Luxembourg, October 26, 2016. As many as 36 men’s and 36 women’s teams will be involved in the second stage of the European qualification process for the 2018 edition of the FIVB Volleyball World Championships.
The Drawing of Lots for the much anticipated second qualifying round in May and June next year was held on Wednesday at the CEV headquarters in Luxembourg, thus composing the six pools per gender – each one featuring six teams playing a single round robin whose eventual winners will move on straight to the global volleyball showpiece in 2018 in Italy / Bulgaria (Men) and Japan (Women).
Men’s pools
The second stage of the European qualification for the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship will take place from May 23 to 28, and the composition of the six pools reads as follows:
Pool A: France (org.), Germany, Turkey, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Iceland
Pool B: Netherlands (org.), Slovakia, Greece, Austria, Luxembourg, Republic of Moldova
Pool C: Slovenia (org.), Belgium, Portugal, Latvia, Israel, Georgia
Pool D: Estonia (org.), Russia, Montenegro, Romania, Hungary, Kosovo
Pool E: Croatia (org.), Serbia, Belarus, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway
Pool F: Czech Republic (org.), Finland, Spain, Sweden, Cyprus, Northern Ireland
Women’s pools
As for the women’s competition, the participating teams will take to the court from May 30 to June 4, 2017. The six second-round pools are composed as follows:
Pool A: Croatia (org.), Russia, Hungary, Greece, Austria, Georgia
Pool B: Poland (org.), Serbia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Cyprus, Iceland
Pool C: Bulgaria (org.), Turkey, Romania, Switzerland, Montenegro, Kosovo
Pool D: Belgium (org.), Italy, Belarus, Spain, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pool E: Azerbaijan (org.), Netherlands, Israel, Ukraine, Denmark, Norway
Pool F: Portugal (org.), Germany, France, Finland, Slovenia, Estonia
Note: The women’s second-round Pool B tournament in Poland will take place one week earlier (i.e. from May 23 to 28) in order to avoid a clash with the Games of the Small States of Europe taking place in late May / early June 2017 in San Marino, where the national teams of Cyprus and Iceland are set to compete.
DOL procedure
The six organisers per gender were drawn as heads of series in one of the six pools (from left to right, A-B-C-D-E-F). The remaining participating teams were grouped in five sub-groups – each one including six teams – according to the CEV National Team Ranking as of May 2016 – i.e. when national federations registered for participation in the World Championship qualification – and drawn accordingly into one of the six pools (from left to right, A-B-C-D-E-F).
Third round
The European qualification leading to the 2018 World Championships will come to an end in August next year with the third and last stage featuring the six runners-up from the second qualifying round. The men will play a single round robin tournament from August 15 to 20 with the eventual winners qualifying for the World Championship to complete the European contingent that already includes hosts Italy and Bulgaria as well as 2014 gold medallists Poland. The women’s third round qualifier will take place from August 22 to 27 – with the eventual winners and runners-up booking a ticket to Japan together with the six second-round winners.
Additional information, including venues and a detailed competition programme, will be released in due course. For more, visit the European Volleyball Confederation website.