The draw for Taranto 2026 determined the groups in the team sports of the Mediterranean Games
The Organizing Committee of the 20th Mediterranean Games Taranto 2026 has announced the group line-ups for the team sports, bringing preparations for the competition into one of their most concrete sporting phases. The official draw was held on Friday, May 29, 2026, in the Aula Magna of the Ionian Department of the University of Bari "Aldo Moro" in Taranto, in the presence of representatives of international sports bodies, national delegations and organizers. According to the announcement by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games, the draw covered water polo, football, handball, volleyball and 3x3 basketball, disciplines that traditionally attract great attention in the programme of multi-sport competitions. The Games are scheduled from August 21 to September 3, 2026, in Taranto and other municipalities of Apulia. According to data published by the ANSA agency, more than 4,000 athletes from 26 countries are expected, with a programme comprising ten team tournaments, 33 sporting events and 25 individual disciplines.
Taranto and Apulia enter the final phase of preparations
The announcement of the groups has practical and symbolic importance for the organizers, national teams and national Olympic committees. On the one hand, delegations now have a clearer picture of their first opponents, preparation schedules and competitive dynamics in the groups. On the other hand, the draw marks the start of the final countdown to the Games, which will be held in Taranto and a total of twenty host municipalities in Apulia, according to the official Taranto 2026 website. The Organizing Committee announced that the ceremony was attended by Massimo Ferrarese, president of the Organizing Committee of the XX Mediterranean Games, Carlo Molfetta, general director, and Iakovos Filippousis, secretary general of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games. In his address, Filippousis highlighted the values of friendship, respect, resilience and solidarity as the foundation of the Mediterranean Games, and he particularly emphasized the growing importance of 3x3 basketball in the Olympic context.
Taranto 2026 will be the 20th edition of the Mediterranean Games, a competition that brings together countries of the Mediterranean region and has special regional significance in the sporting calendar. According to an earlier decision of the Executive Committee of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games, the final sports programme and venue schedule were accepted after a positive recommendation from the sports and coordination commissions. This confirmed the competition framework in which, alongside the team sports from the draw, a wide range of individual disciplines will also be held. For the host city and the Apulia region, the Games are simultaneously a sporting, infrastructural and organizational project, because competitions are distributed across multiple locations and venues, and certain facilities are being adapted to the needs of an international event. That is precisely why the draw was not only a technical procedure, but also a public confirmation that the competitive part of preparations is gradually being closed.
Water polo: a strong group for the host and regional derbies on the horizon
Nine national teams will compete in the men's under-21 water polo tournament, and the draw, according to the official announcement by the organizers, was conducted by former water polo player Amaurys Perez. Group A brings together Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia, which already in the first phase brings a series of matches between national teams with a strong water polo tradition. Group B has five teams: Spain, Italy, France, Türkiye and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Host Italy has thus been drawn into a group in which it will already in the opening phase face national teams with different styles of play and levels of international experience. Since this is a competition for younger age categories, the tournament will at the same time be an opportunity to test generations that could have a more important role in senior competition in the coming years.
- Water polo, men under 21, Group A: Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia.
- Water polo, men under 21, Group B: Spain, Italy, France, Türkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Football: youth-category tournaments for men and women
The football draw was led by former Italian defender Nicola Legrottaglie, and the groups for the women's under-18 tournament and the men's under-21 tournament were announced. Seven national teams will compete in the women's competition. Group A consists of Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Algeria, while Group B includes Italy, Slovenia and Kosovo. Such a division means that the home national team will have one match fewer than the teams from Group A in the first phase, but also less room for error because every match in a group with three participants can strongly affect the standings.
Eight national teams are taking part in the men's under-21 tournament, divided into two groups. Group A includes Morocco, Türkiye, Tunisia and North Macedonia, while Group B consists of Italy, Algeria, Kosovo and Albania. According to the Taranto 2026 announcement, this is a tournament that will be played as part of the wider programme of team sports and could be among the most followed parts of the Games. Football at the Mediterranean Games often has a developmental character because it includes younger selections, but precisely for that reason it attracts the attention of clubs, federations and coaching staffs that follow players in the transition toward senior level. For the organizers, the football part of the programme is additionally important because it includes more matches, greater logistics and the need to coordinate schedules between different venues.
- Football, women under 18, Group A: Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria.
- Football, women under 18, Group B: Italy, Slovenia, Kosovo.
- Football, men under 21, Group A: Morocco, Türkiye, Tunisia, North Macedonia.
- Football, men under 21, Group B: Italy, Algeria, Kosovo, Albania.
Handball: men's tournament in two groups, women's handball players in a single group
The handball draw was conducted by Alessandro Tarafino, and the competition brings a different format for men and women. In the men's under-21 tournament, eight national teams are divided into two groups. Egypt, Italy, Portugal and Kosovo will play in Group A, while Group B includes Tunisia, Algeria, Greece and Cyprus. Such a schedule brings together national teams from the European, North African and Eastern Mediterranean sporting circles, which is one of the recognizable features of the Mediterranean Games. For host Italy, the group with Egypt and Portugal brings a demanding start, especially because younger handball selections are often less predictable than senior teams.
The women's under-18 handball tournament will be played in a single group with six national teams: Algeria, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Tunisia. Such a format means that the standings will be shaped through direct matches among all participants, without the classic division into two groups in the initial phase. The advantage of a single group is a larger number of different head-to-head encounters and a clearer comparison of results, while the challenge is a greater workload for the players in a short tournament period. According to official data from the organizers, this is a tournament of younger age categories, so attention will also be focused on the developmental potential of the national teams, not only on the final standings. For national federations, such competitions often serve as an important international test before the next continental and world qualifying cycles.
- Handball, men under 21, Group A: Egypt, Italy, Portugal, Kosovo.
- Handball, men under 21, Group B: Tunisia, Algeria, Greece, Cyprus.
- Handball, women under 18, single group: Algeria, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Tunisia.
Volleyball: the widest format among indoor team sports
The volleyball part of the draw was led by Franco Bertoli, former captain of the Italian national team, and the competition will have a women's under-18 tournament and a men's under-21 tournament. Ten national teams will compete in the women's competition, divided into two groups. Group A consists of Italy, Serbia, Egypt, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Syria, while Group B includes Türkiye, Greece, Algeria, Kosovo and North Macedonia. The home national team will play in a group with five participants, which means a greater number of matches and a longer path through the first phase. The women's volleyball competition is especially interesting because it brings together national teams from different volleyball traditions, from European selections with developed league systems to national teams that use the Mediterranean Games as an important international test.
The men's under-21 volleyball tournament will have 12 national teams distributed into four groups of three. Group A includes Italy, Greece and Portugal, Group B Türkiye, Tunisia and Syria, Group C Spain, France and Kosovo, and Group D Egypt, Algeria and Serbia. The format with three national teams in a group increases the importance of every match because a defeat in the first round can significantly complicate the continuation of the competition. According to the official Taranto 2026 announcement, volleyball is one of the five team sports for which the draw was held as part of the same ceremony, through which the organizer wanted to complete the initial competitive picture. For coaching staffs, this schedule brings clearer planning of preparation matches, opponent analysis and player workload.
- Volleyball, women under 18, Group A: Italy, Serbia, Egypt, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Syria.
- Volleyball, women under 18, Group B: Türkiye, Greece, Algeria, Kosovo, North Macedonia.
- Volleyball, men under 21, Group A: Italy, Greece, Portugal.
- Volleyball, men under 21, Group B: Türkiye, Tunisia, Syria.
- Volleyball, men under 21, Group C: Spain, France, Kosovo.
- Volleyball, men under 21, Group D: Egypt, Algeria, Serbia.
3x3 basketball gains additional weight because of the Olympic pathway toward Los Angeles
3x3 basketball was especially highlighted ahead of the draw because the International Committee of Mediterranean Games and FIBA confirmed that the results of the tournament in Taranto will have significance in the ranking system for the Olympic cycle toward Los Angeles 2028. According to the ICMG announcement, results at the Mediterranean Games Taranto 2026 will directly contribute to the 24-month FIBA 3x3 Federation Ranking, which came into force on December 1, 2025, and will last until December 2027 as one of the key mechanisms for Olympic qualification. This means that the appearance in Taranto will not be only a fight for medals at the Mediterranean Games, but also part of a broader international ranking important for national federations. The ICMG stated that the results will be able to influence the qualification prospects of athletes, teams and federations, and Secretary General Filippousis thanked FIBA for recognizing the competitive importance of the tournament.
Thirteen national teams will compete in the women's under-23 tournament, distributed into four groups. Group A consists of Spain, Portugal and Egypt, Group B France, Slovenia and Croatia, Group C Italy, Greece and Kosovo, and Group D Algeria, Türkiye, Tunisia and Cyprus. In the men's under-23 tournament, 16 national teams will participate. Group A brings together Algeria, Croatia, Slovenia and Cyprus, Group B includes France, Greece, Egypt and North Macedonia, Group C Serbia, Türkiye, Portugal and Kosovo, and Group D Spain, Italy, Tunisia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the official announcement by the organizers, the 3x3 basketball draw was conducted by Sara Madera, bronze medallist from the Mediterranean Games in Oran 2022, and the competition is described as the most numerous discipline among the team tournaments covered by this draw. Additional attention is drawn by the fact that the 3x3 tournament, according to the ICMG, will be held from August 29 to September 2, 2026, in Peripato Gardens, a historic area in the centre of Taranto that is being renovated for the occasion.
- 3x3 basketball, women under 23, Group A: Spain, Portugal, Egypt.
- 3x3 basketball, women under 23, Group B: France, Slovenia, Croatia.
- 3x3 basketball, women under 23, Group C: Italy, Greece, Kosovo.
- 3x3 basketball, women under 23, Group D: Algeria, Türkiye, Tunisia, Cyprus.
- 3x3 basketball, men under 23, Group A: Algeria, Croatia, Slovenia, Cyprus.
- 3x3 basketball, men under 23, Group B: France, Greece, Egypt, North Macedonia.
- 3x3 basketball, men under 23, Group C: Serbia, Türkiye, Portugal, Kosovo.
- 3x3 basketball, men under 23, Group D: Spain, Italy, Tunisia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The draw opens a new phase for national teams and organizers
After the announcement of the groups, national teams can plan the final part of their preparations more precisely, while the organizers face the coordination of operational details related to venues, accommodation, transport, training sessions and security protocols. The official Taranto 2026 programme had already defined the broader sporting framework, but the team sports draw gives the competition a concrete structure and enables delegations to focus on their first opponents. According to available official information, the ceremony was broadcast via the official YouTube channel of the Organizing Committee and on the websites of the ANSA agency, with the aim of enabling athletes, officials, media and interested audiences to follow the draw. In the coming weeks, further coordination of match schedules and logistical details is expected, while the basic competitive frameworks for five team sports are now known. For Taranto and Apulia, this means that the Mediterranean Games project is gradually moving from the planning phase into the implementation phase, with clear sporting contours of an event that will bring together Mediterranean national teams in Italy at the end of the summer of 2026.
Sources:
- International Committee of Mediterranean Games – official announcement of the team sports draw and group line-ups for Taranto 2026 (link)
- Taranto 2026 – official announcement on the draw of groups in five team sports and data on tournament formats (link)
- ANSA – report on the draw, the number of athletes, countries and the scope of the Mediterranean Games Taranto 2026 programme (link)
- International Committee of Mediterranean Games – data on the inclusion of the 3x3 basketball tournament in the ranking connected with Olympic qualification for Los Angeles 2028 (link)
- International Committee of Mediterranean Games – decision on the final sports programme and venue schedule for Taranto 2026 (link)