2021 Men's European Volleyball Championship qualification

This article describes the qualification for the 2021 Men's European Volleyball Championship. Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia and Finland as host countries were directly qualified. The eight best placed teams at the 2019 edition also gained direct entries into the tournament. 26 teams had registered for participation but Denmark later withdrew due to restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, 25 teams competed for the remaining 12 places at the final tournament.

Qualified teams

Means of qualification	Qualifier	Means of qualification		Qualifier
Host Countries	Poland	Qualification	Pool A	Netherlands
	Czech Republic		Pool B	Bulgaria
	Estonia		Pool C	Turkey
	Finland		Pool D	Latvia
2019 European Championship	Serbia		Pool E	Slovakia
	Slovenia		Pool F	Montenegro
	France		Pool G	Portugal
	Russia		Best runners-up	North Macedonia
	Italy			Spain
	Ukraine			Greece
	Germany			Croatia
	Belgium			Belarus
Total 24

Direct qualification

• 2019 Men's European Volleyball Championship final standing

Rank	Team
1st place, gold medalist(s)	Serbia
2nd place, silver medalist(s)	Slovenia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)	Poland
4	France
5	Russia
6	Italy
7	Ukraine
8	Germany
9	Belgium
10	Netherlands
11	Bulgaria
12	Turkey
13	Czech Republic
14	Finland
15	Spain
16	Greece
17	North Macedonia
18	Montenegro
19	Slovakia
20	Portugal
21	Romania
22	Belarus
23	Austria
24	Estonia

	Qualified for the 2021 European Championship
	Qualified as hosts for the 2021 European Championship

Format

There being seven pools of either three or four teams each, the winners of each pool and the 5 best runners-up qualified for the 2021 European Championship. The pools were played in a double round-robin tournaments format officially from 30 August 2020 to 16 May 2021, according to the CEV web site. Since there was a different number of teams across the seven pools, the results of the matches played with the teams finishing last in the pools of four were discarded in order to determine the five best runners-up across all pools.

Pools composition

Teams were seeded following the serpentine system according to their CEV European Ranking as of 1 January 2020. But, Denmark withdrew after the draw. Rankings are shown in brackets.

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
Netherlands (8)	Bulgaria (10)	Turkey (11)	Spain (14)
Sweden (26)	Austria (25)	North Macedonia (24)	Latvia (23)
Croatia (27)	Israel (28)	Denmark (29)	Moldova (30)
		Bosnia and Herzegovina (47)	Cyprus (41)

Pool E	Pool F	Pool G
Slovakia (17)	Greece (18)	Belarus (19)
Romania (22)	Montenegro (21)	Portugal (20)
Switzerland (30)	Azerbaijan (32)	Norway (33)
Albania (39)	Georgia (36)	Hungary (34)

Pool standing procedure

1. Number of matches won
2. Match points
3. Sets ratio
4. Points ratio
5. If the tie continues as per the point ratio between two teams, the priority will be given to the team which won the last 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 and 3 will be made taking into consideration only the matches in which they were opposed to each other.

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

Results

• The winners in each pool and the top five of the second ranked teams qualified for the 2021 European Championship.

Pool A

• Dates: 7–16 May 2021
• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Netherlands	4	3	1	10	11	5	2.200	382	334	1.144	2021 European Championship
2	Croatia	4	3	1	7	10	8	1.250	407	399	1.020
3	Sweden	4	0	4	1	4	12	0.333	315	371	0.849

Source:

Tournament 1

• Venue: Krešimir Ćosić Hall, Zadar, Croatia

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
7 May	18:30	Croatia	1–3	Netherlands	30–32	25–19	23–25	18–25		96–101	Report
8 May	18:30	Netherlands	3–0	Sweden	25–17	25–17	25–15			75–49	Report
9 May	18:30	Sweden	1–3	Croatia	18–25	20–25	25–22	19–25		82–97	Report

Tournament 2

• Venue: Omnisport Apeldoorn Volleyball Hall, Apeldoorn, Netherlands

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
14 May	19:30	Sweden	1–3	Netherlands	17–25	21–25	25–19	17–25		80–94	Report
15 May	16:00	Croatia	3–2	Sweden	25–21	25–22	19–25	21–25	15–11	105–104	Report
16 May	16:00	Netherlands	2–3	Croatia	25–27	23–25	25–18	26–24	13–15	112–109	Report

Pool B

• Venue: Enerbox Sport Palace, Hadera, Israel
• Dates: 12–17 January 2021
• All times are Israel Standard Time (UTC+02:00).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Bulgaria	4	4	0	12	12	1	12.000	322	269	1.197	2021 European Championship
2	Austria	4	1	3	4	6	9	0.667	326	345	0.945
3	Israel	4	1	3	2	3	11	0.273	302	336	0.899

Source:

Tournament 1

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
12 Jan	20:00	Israel	0–3	Austria	25–27	23–25	20–25			68–77	Report
13 Jan	18:00	Austria	1–3	Bulgaria	21–25	25–20	19–25	22–25		87–95	Report
14 Jan	19:00	Bulgaria	3–0	Israel	27–25	25–16	25–22			77–63	Report

Tournament 2

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
15 Jan	17:00	Austria	2–3	Israel	21–25	25–20	25–27	25–20	11–15	107–107	Report
16 Jan	21:00	Bulgaria	3–0	Austria	25–15	25–18	25–22			75–55	Report
17 Jan	20:00	Israel	0–3	Bulgaria	20–25	21–25	23–25			64–75	Report

Pool C

• Venue: Boris Trajkovski Sports Center, Skopje, North Macedonia
• Dates: 11–16 January 2021
• All times are Central European Time (UTC+01:00).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Turkey	4	3	1	9	10	4	2.500	328	263	1.247	2021 European Championship
2	North Macedonia	4	3	1	9	10	5	2.000	343	325	1.055
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	0	4	0	1	12	0.083	243	326	0.745

Source:

Tournament 1

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
11 Jan	18:00	North Macedonia	3–1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	27–25	25–21	23–25	25–19		100–90	Report
12 Jan	18:00	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0–3	Turkey	15–25	17–25	18–25			50–75	Report
13 Jan	18:00	Turkey	3–1	North Macedonia	25–16	18–25	25–18	25–12		93–71	Report

Tournament 2

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
14 Jan	18:00	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0–3	North Macedonia	20–25	24–26	13–25			57–76	Report
15 Jan	18:00	Turkey	3–0	Bosnia and Herzegovina	25–9	25–19	25–18			75–46	Report
16 Jan	18:00	North Macedonia	3–1	Turkey	25–19	21–25	25–23	25–18		96–85	Report

Pool D

• Venue: Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia, Cyprus
• Dates: 30 August – 6 September 2020
• All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Latvia	6	4	2	12	14	6	2.333	485	404	1.200	2021 European Championship
2	Spain	6	4	2	12	13	9	1.444	519	507	1.024
3	Moldova	6	2	4	7	8	13	0.615	451	479	0.942
4	Cyprus	6	2	4	5	7	14	0.500	432	497	0.869

Source:

Tournament 1

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
30 Aug	17:00	Moldova	0–3	Latvia	10–25	21–25	20–25			51–75	Report
30 Aug	20:00	Cyprus	1–3	Spain	22–25	27–25	17–25	17–25		83–100	Report
31 Aug	17:00	Latvia	1–3	Spain	22–25	21–25	25–16	19–25		87–91	Report
31 Aug	20:00	Moldova	3–0	Cyprus	25–22	25–22	25–22			75–66	Report
1 Sep	17:00	Spain	1–3	Moldova	25–23	20–25	21–25	19–25		85–98	Report
1 Sep	20:00	Latvia	3–0	Cyprus	25–17	25–16	25–11			75–44	Report

Tournament 2

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
4 Sep	17:00	Moldova	0–3	Latvia	22–25	17–25	22–25			61–75	Report
4 Sep	20:00	Cyprus	3–0	Spain	27–25	25–22	25–23			77–70	Report
5 Sep	17:00	Latvia	1–3	Spain	25–27	25–18	26–28	22–25		98–98	Report
5 Sep	20:00	Moldova	2–3	Cyprus	20–25	25–19	25–19	22–25	10–15	102–103	Report
6 Sep	17:00	Spain	3–0	Moldova	25–19	25–22	25–23			75–64	Report
6 Sep	20:00	Latvia	3–0	Cyprus	25–15	25–21	25–23			75–59	Report

Pool E

• Dates: 6–16 May 2021

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Slovakia	6	5	1	15	16	7	2.286	535	492	1.087	2021 European Championship
2	Switzerland	6	4	2	11	13	10	1.300	534	498	1.072
3	Romania	6	3	3	10	13	11	1.182	536	507	1.057
4	Albania	6	0	6	0	4	18	0.222	438	546	0.802

Source:

Tournament 1

• Venue: Nitra City Hall, Nitra, Slovakia
• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
6 May	16:00	Slovakia	3–0	Switzerland	25–22	25–21	25–23			75–66	Report
6 May	19:00	Romania	3–0	Albania	25–15	25–19	25–18			75–52	Report
7 May	17:00	Slovakia	3–1	Romania	25–21	25–21	14–25	25–22		89–89	Report
7 May	20:00	Switzerland	3–0	Albania	25–18	25–21	26–24			76–63	Report
8 May	17:30	Switzerland	3–1	Romania	21–25	25–18	25–19	25–20		96–82	Report
8 May	20:30	Albania	1–3	Slovakia	20–25	13–25	25–21	19–25		77–96	Report

Tournament 2

• Venue: Olimpia Sports Hall, Ploiești, Romania
• All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+03:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
14 May	17:00	Albania	1–3	Romania	26–24	22–25	13–25	21–25		82–99	Report
14 May	20:00	Slovakia	3–1	Switzerland	19–25	25–21	25–22	25–21		94–89	Report
15 May	17:00	Romania	2–3	Switzerland	25–21	21–25	25–21	22–25	7–15	100–107	Report
15 May	20:00	Albania	1–3	Slovakia	16–25	19–25	27–25	18–25		80–100	Report
16 May	17:00	Romania	3–1	Slovakia	25–19	16–25	25–22	25–15		91–81	Report
16 May	20:00	Switzerland	3–1	Albania	25–27	25–15	25–19	25–23		100–84	Report

Pool F

• Dates: 7–16 May 2021

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Montenegro	6	5	1	16	17	5	3.400	520	407	1.278	2021 European Championship
2	Greece	6	5	1	14	15	5	3.000	465	356	1.306
3	Azerbaijan	6	2	4	6	8	12	0.667	415	446	0.930
4	Georgia	6	0	6	0	0	18	0.000	259	450	0.576

Source:

Tournament 1

• Venue: Tbilisi New Volleyball Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia
• All times are Georgia Time (UTC+04:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
7 May	15:30	Azerbaijan	1–3	Montenegro	23–25	21–25	25–21	15–25		84–96	Report
7 May	18:30	Georgia	0–3	Greece	12–25	14–25	12–25			38–75	Report
8 May	15:30	Montenegro	2–3	Greece	25–17	20–25	19–25	25–23	14–16	103–106	Report
8 May	18:30	Azerbaijan	3–0	Georgia	25–20	25–22	25–15			75–57	Report
9 May	15:30	Greece	3–0	Azerbaijan	25–21	25–19	25–18			75–58	Report
9 May	18:30	Montenegro	3–0	Georgia	25–8	25–12	25–11			75–31	Report

Tournament 2

• Venue: SC Verde Hall, Podgorica, Montenegro
• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
14 May	17:00	Georgia	0–3	Greece	10–25	10–25	16–25			36–75	Report
14 May	20:00	Montenegro	3–1	Azerbaijan	25–16	25–12	20–25	26–24		96–77	Report
15 May	17:00	Greece	3–0	Azerbaijan	25–16	25–17	25–13			75–46	Report
15 May	20:00	Georgia	0–3	Montenegro	14–25	20–25	16–25			50–75	Report
16 May	17:00	Azerbaijan	3–0	Georgia	25–13	25–17	25–17			75–47	Report
16 May	20:00	Greece	0–3	Montenegro	15–25	21–25	23–25			59–75	Report

Pool G

• Dates: 7–16 May 2021

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Portugal	6	6	0	17	18	3	6.000	505	423	1.194	2021 European Championship
2	Belarus	6	4	2	13	15	7	2.143	512	440	1.164
3	Hungary	6	1	5	3	5	16	0.313	436	507	0.860
4	Norway	6	1	5	3	4	16	0.250	404	487	0.830

Source:

Tournament 1

• Venue: Ludovika Aréna, Budapest, Hungary
• All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
7 May	16:00	Belarus	2–3	Portugal	25–21	23–25	25–23	23–25	10–15	106–109	Report
7 May	19:00	Hungary	3–1	Norway	23–25	25–22	25–23	25–21		98–91	Report
8 May	16:00	Portugal	3–0	Norway	25–18	25–21	25–19			75–58	Report
8 May	19:00	Belarus	3–0	Hungary	25–21	25–15	25–12			75–48	Report
9 May	16:00	Norway	0–3	Belarus	21–25	14–25	22–25			57–75	Report
9 May	19:00	Portugal	3–0	Hungary	25–21	25–16	25–21			75–58	Report

Tournament 2

• Venue: Centro de Desportos e Congressos de Matosinhos, Matosinhos, Portugal
• All times are Western European Summer Time (UTC+01:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
14 May	16:00	Norway	3–1	Hungary	21–25	26–24	25–18	25–22		97–89	Report
14 May	19:00	Portugal	3–1	Belarus	25–22	25–19	21–25	25–21		96–87	Report
15 May	15:00	Hungary	1–3	Belarus	23–25	25–19	20–25	18–25		86–94	Report
15 May	18:00	Norway	0–3	Portugal	17–25	18–25	22–25			57–75	Report
16 May	15:00	Belarus	3–0	Norway	25–19	25–15	25–10			75–44	Report
16 May	18:00	Hungary	0–3	Portugal	15–25	20–25	22–25			57–75	Report

Ranking of the second placed teams

• Matches against the fourth placed team in each pool were not included in this ranking.
• The top five of the second placed teams qualified for the 2021 European Championship.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	North Macedonia	4	3	1	9	10	5	2.000	343	325	1.055	2021 European Championship
2	Spain	4	3	1	9	10	5	2.000	349	347	1.006
3	Greece	4	3	1	8	9	5	1.800	315	282	1.117
4	Croatia	4	3	1	7	10	8	1.250	407	399	1.020
5	Belarus	4	2	2	7	9	7	1.286	362	339	1.068
6	Switzerland	4	2	2	5	7	9	0.778	358	351	1.020
7	Austria	4	1	3	4	6	9	0.667	326	345	0.945

Source:

External links

• Official website