finals, while the eight losers play in a 9–16 classification bracket.
Group stage All times are local. The top four teams in each pool qualify for the final round. Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 match points for the winner, 0 match points for the loser Match won 3–2: 2 match points for the winner, 1 match point for the loser
Tiebreakers Number of matches won Match points Sets ratio Points ratio If the tie continues as per the point ratio between two teams, the priority is given to the team which won the match between them. When the tie in points ratio is between three or more teams, a new classification of these teams in the terms of points 1, 2, 3 and 4 is made taking into consideration only the matches in which they were opposed to each other.
Pool A
Pool B
Pool C
Pool D
Knockout stage Bracket
Round of 16
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third place game
Final
Classification rounds 5–8th place bracket
5–8th place semifinals
Seventh place game
Fifth place game
9–16th place bracket
9–16th place quarterfinals
9–12th place semifinals
Eleventh place game
Ninth place game
13–16th place bracket
13–16th place semifinals
15th place game
13th place game
Final standings
Best results
Rankings table
Qualification table
RankTeam45678910111213141516 Qualified for the 2028 Summer Paralympics
2026 Sitting Volleyball World Championships 9th title
Team roster: Players.Head Coach: Coach
See also 2026 Sitting Volleyball World Championships – Women's event
Notes
References
External links
Official website