Norway – Czech Republic 09.08.2025

We are now in the crucial phase of the European Volleyball Championship qualification, where everything is at stake – the goal is a place in next year's European Championship finals. On the court, Norway, ranked 53rd in the world, and the Czech Republic, ranked 22nd, meet in a match that could decide everything.

Norway – towards a historic European Championship play-off?

Norway is going into a very important home match against the Czech Republic in order to reach a historic European Championship final. Have made a case for Norway's path to a historic European Championship final .

Norway comes into this match with some minor injuries to key players and knowing that they should at least get one set out of this if there is still a chance of a European Championship play-off in 2026.
It has been reported that all the players who have had minor injuries going into the match will be ready to play.
Last week, Norway played friendly matches in Denmark against England, France U22 and Denmark. There were two wins and a 2-3 loss against Denmark for tournament victory. What we will take away from these friendly matches for Norway is that they rotated a lot in the team and it was difficult to see which starting six Norway will bring against the Czech Republic.

Czech Republic – European Championship finals next?

The Czech Republic is in full swing after beating Macedonia 3-1 and Norway 3-0 last year. Leading up to the last two European Championship qualifiers, the Czech Republic played in the Golden League in June and July and have had some good match practice.
The Czech Republic ended up losing 3-1 to Finland in the final and lost the opportunity to play in the VNL next year. I think the Czech Republic will come into this European Championship qualifier with some revenge after the loss in the final. And not least with some self-confidence considering that they beat Norway 3-0 at home last year.

Team rating

Norway	>/<	Czech Republic
The wingers	<	The wingers
The midfielders	>	The midfielders
Diagonal player	>	Diagonal player
Trailer	>	Trailer
Libero	–	Libero
1	SUM	3

The Czech Republic are clear favorites before the match, with odds of 1.11 for an away win. The odds for a Norwegian win are 5.90. On paper, the Czech Republic is stronger in all positions – except in the middle, where Norway has an advantage with Andreas Takvam and Rune Fasteland.

In order for Norway to be able to exploit their strength in the middle game, the receivers must deliver a solid match. Good receptions provide better working conditions for the middle players and increase the chance of putting the Czech Republic under pressure. And if Norway also manages to maintain good serve pressure against the Czech Republic throughout the sets, Norway can take a set or more. If Norway manages to do this, it has a great impact on the possibility of qualifying for the European Championship finals.

Going into this match, the Czech Republic knows with a win that they are qualified for next year's European Championship finals. I think the Czech Republic wants to do the same procedure as last year's home match against Norway with a 3-0 win. The question I ask is whether the Czech Republic can stay focused enough to win 3-0, or whether they take it for granted that they will win this quite easily. And the other weakness of the Czech Republic is their midfielders. And if they can't get their midfield game going, they will be very vulnerable to Norway where the Czech Republic will attack.

The value is on Czech Republic -2.5 handicap. Two reasons for that. One reason is Czech Republic is a better team than Norway in most positions (check team rating). The other reason is that Norway has not played enough matches with the preferred starting six. That's why we play Czech Republic -2.5 handicap.

Volleyball at 17:00: Norway – Czech Republic: Czech Republic -2.5 handicap (1.90)

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