The 16 participating teams in the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship found out their opponents for the first pool phase of the tournament on Friday, when the drawing of lots took place in the host country Mexico. The exciting battles for global honours will be held in Leon and Aguascalientes from 17 to 26 August.

The 16 teams were split into four single round-robin pools of four:

Pool A: Mexico, Egypt, Thailand, Japan

Pool B: Italy, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Tunisia

Pool C: Serbia, Poland, Argentina, China

Pool D: United States, Netherlands, Türkiye, Cuba

The top two teams from each pool will advance to round-robin Pools E and F of the second phase, while the rest will move to Pools G and H to continue the battles for classification from eighth to 16th. The winners and the runners-up of Pools E and F will progress to the semifinals and eventually determine the medallists. The teams placed third and fourth in these two pools will advance to the playoff matches for classification from fifth to eighth. Following a similar format, the teams competing in Pools G and H will fill up the bottom half of the final classification standings.