Dramatic league round finish sees Final Four berths secured in Golden League Men

A dramatic final weekend in the league round of the CEV Volleyball European Golden League 2025 Men saw Israel, Greece and Finland join hosts Czechia in the Final Four in Brno, with only the former team staying unbeaten after six matches played by each of the 12 participating teams.

Week 3 of the league round had four tournaments played between 19 and 22 June, n Strumica, North Macedonia, in Lugo, Spain, in Nokia, Finland, and in Kutna Hora, Czechia.

While Israel looked to have the easiest path towards qualification, playing two teams which had no chance to mingle in the battle for the Final Four berths, they still had to sweat against North Macedonia and Montenegro, but they finished the league round unbeaten, after two wins.

It has been a dream competition for Israel, which won the CEV Volleyball European Silver League 2024 Men, as they completed an unbeaten path, with a 3:0 win over North Macedonia (25:22; 25:16; 25:18) and a 3:1 win over Montenegro (25:27; 25:20; 25:15; 25:21), conceding their sixth set in the competition.

The biggest battle of all was the one between Greece and Finland, two teams which are still eyeing their maiden title in the CEV Volleyball European Golden League Men. Finland played their only final in 2005, losing against Russia, while Greece featured in the final in 2014, conceding the title against Montenegro.

The two sides were unbeaten until the tournament in Nokia, Finland, and Greece drew the first blood, taking a 3:1 win over Finland, 23:25; 25:18; 25:23; 25:21, as Dimitrios Mouchlias scored 18 points and Theodoros Voulkidis added 15 points.

But Greece missed the chance to finish first in the standings, after a dramatic 2:3 loss against Croatia in the second day, with the final two sets going Croatia’s way, after an intense battle, 30:28 and 20:18. Croatia’s Petar Dirlic, the top scorer of the competition, with 148 points, had a monster match, with 35 points.

Eventually, Finland also finished with a record of five wins and one loss, after securing a clear 3:0 win to end the competition against Croatia.

Israel (17 points), Greece (16 points) and Finland (15 points) were the teams which joined hosts Czechia in the Final Four, which will take place in Brno on 5 and 6 July, with Romania failing to make the cut by a whisker.

Romania’s undoing was their only loss of the league round, 2:3, in Kutna Hora, against hosts Czechia, in the first match of the last tournament. After winning the first set, 37:35, Romania conceded the next two, 17:25 and 22:25, only to seem to turn the match around, 25:18.

But in the decider, Romania conceded a 15:11 loss, as they had a lower set ratio (2.833) than Finland (4.000), after they finished on the same number of points.

As the only team without a win in six matches, Montenegro finished on the last place.

The Final Four, scheduled for 5 and 6 July, will see hosts Czechia take on Israel, with the hosts already conceding a 1:3 loss in the first week of the league round, while in the other semi-final, Greece face Finland, in a rematch of Greece’s win in the last weekend.