Outright Predictions for the 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship

Following the women's tournament, the men's national teams are now entering the battle for the European title. Turkey confirmed their status as the best women's team on the continent, helped by home-court advantage. But will playing on Italian soil, where the decisive matches of the men's EuroVolley will take place, give Italy the same boost? We take a closer look at the bookmakers' odds to find the best outright bets for the tournament.

Odds for the 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship group stage

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Scores24 outright predictions for the men's European Championship group stage

Italy and Poland to win their groups

Odds: 1.73

Groups A and B are arguably the most straightforward when it comes to picking the winners. But backing Italy and Poland separately at 1.33 and 1.30 respectively is not really our style. That is why we suggest an accumulator on both teams successfully coming through the preliminary stage as group winners. The main risk is probably a possible Poland slip-up against Bulgaria in Sofia. However, an impressive run of 12 wins in 13 head-to-head meetings gives Bulgaria little encouragement even with home support.

France to finish first in Group D

Odds: 1.65

This is arguably one of the most balanced groups, with France and Turkey expected to contest first place. It looks as though the bookmakers are significantly overrating Turkey after their Nations League performance while, by contrast, underrating France. The motivation to win the group is clear: the winner moves into the part of the bracket featuring Bulgaria, while second place could lead to Poland as early as the quarter-finals. France have failed to beat Poland in three consecutive matches.

Odds to win the 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship

Scores24 outright prediction for the 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship winner

Italy to win the European Championship

Odds: 3.00

As the women's European Championship showed, home-court advantage can play a very important role in short national-team tournaments. It can often matter even more than recent results. Our editorial team backed Turkey to win the women's tournament at odds of 3.62 in our outright prediction.

If Italy perform well, they will not have to leave the country, with all their matches taking place in Naples, Modena, Turin and Milan. Their main rival, Poland, won the Nations League a month ago and, depending on how the tournament unfolds, could have to play in two different countries over the space of two weeks. Let us explain our final choice in a little more detail.

Italy have been one of the most consistent teams of the past decade. They have won two consecutive World Championship gold medals, reached the podium at two consecutive European Championships and made the semi-finals of the 2024 Olympic Games. That consistency is built around a championship-winning core, with Ferdinando De Giorgi managing the generational transition carefully. Key players remain world-class setter Simone Giannelli and Alessandro Michieletto, who provides reliable reception and a consistently strong attacking percentage.

Squad depth is hugely important in matches at this level, and Italy arguably have one of the strongest rosters in the entire tournament. Character matters just as much. And few teams know how to battle quite like Italy: at the end of August, the Italians and Germany produced a record-long set lasting an hour and a half in an ordinary friendly match, with the set ending 64:66.

You can follow match results, the latest data and odds in the European Volleyball Championship section of our website.