Impressive Italy win fifth world title with big win over Bulgaria

Italy retained their crown as the world champions, delivering a pitch perfect performance in the knockout phase of the 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship, after finishing off with a strong display in the final against Bulgaria, 3:1.

This was Italy’s second consecutive and fifth overall world title, after their triumphs in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2022, moving only one title closer of the most decorated team in history, the Soviet Union, which won the trophy six times.

Once again, Italy proved their resilience in this match, after one day ago, they came back in all the three sets of the semi-final against Poland. This time around, Bulgaria led by two points midway in the first set, but Italy scored five points in a row to secure a 25:21 win in the first set.

Five consecutive aces from Yuri Romanò – another fantastic display of the opposite who made the All-Star team, offered the pivotal moment of the second set, which Italy duly took, 25:17, edging closer to the win.

But Bulgaria, a young team with limited experienced, bounced back with a 25:17 win in the third set, propelled by yet another exquisite display from outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov, who was also selected for the All-Star team, scoring 23 points in this match alone. 

Nikolov, who was the top scorer of the competition, could not do anything in the fourth set, where Italy dominated from start to finish, as their superstar core, with Simone Giannelli, MVP Alessandro Michieletto and Romanò played close to perfection, to secure the 25:10 win and the world title.

Just a week after their loss against Belgium in the preliminary round, 2:3, Italy bounced back with five wins in a row, dropping only one set on the way, to clinch their fifth world title. The European powerhouse had four players in the All-Star Team: MVP Michieletto, setter Giannelli, opposite Romanò plus libero Fabio Balaso.

In the bronze medal match, Poland secured a place on the podium with a 3:1 win over Czechia.

2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship – All-Star team

MVP: Alessandro Michieletto (Italy)

Setter: Simone Giannelli (Italy)
Opposite: Yuri Romanò (Italy)
Outside hitters: Alessandro Michieletto (Italy) and Aleksandar Nikolov (Bulgaria)
Middle blockers: Aleks Grozdanov (Bulgaria) and Jakub Kochanowski (Poland)
Libero: Fabio Balaso (Italy)