Baku is getting ready for another week of top-level women's volleyball. The 2026 CEV Women's Volleyball European Championship begins today, August 21, with Baku hosting Pool C of the tournament. National Gymnastics Arena is opening its doors to six national teams in Pool C: Azerbaijan, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Spain.
The first match for the hosts is against Portugal tonight. It is the beginning of a tournament that will keep European volleyball in Baku for eight days, with 15 matches scheduled at the arena between August 21 and 28. For Azerbaijan, there is a sense of familiarity about the occasion.
The European Championship was last played in Baku in 2017, when the city hosted the later stages of the tournament and the national team produced one of the finest performances in its history. That campaign is still remembered by Azerbaijani volleyball fans. Azerbaijan won all three of its pool matches and then beat Germany in the quarter-finals.
The semi-final against the Netherlands was a five-set contest that went down to the final points. The Dutch eventually won 15-12 in the deciding set. Azerbaijan later lost to Turkiye in the bronze-medal match and finished fourth.
Fourth place remains Azerbaijan's joint-best result at the Women's European Championship, alongside the finish achieved in 2005. The 2017 tournament also gave Baku one of its most memorable volleyball nights. The final was played at the National Gymnastics Arena, where Serbia defeated the Netherlands 3-1 to become European champions.
For Azerbaijan, the tournament ended without a medal, but the performance of the national team established a standard that has remained difficult to match. Nine years on, the European Championship is returning to the same venue, although the tournament itself has changed. The 2026 edition is being shared by four countries — Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Czechia and Sweden.
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