Germany are the defending men's champions at the IBSA Goalball European A Championships, and start this year's tournament against Montenegro ©Getty Images

The International Blind Sports Federation Goalball European A Championships is set to begin tomorrow in Samsun in Turkey, with men's defending champions Germany opening the tournament against Montenegro at the Yaşar Doğu Sport Hall.

Hosts Turkey join those two nations in Pool A and immediately follow the tournament curtain-raiser with a match against Greece.

Pool B also has a strong line-up, with 2019 runners-up Ukraine playing Russia, followed by Paralympic bronze medallists and 2017 European champions Lithuania against Spain.

The 2017 European and 2018 World Championship bronze medallists Belgium are the fifth team in Pool B and start their tournament against Ukraine in the first game of Saturday (November 6).

Finland are the final team to get their campaign underway, facing Germany in Pool A in the final men's match of the second day of action.

The home nation are the defending women's European and Paralympic champions and begin the women's tournament with a match against Denmark in Pool C tomorrow.

Hosts Turkey are the reigning women's European and Paralympic goalball champions ©Getty Images
Hosts Turkey are the reigning women's European and Paralympic goalball champions ©Getty Images

That is followed by Britain against Finland, while world champions Russia are also in Pool C, and start with a heavyweight clash against Turkey on Saturday.

Pool D begins tomorrow as the 2019 runners-up Israel play France, followed by the bronze medallists last time out Germany who take on Greece.

Ukraine are the final team in the women's tournament and start against Israel in the final fixture of Saturday.

The teams will play each other once in the pools, which are scheduled to run until next Tuesday (November 9).

The top four teams from each pool will advance to the quarter-finals next Wednesday (October 10), which is followed by semi-finals and ranking matches for fifth to eighth place on Thursday (October 12).

The Championships then draw to a close next Friday (November 12), with the medals decided in the men's and women's competitions as well as the rankings for the teams placed fifth to eighth.