A comeback from a 0-2 deficit. Germany sensationally knocked Bulgaria out of the Euro playoffs

The German men’s national volleyball team staged a fantastic comeback and snatched victory in a five-set match against the host team, Bulgaria. In the Round of 16 match of the 2026 European Championship, which took place in Sofia at the “Arena 8888 SOFIA” sports palace in front of more than 12,000 spectators, the German team defeated their opponents 3–2.

The Bulgarian volleyball players got off to a strong start with the frenzied support of their home crowd. The hosts dominated the opening stages of the match, taking the first and second sets by the same score of 25–21. However, finding themselves on the brink of elimination from the tournament, the German players showed grit and turned the match around. Germany closed the gap in the third set (25–19), then fought hard to secure a victory in the fourth set (25–23) in a tense finish. The fate of the spot in the next round was decided in a tiebreaker, where the Germans maintained a slim lead and finished off their flustered opponent—15–12.

The Bulgarian team was slightly more effective in attack (51:48), at the net (8:7), and on serve (13 aces to Germany’s 11), but the German players made significantly fewer errors at crucial moments (32:41).

The top scorer for the winning team was Eric Rörs, who scored 20 points. Tobias Christian Brand added 13 points for the German team, Moritz Reichert scored 8 points, and Anton Brehme and Tobias Krick contributed 12 and 7 points, respectively. For the Bulgarian national team, Aleksandar Nikolov scored 23 points, Asparuh Asparuhov scored 14 points, and Alex Grozdanov scored 10 points.

This hard-fought victory allowed the German national team to advance to the quarterfinals of the European Championship, where they will face Poland.

2026 European Championship, Men. Round of 16. Sofia (Bulgaria)

Germany – Bulgaria – 3:2 (21:25, 21:25, 25:19, 25:23, 15:12)