The biggest event of the beach volleyball calendar not named the Olympics is quickly coming upon us. The World Championships, hosted in Adelaide, Australia, November 14-13, is less than a month away. Over the next two weeks, we will be recording and writing previews, breaking down both the men’s and the women’s field. Before we get into the pool breakdown for the men, a quick explainer on the format:
- 48 teams are broken up into the 12 pools you will see below
- Pool play is a round robin format in which every team plays one another
- The top two teams from each pool advance into the round of 32
- The top four third-place teams from each pool advance into the round of 32
- The next four third-place teams will play one another in a pigtail or “lucky loser” round, in which the winner of one matchup will advance into the round of 32 against the one seed, and the other winner will advance to play the two seed
- Tiebreaks are done via: matches won, sets won, point differential. In that order
- If you have any questions, let me know and I’ll do my best.
Onto the pools.
Pool A: Watch Yourself
Anders Mol, Christian Sorum Norway
Hans Hannibal, Nicolas Llambias, Uruguay
Leo Dillier, Marco Krattiger, Switzerland
Adrian Heidrich, Jonathan Jordan, Switzerland
There are some pools that received relative gifts via the numerous continental bids spread throughout the tournament. This is not one of them. On the surface, you might think this is an easy pick: Of course Uruguay will be the weak link in a field that includes the best team in the world (Anders Mol and Christian Sorum) a team with a gold medal at a Challenge event (Marco Krattiger and Leo Dillier, who won in Stare Jablonki) and a pair with eight top-10 finishes (Adrian Heidrich and Jonathan Jordan).
All of that is true.
Also true is that Uruguay is no joke. They just don’t play much. Are they favored to win any matches? No. But they are talented enough to push both Swiss teams, and if Norway looks too far ahead, they could provide a stumbling block. Hence why I’ve dubbed this pool “Watch Yourself.” Sleep on Uruguay and you’ll get punished accordingly.
I’d expect Uruguay to steal at least one set, and potentially a match, making it a battle for points to see who breaks.
Who we’re picking to win: Anders Mol, Christian Sorum
Adrian Mol and Markus Mol/Volleyball World photo
Pool B: The Beach Mol Tour
Stefan Boermans, Yorick de Groot, Netherlands
Luke Ryan, Zachery Schubert, Australia
Mathias Berntsen, Hendrik Mol, Norway
Adrian Mol, Markus Mol, Norway
When Rome hosted the World Championships in 2022, it was the first time Norway had ever fielded multiple teams in a World Champs. Now, with a wild card given — earned via a win at the Nations Cup, although I’d stump for Adrian Mol and Markus Mol to be awarded a wild card anyway — to the youngest Mol Brothers, Norway has set a new benchmark with three. Yes, that’s more bids for Norway, a country with a population less than the state of Maryland, than it is for USA Volleyball.
The Beach Mol Tour is what I dubbed it earlier this year, in Xiamen, China, when Adrian and Markus Mol took fourth, and the Beach Mol Tour is what Pool B is, as half of the field hails from the Berntsen-Mol beach volleyball dynasty. Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot, they of six Beach Pro Tour medals this season, are the favorites, of course, but it’s likely we’ll see all three Norwegian duos in this tournament advancing to playoffs.
Who we’re picking to win: Stefan Boermans, Yorick de Groot
Pool C: Pool of Death
David Ahman, Jonatan Hellvig, Sweden
Paul Burnett, Thomas Hodges, Australia
Saymon Barbosa, George Wanderley, Brazil
Renato Lima, Andre Loyola, Brazil
This year has been one of the weakest for the Brazilian federation in recent memory, if not ever. While Arthur Lanci and Evandro Goncalves have played well, with two silvers and a gold medal, they have been the only consistent performers from a federation that has long been the best and deepest in the world.
Enter Andre Loyola and Renato Lima.
I’ve long been a huge fan of Renato’s game, one of the smoothest offensive players out there with the sweetest arm swing. Andre’s results throughout his career speak for themselves. He was a fun and whimsical storyline during Gstaad, when he took a break from his post-Olympic sabbatical and popped in for a random event with George Wanderley and somehow beat Norway and finished fourth. But now he’ll have had time to train and prep for the biggest event of the season, and he and Renato are my dark horse to medal in Adelaide.
Who we’re picking to win: David Ahman, Jonatan Hellvig
Evandro and Arthur thrive at home/Volleyball World photo
Pool D: Big n’ Small
Evandro Goncalves, Arthur Lanci, Brazil
Dany Lopez, Ruben Mora, Nicaragua
Paul Henning, Lui Wust, Germany
Bautista Amieva, Maciel Bueno, Argentina
The teams in this pool are built so drastically different it should be some wonderful theater to behold. We have a pair of monsters in Evandro Goncalves and Paul Henning — and then a pair of tiny teams in Nicaragua and Argentina, neither of whom boast a player over 6-foot-2.
I love when teams of contrasting styles and builds play one another, and we’ll get that in virtually every match in Pool D. Argentina isn’t all that different from Uruguay above, a team that doesn’t play much (just four events this year) but who is undoubtedly dangerous when they do. It shouldn’t be a surprise if they upset someone in Pool D.
Who we’re picking to win: Evandro, Arthur
Bartosz Losiak/Volleyball World photo
Pool E: The Pool of Potential
Michal Bryl, Bartosz Losiak, Poland
Hongjun Du, Yanwei Wang, China
Lukas Pfretzschner, Sven Winter, Germany
Chris Dressler, Philipp Waller, Austria
I can’t think of a better collection of teams with high ceilings, a display of all their potential — and a low floor that routinely has me scratching my head wondering how they suffered a particular upset. When Michal Bryl and Bartosz Losiak are playing at their peak, they belong in the top-five in the world, no question.
They can also lose a gold medal match in which they were up 13-6 in the third set, at home, to a team who came out of the qualifier.
While that’s the extreme of it, both Germany and Austria enjoy similarly high highs — Pfretzschner and Winter actually have a win over Poland this season, and Dressler and Waller have a pair of fourths in Challenges this season — and bewildering lows. Such is sports.
Du and Wang are a total mystery, having played just three events this season, and they haven’t played anyone of note to provide a proper litmus test.
Who we’re picking to win: Bartosz Losiak, Michal Bryl
Jorge Alayo hits is past Anders Mol/Volleyball World photo
Pool F: It’s Cuba’s World. Pool F is Living In It
Jorge Alayo, Noslen Diaz, Cuba
Mensan Tohouegnon, Daouda Yacoubou, Benin
Hugo Campos, Joao Pedrosa, Portugal
Bradley Fuller, Ben O’Dea, New Zealand
Aside from Pool A, this is the pool with the heaviest favorite to win it. It would take a monumental upset from someone to knock off Cuba’s Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz, and I don’t see that happening here. Good news for Portugal and New Zealand is that Benin is also in their pool, and with three teams advancing, it doesn’t matter a ton who actually wins the pool, so long as you make it out. Every team should run up their point differential as much as they can.
Hugo Campos and Joao Pedrosa have the ability to take down Cuba, as evidenced by their win over Anders Mol and Christian Sorum in Joao Pessoa, and Ben O’Dea and Brad Fuller are a legitimately elite offensive team, but this is Alayo and Diaz’s world, and they’re just living in it.
Who we’re picking to win: Jorge Alayo, Noslen Diaz
Jacob Holting-Nilsson serves/Volleyball World photo
Pool G: BPT Next
Elmer Andersson, Jacob Holting-Nilsson, Sweden
Ben Hood, Oliver Merritt, Australia
Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, Teo Rotar, France
Joaquin Bello, Javi Bello, England
This pool is essentially a who’s who of the rising stars on the Beach Pro Tour. Here you have four players — Elmer Andersson and Jacob Holting-Nilsson, Teo Rotar, Ben Hood — who could have competed in the U21 World Championships and another two — Joaquin Bello, Javi Bello — who are only just scratching their potential. The elder statesman of the pool is Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, and he’s just 28!
They’re not just young, either. Every member of this field has displayed a precocious ability to succeed on the Beach Pro Tour: Sweden has a Challenge gold medal and a pair of Elite finals — all in a row — on the ledger, the Bellos have won an Elite and have a win over Norway, and Rotar and Gauthier-Rat have won a pair of Challenge medals.
The future is bright for Pool G.
Who we’re picking to win: Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, Teo Rotar
Ondrej Perusic, David Schweiner/Volleyball World photo
Pool H: Anybody’s Game
Ondrej Perusic, David Schweiner, Czech Republic
Koffi Kotoka, Kuamivi Samani, Togo
Kristians Fokerots, Martins Plavins, Latvia
Andy Benesh, Miles Partain, USA
There aren’t many pools where three teams are virtual coin flips to win the pool, yet here we are in Pool H, a group that includes the defending World Champs in Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner, a two-time Elite semifinalist in 2025 in Kristians Fokerots — the U21 World Champ — and Martins Plavins, and a pair who was once ranked in the top-five in the world who can, at any moment, pop off — as they did in Huntington Beach — in Andy Benesh and Miles Partain.
With the exception of Togo, this pool’s is anybody’s to grab.
Who we’re picking to win: Martins Plavins, Kristians Fokerots
Pool I: Who knows?
Alex Brouwer, Steven van de Velde, Netherlands ***
Jack Pearse, D’Artagnan Potts, Australia
Chase Budinger, Miles Evans, USA
Matthew Immers, Ruben Penninga, Netherlands
With Steven van de Velde unlikely to get a visa, question marks abound for Pool I, which is as likely to include Chaim Schalk and James Shaw as it is the top seed in the pool. We probably won’t know what this pool will look like until the last week or so before the event, if not later. Maybe the Netherlands will be able to finagle a sub for van de Velde, or maybe he’ll get his visa passed.
Again, I reiterate with this pool: Who knows?
The one certainty is that Chase Budinger and Miles Evans continue to play excellent beach volleyball, and I see no reason why that would stop here.
Who we’re picking to win: Chase Budinger, Miles Evans
Cherif and Ahmed celebrate a gold medal at the Rio Elite/Volleyball World photo
Pool J: One More Gold for Glory
Ahmed Tijan, Cherif Younousse, Qatar
Damian Gonzalez, Eblis Veranes, Cuba
Tim Berger, Timo Hammarberg, Austria
Julian Friedli, Yves Haussener, Switzerland
No team has won more gold medals this year than Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan. They’ve won three in a row in which they’ve been healthy — Gstaad, Rio de Janeiro, Newport Beach — and have won all but two matches in that stretch. But the question remains: Can they win the one that matters?
Outside of the Olympics, there is no bigger event in the sport than the World Championships, one that is significantly more difficult to win. They finished seventeenth in 2023 in Mexico, ninth in 2022 in Rome, and seventeenth in 2019 in Hamburg. If they are to make a case as one of the all-time great teams in beach volleyball, a podium at the World Championships is required.
They can ask for nothing more than the momentum they have this year.
Who we’re picking to win: Cherif Younousse, Ahmed Tijan
Clemens Wickler/Volleyball World photo
Pool K: Mojo Rediscovery
Nicolas Capogrosso, Tomas Capogrosso, Argentina
Jose Monlane, Osvaldo Mungoi, Mozambique
Nils Ehlers, Clemens Wickler, Germany
Jonathan Pickett, Sam Schachter, Canada
Throughout the 2024 season, it was almost impossible to keep Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers out of the semifinals. They made six semifinals in 10 events, and claimed a silver medal at the Paris Olympic Games. This year? They have just one semifinal and didn’t capitalize on an opportunity in Newport Beach, where they played Trevor Crabb and Taylor Crabb in the quarters. It’s still hard to pick against Wickler and Ehlers ever, but they have just one event remaining to rediscover their mojo, and that’s in Adelaide.
A similar sentiment could be offered to Argentina’s Nicolas Capogrosso and Tomas Capogrosso, who were white-hot to begin the season, with a silver medal in Quintana Roo and a pair of fifths in Saqaurema and Brasilia. Yet they, too, have dropped off, with just a single top-five since. Perhaps Adelaide will be the home of their mojo rediscovery.
Who we’re picking to win: Clemens Wickler, Nils Ehlers
Marco Grimalt and Esteban Grimalt/Volleyball World photo
Pool L: The Weirdest Pool There Ever Was
Izac Carracher, Mark Nicolaidis, Australia
Soufiane El Gharouti, Ilyas Rhouni Lazaar, Morocco
Calvin Aye, Remi Bassereau, France
Esteban Grimalt, Marco Grimalt, Chile
My gosh do I love this pool. I love it so dang much. It’s as if the VolleyGods took every weird team, the type who could beat anybody and lose to anybody on any given day, who could — looking at you, Remi Bassereau and Calvin Aye — win an Elite silver medal in Joao Pessoa and then turn around and get smoked in the qualifier the following week in Rio.
Who could — looking at you, Grimalts — barely scrape out of the first round of the qualifier in Newport Beach and come away taking a bite out of a bronze medal.
Who could — cheers, mates, Izac Carracher and Mark Nicolaidis — lose your first four matches of the season and barbecue out of four events yet still notch three top-fives and qualify for the World Champs without needing a home wild card.
If you’re looking for chaos, look no further than the All Weird Pool.
