Turkey defeats Italy 3-2 in Istanbul to retain European volleyball title

Five-set final in Istanbul

Turkey defeated Italy 3-2 (16-25, 25-22, 12-25, 25-21, 15-10) in the final of the Women's European Volleyball Championship at the Sinan Erdem Sports Hall in Istanbul on 6 September 2026. The match ended Italy's 21-match winning streak and prevented head coach Julio Velasco's squad from completing a consecutive sweep of Olympic, World, and European titles. Crowd estimates inside the venue ranged between 16,000 and 17,300 spectators during the 117-minute contest. Opposites Paola Egonu for Italy and Melissa Vargas for Turkey led their respective sides, with Egonu scoring 28 points and Vargas tallying 28 or 29 points depending on official match records. Italian setter Alessia Orro received the award for the tournament's best setter, while Vargas was named the tournament's most valuable player.

Match progression and turning points

Italy established early control in the opening set, pulling away with a 7-0 run after an 8-8 tie, supported by three service aces from Ekaterina Antropova, who finished the match with 16 points. The Italian team carried that momentum into the second set, establishing a 12-6 advantage before Turkish head coach Daniele Santarelli called a tactical timeout. Turkey responded with four consecutive points, stabilizing their block and capitalizing on Italian reception errors to take the set 25-22. Italy regained dominance in the third set, conceding only 12 points to move within one set of the championship, but Turkey countered with an early 13-6 lead in the fourth set, eventually closing it 25-21 to force a deciding tie-break. In the fifth set, Turkey built an early lead behind Vargas's service rotation, securing the final set 15-10.

Reactions and Olympic qualification

Following the defeat, Italian team captain Anna Danesi reflected on the missed opportunities in the second and fifth sets while assessing the summer campaign.

We played good volleyball in the first three sets, there is regret for that second set where we were caught after leading 12-6 and for becoming a bit disjointed in the tie-break. Honor to Turkey, we still close our summer with two medals: they were not the ones we wanted, but we still leave with our heads held high and with great room for improvement with this new setup.

The victory secured Turkey direct qualification for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles alongside their second consecutive European title following their 2023 victory. Italy, which captured gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics and won the 2025 World Championship against Turkey in Bangkok, must now secure its Los Angeles berth through the 2027 World Championship or via the FIVB world rankings following the 2028 Nations League.

Technical assessment and future outlook

Italian head coach Julio Velasco addressed the performance after the podium ceremony, focusing on areas for tactical refinement rather than outcome alone.

I am proud of this group, because there are ways and ways to lose. Did we have technical problems that made us lose? Yes. And we will work on those. You can only do that if you have a group that does not give up and is not afraid.

Italian Volleyball Federation president Giuseppe Manfredi confirmed that Velasco remains under contract through the next Olympic cycle, noting the young core of the squad. The Italian roster integrated several younger players during the tournament while maintaining a rotation featuring experienced starters such as Myriam Sylla and middle blocker Sarah Fahr. Turkey's win balanced the recent series between the two nations at two tournament titles each across the last four senior international competitions.