LAUSANNE, Switzerland, October 21, 2026.– The United States, Nicaragua, Guatemala and the Cayman Islands in the men’s competition, along with Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic in the women’s competition, will represent NORCECA at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games beach volleyball tournament, scheduled for October 31 to November 4 at Saly Beach West in Senegal.
The official pool distribution and match schedule have been released for the competition, which will feature 24 teams in each gender, divided into six pools of four, including eight NORCECA duos aiming to advance to the knockout stage.
In the women’s competition, Canada will be represented by Julia McDougall and Natalia Casas, who will compete in Pool A alongside China, Paraguay and The Gambia. The Canadians will share the pool with China’s top-seeded Ming Zhuang and Siyu Qi.
Mexico’s Pérez/López will compete in Pool C alongside Switzerland, Ecuador and Puerto Rico’s Rodríguez/Serrano. Mexico and Puerto Rico will therefore meet in one of the all-NORCECA matchups during the preliminary round.
The Dominican Republic will be represented by Zoe Paniagua and Yerelin Reyes, who will compete in Pool F against Senegal, Malaysia and Cape Verde. The Dominican duo will share the pool with hosts Nafi Segnane and Fatou Thiam.
In the men’s competition, the Cayman Islands’ Rares-Edward Pomian-Brad and Ronald Dylan Simpson will compete in Pool B alongside Austria, Iran and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Caribbean duo will open its campaign on October 31 against Austria’s Paul Hohenauer and Martin Poinstingl, the tournament’s second seeds, at 9:20 a.m. local time (GMT).
Nicaragua’s Barrios/Kempf will compete in Pool D against Norway, Chile and South Africa.
The United States and Guatemala will share Pool E with Venezuela and Brazil. The American duo Phillips/Mortensen and Guatemala’s Godoy/Vásquez will meet during pool play in another all-NORCECA matchup.
The men’s competition will begin on October 31 at 8:30 a.m. with Germany’s top-seeded Lasse Hüper and Filo Wüst facing Morocco’s Yasser Errazi and Othmane Taghdouini in Pool A.
In the women’s competition, China’s top-seeded Ming Zhuang and Siyu Qi will open the first day of action against The Gambia’s Fatima Sanneh and Kaddy Saidy at 8:30 a.m., while the Netherlands’ second seeds Jara Both and Matilda de Groot will face Thailand’s Ainthira Ninsonthi and Phatthanan Wongnongwaeng.
The pool phase will take place on October 31 and November 1, with teams competing in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each pool, together with the two best third-placed teams, will advance directly to the Round of 16.
The four remaining third-placed teams will compete in an additional qualification round on November 2, with the two winners securing the final spots in the knockout stage.
The Round of 16 will also take place on November 2, followed by the quarterfinals and semifinals on November 3. The tournament will conclude on November 4 with the bronze and gold medal matches in both genders.
The complete match schedule and competition details are available on theofficial Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games beach volleyball event page.