Bulgaria shines again, Poland stays unbeaten, and more European success at the World Championship

The fourth day of the preliminary phase of the Men’s Volleyball World Championship has concluded in the Philippines. On Monday, more matches were played in Pools B, D, E, and G.

Pool B

Netherlands – Romania 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 26-24)

The Netherlands secured their second win in the 2025 Men’s World Championship in the Philippines by defeating Romania in straight sets in Quezon City, moving to the top of Pool B with six points. Romania remains at the bottom, still without a set win.  

Michiel Ahyi led the Dutch with 19 points, including five aces. Tom Koops had 13 points, a kill block, and a 60% success rate in attacks.  

Netherlands and Romania both recorded nine kill blocks each. Netherlands committed fewer unforced errors (21) compared to Romania (24).  In serves, Netherlands had 10 aces, Romania only 4.  

On Romania’s side Bela Bartha had 14 points (with five kill blocks and an ace), attacking at 80% efficiency. Rares Balean added 12 points.  

Poland - Qatar 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-19)

Poland’s emphatic 3‑0 victory over Qatar on Monday secured the outcome for all four teams in Pool B at the 2025 Men’s Volleyball World Championship. 

After beating Romania earlier, Poland — currently top in the FIVB World Ranking — and the Netherlands both finished the first two rounds with six points, guaranteeing they advance to the Round of 16. Qatar and Romania, having failed to win a match so far, are eliminated. 

Poland rotated their lineup against Qatar. Their leading scorer was outside hitter Kamil Semeniuk with 13 points (11 kills, 2 aces). Middle blocker Jakub Kochanowski and opposite Kewin Sasak followed with eight points each. 

For Qatar, which is playing in the World Championship for only the second time, Pape Diagne collected eight points (six kills, one block, one ace), and outside hitter Nikola Vasić also scored eight, all from kills. 

Statistically, Poland had the edge over Qatar in all key areas: kills (37 vs. 34), blocks (8 vs. 3), aces (4 vs. 2), and they committed fewer errors by opponents (26 vs. 15).

Pool D

Cuba – Colombia 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-20)

USA – Portugal 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-17)

The United States advanced to the Round of 16 of the 2025 Men’s World Championship by sweeping Portugal 3-0  in their second match of Pool D.  

With that victory, the USA have six points and have dropped no sets, making them the first team from Pool D to qualify for the elimination stage.  

Portugal and Cuba can still match the USA in wins, but cannot surpass them due to the USA’s superior set ratio.  

Gabriel Garcia and Jordan Ewert each scored 12 points for the USA; Ewert had eight kills, two blocks, two aces; Garcia had eleven kills and one block. Ethan Champlin added 10 points (eight kills, two aces). On Portugal’s side: Lourenço Martins led with 12 points (10 kills, one block, one ace); José Pinto scored 9 points, all from kills.  

USA outperformed Portugal in several statistical categories: more kills (40-36), more blocks (8-5), much fewer opponent errors (USA-13 vs Portugal-23), while both teams had 4 aces each.  

Pool E

Germany – Chile 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-21)

Slovenia - Bulgaria 2-3 (19-25, 14-25, 25-18, 25-23, 13-15)

In a gripping five-set match, Bulgaria (ranked 12th in FIVB) defeated Slovenia (ranked 6th) to claim a spot in the knockout stage (eighthfinals) of the 2025 Men’s World Championship in Pasay City.  

This win was Bulgaria’s second in Pool E, and ensures they finish among the top two in the group.   Slovenia’s first loss means they must face Germany for the second qualifying place. Chile, as the fourth-placed team, are eliminated from contention.  

The match went: 3-2 to Bulgaria, with set scores 25-19, 25-14, 18-25, 23-25, 15-13.  

Standout performances:

Aleksandar Nikolov led Bulgaria with 26 points, including two aces and a block. He scored the deciding point.  

Asparuh Asparuhov added 17 points, with two aces and two blocks, and a 62% attack success rate.  

Iliya Petkov had 11 points: five kill blocks, five spike kills, plus an ace; his efficiency was 71%.  

Young setter Simeon Nikolov (18) contributed with four aces, six kills, and a 55% attack rate.  

On Slovenia’s side, Toncek Stern scored 20 points (including two blocks), Nik Mujanovic had 16, and Ziga Stern added 13, with two aces.  

Bulgaria also outperformed Slovenia in several statistics: 13-9 in kill blocks, 56-52 in spike kills, and 11-4 in service aces.  

Pool G

Japan - Canada 0-3 (20-25, 23-25, 22-25)

Türkiye – Libya 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-14, 25-16)

Türkiye now have six points from two matches. If Japan fails to take all three points from Canada in their upcoming Pool G match, Türkiye’s place in the knockout stage Round of 16 will be confirmed. Libya, with zero points, still has slim hopes of advancing—only if Japan beats Canada 3-0 or 3-1.  

Key player stats for Türkiye:

Bedirhan Bülbül: 16 points (11 kills, 3 aces, 2 blocks).  

Efe Mandıracı: 16 points (11 kills, 4 aces, 1 block).  

Adis Lagumdžija: 15 points.  

Gökçen Yüksel: 13 points.  

For Libya:

Ahmed Ikhbayri was top scorer with 19 points (16 kills, 3 blocks).  

Overall stats:

Kills: Türkiye 52 vs Libya 38  

Aces: Türkiye 12 vs Libya 1  

Blocks: Both had 9 each  

Errors: 23 in total (for both sides combined)