The top four teams from each of the four pools will progress to the eighthfinals to start the direct elimination phase, during which each win means advancement to the upper tier of the next stage in the bracket and each loss means moving down to the lower tier of the next stage in the bracket until the final classification matches on August 11, which will fill up the places from first to sixteenth in the final standings.
The remaining four teams, those that finish fifth in their pools, will play a single round-robin to determine the final standings from 17th to 20th place.
The previous 17 editions of the youth boys’ world championships were held from 1989 to 2021. Argentina will host the event for the third time, after doing so in 2011 and 2015, and it will be the first country to do so in the history of the competition. Mexico and Iran have welcomed the tournament twice each.
“FeVA is proud to once again host an international competition. We thank the FIVB for having chosen Argentina as the venue and we are sure that it will be a great event for everyone," said Argentinean federation president Juan Sardo.
Brazil are the most decorated team in the competition, with six titles and a silver. However, they have not reached the podium since 2005. Iran also have seven medals (two gold, two silver and three bronze), while Russia have six, but three of them are gold. Italy, Poland and Serbia have also triumphed as youth world champions, twice each.
The most recent winners from 2021, Poland, however, will not be back to defend their title, but the other two medallists, runners-up Bulgaria and third-placed Iran, will compete in San Juan hoping for more honours, starting off as leaders of Pools B and C, respectively. Hosts Argentina, who are reigning South American youth champions from 2022, headline Pool A, while continental runners-up Brazil and incumbent European youth champions Italy will go head to head in Pool D.
