The 2026 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U17 World Championship was the second edition of the FIVB Volleyball Boys' U17 World Championship, the biennial international youth volleyball championship contested by the men's national teams under the age of 17 of the members associations of the (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. It took place in Doha, Qatar from 19 to 29 August 2026. Originally scheduled to be contested by 24 teams, it was ultimately reduced to 20 teams following withdrawals.
Italy were the defending champions having won the inaugural edition in 2024, but lost to Argentina 3–1 in the round of 16. Iran won their first title, after defeated France 3–1 in the final.
Host selection On 17 April 2025, FIVB opened the bidding process for member associations interested in hosting one of the two U17 World Championships in 2026 (i.e., Girls' or Boys' U17 World Championships) planned to take place in August 2026. The expression of interest of the member associations had to be submitted to FIVB no later than 18:00 CEST (UTC+2) on 30 May 2025.
FIVB announced the hosts for both Boys' and Girls' U17 World Championships on 1 July 2025, choosing Qatar to host the second edition of the Boys' U17 World Championship, with the capital Doha as host city. It will be the first time that Qatar hosts an FIVB World Championship in any age or gender category. Qatar recently hosted the last edition of the defunct FIVB Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup in 2023.
Competition format changes On 10 April 2025, during a two-day meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland the FIVB Board of Administration approved the proposal made by its Volleyball Council to increase the number of participating teams in its U17 World Championship (in both genders) from 16 to 24, as well as to standardize its competition format and qualification process with those of the U19 and U21 World Championships. Consequently, the distribution of quotas by confederation for the Boys' U17 World Championship was modified regarding the inaugural edition, ensuring one automatic quota for the defending champion and assigning two quotas based on the corresponding FIVB Age Group World Ranking.
With the expansion to 24 teams, the new competition format consisted of four single round-robin pools of six, with the top four teams from each pool advancing to the round of 16 while the remaining two teams continuing their participation in the playoffs for places from 17th to 24th. The round of 16 winners advances to the quarter-finals, while the losers continue their participation in the playoffs for places from 9th to 16th. Finally, the 24 teams go through another three rounds: quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals for each team's final placement level (17th–24th, 9th–16th and 1st–8th).
In February 2026 the FIVB Board of Administration approved a new competiton format for the tournament, expanding the groups from four to six, with four teams in each. The top two teams from each group, along with the four best third-place teams, would advance to the round of 16 and then proceed to the quarter-finals, semi-finals, third-place match, and final to determine the champion. The final standings for all eliminated teams in each round would be determined by a combined team ranking system rather than the placement play-offs initially planned. This new format would be implemented across all age-group FIVB events from 2027.
However, following the withdrawal of four teams from the tournament, the competition format was adjusted following a decision by the FIVB Board of Administration on 14 August 2026. Under the updated format, the 20 teams were split into five single round-robin pools of four. The top 16 teams—the five pool winners, five runners-up, five third-placed teams, and the best four-placed team—advanced to the round of 16, where they were seeded 1st through 16th in a single-elimination bracket using a combined ranking system based on pool results while the remaining four teams were eliminated. The tournament then proceeds through the quarter-finals and semi-finals, concluding with the gold and bronze medal matches.
Teams
Qualification A total of 24 national teams qualified for the final tournament. In addition to the host Qatar and defending champions Italy which qualified automatically, 20 other teams qualified through five separate continental competitions which have to be completed before 31 December 2025. Two remaining teams entered the tournament via the Boys' U17 FIVB World Ranking (as of 31 December 2025) among the teams not yet qualified.
The slot allocation was set as follows: Defending champion (Italy): 1 Host (Qatar): 1 AVC (Asia & Oceania): 4 CAVB (Africa): 3 CEV (Europe): 6 CSV (South America): 3 NORCECA (North, Central America and Caribbean): 4 Top teams not yet qualified as per Boys' U17 FIVB World Ranking: 2
Qualified teams The following twenty-four teams qualified for the tournament.
ConfederationQualifying tournament / Method of qualificationTeam qualifiedPrevious appearancesPrevious best performanceTotalFirstLastAVCHost nation0Debut2025 Asian Men's U16 Championship1 (2024) 0Debut0Debut0DebutBoys' U17 FIVB World Ranking1 (2024)CAVB2025 Boys' U16 African Nations Championship1 (2024)1 (2024)0DebutCEVDefending champions1 (2024)2025 Men's U16 European Championship1 (2024)0Debut0Debut0Debut0Debut0DebutBoys' U17 FIVB World Ranking1 (2024)CSV2025 Boys' U17 South American Championship1 (2024)1Runners-up (2024)0DebutNORCECA2025 Boys' U17 NORCECA Continental Championship1 (2024)1 (2024)0Debut1 (2024)
Pools composition
On 18 March 2026, the original drawing of lots was live-streamed on FIVB YouTube channel with 24 teams divided into six pools of four. On 14 August, four teams—Czech Republic, Japan, Puerto Rico and the United States—withdrew from the tournament, citing safety concerns amidst the ongoing situation in the Middle East. Subsequently, the redrawing of the pools was also live-streamed, resulting in 20 teams divided into five pools of four.
Seeding Boys' U17 FIVB World Ranking of each team are shown in brackets, except the hosts Qatar who are unranked.
Seeded teamsUnseeded teams to be drawnLine 1Line 2Pot 1 (line 3)Pot 2 (line 4)
Draw The draw procedure for the pools composition also followed the serpentine system and was as follows: Teams from pot 2 were then drawn and placed in line 4 of each pool starting from pool A to pool E. Teams from pot 1 were drawn at the end and were placed in line 3 of each pool starting from pool E to pool A.
The pools composition after the original draw was as follow: +Pool ATeamA1A2A3A4+Pool BTeamB1B2B3B4+Pool CTeamC1C2C3C4+Pool DTeamD1D2D3D4+Pool ETeamE1E2E3E4
Preliminary round All times are Arabia Standard Time (UTC+03:00).
Pool A
Pool B
Pool C
Pool D
Pool E
Combined rankings
Final round All times are Arabia Standard Time (UTC+03:00).
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third place match
Final
Final standing
RankTeam4567891011121314151617181920 Qualified for the 2028 World Championship
14–boy roster1 Aidin Pouzesh, 4 Akam Ebrahimnezhad, 5 Parsa Maghsoudi (L), 6 Mohammadreza Zibaei, 7 Azhvan Namazi, 8 Sina Hazrati (c), 9 Arash Ashrafi, 10 Seyyedamirreza Mirhosseinimashhadisaraei, 11 Yasin Asadizadeh Abdehgah, 15 Monib Sheikh, 19 Amirreza Faramarzidarghelou, 55 Radan Salehi, 64 Hamze Aghcheli, 88 Sina Ahmadi (L)Head coach: Arash Sadeghiany
Awards The following individual awards were presented at the end of the tournament.
Most valuable player (MVP)
Best setter
Best outside spikers
Best middle blockers
Best opposite spiker
Best libero
References
External links
2026 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U17 World Championship at Volleyball Qatar