The ladies play the group stage at home, in Gothenburg. In addition to Italy, which is the reigning champion in both the Olympic Games and the World Championship, Sweden will face France, Montenegro, Slovakia, and Croatia.
It became a tough group. Italy is the reigning world champion from this summer and has a very good team. France has a good team, says Anna Haak by phone from Bari where the draw was held and where Haak got to draw a group.
It was an honor to get to be Sweden's ambassador for this. Fun to get to be a part of this.
The group stage in Gothenburg will be decided between August 21 and 27 next year.
It will be fantastically fun. There is a bit of a volleyball fever in Sweden. It's also going well for the men and for beach volleyball and for us ladies, we've had some good results in recent years, says Haak.
The other three European Championship host cities are Istanbul in Turkey, Brno in the Czech Republic, and Baku in Azerbaijan. Sweden's group will play the round of 16 and quarterfinals in Brno. Semifinals and medal matches will be played in Istanbul.
The Swedish men's volleyball team, which has qualified for the European Championship for the first time since 1993, will also face Italy, which is the reigning world champion. The group also includes Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Greece, and Slovakia, and the matches will be played in several locations in Italy.
The men's European Championship will be decided from September 9-27 in Italy, Finland, Bulgaria, and Romania.
The ladies' European Championship will be played in Turkey, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, and Sweden from August 21 to September 6
Group A: Turkey, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Slovenia, Hungary.
Group B: Czech Republic, Austria, Serbia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Greece.
Group C: Azerbaijan, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Romania, Spain.
Group D: Sweden, Montenegro, Italy, France, Slovakia, Croatia.
The four best teams in each group will advance to the round of 16. The round of 16 and quarterfinals will be played in Brno, Czech Republic, and Istanbul, Turkey. Semifinals and medal matches will be played in Istanbul.
The men's European Championship will be played in Italy, Finland, Bulgaria, and Romania from September 9-27.
Group A: Italy, Sweden, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia.
Group B: Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Poland, Ukraine, Portugal, Israel.
Group C: Finland, Estonia, Serbia, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark.
Group D: Romania, Latvia, France, Germany, Turkey, Switzerland.
The four best teams in each group will advance to the round of 16. The round of 16 and quarterfinals will be played in Italy (Modena and Turin) and Varna in Bulgaria. Semifinals and medal matches will be played in Milan.
