Bulgaria, Finland, Italy and Romania as host countries were directly qualified. The eight best placed teams at the 2023 edition also gained direct entries into the tournament. 21 teams compete for the remaining 12 places at the final tournament.
There are seven pools of three teams each; the winners of each pool and the best five runners-up will qualify for the 2026 European Championship. The pools are played in a double round-robin.
The pools were set following the Serpentine system according to their European Ranking for national teams as of 6 November 2023. Rankings are shown in parentheses.[1]
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 will qualify for the 2026 European Championship.
