Nine European teams make it out of the pools at the 2025 FIVB Women's World Championship

Nine of the 16 European teams starting this edition of the FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship made it to the knockout phase of the global volleyball competition, with seven heading home, after failing to finish on the top two places in their pool.

There were dramatic turnarounds and twists and turns throughout the pool phase, but the teams which have conceded the lowest number of sets so far are reigning European champions, Türkiye, and Italy, which secured three 3:0 wins and lost one set respectively.

Türkiye disposed of Spain (25:18; 25:20; 25:23), Bulgaria (25:23; 25:19; 25:13) and Canada (25:21; 27:25; 25:13) in straight sets, but coach Daniele Santarelli had enough care to manage his rotations to perfection, as their top scorer, Melissa Vargas, ranks 13th in the standings, with only 50 points.

Italy, which are coming after a flawless performance in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Nations League Women, where they swept their opponents, also secured three wins, 3:0 against Slovakia (25:20; 25:14; 25:17), 3:0 against Cuba (25:9; 25:8; 25:16) and 3:1 against Belgium (25:16; 25:16; 21:25 and 25:18).

In these two pools, Spain and Bulgaria finished on the last two places and were eliminated, as well as Slovakia, but Belgium made it through, after winning in straight sets against Cuba and Slovakia.

Reigning world champions Serbia had a good start in Pool H winning in straight sets against Ukraine (25:21; 25:19; 25:17) and Cameroon (25:16; 25:17; 25:12), but a tough loss against Japan set them on a difficult path towards retaining their title.

Serbia lost the first two sets, 23:25 and 28:30, but bounced back in the third one, with a 25:23 win, before conceding the last set, 18:25. Serbia’s woes were underlined by the absence of the MVP of the last two editions of the World Championship, Tijana Bošković, which suffered an ankle injury against Cameroon and could not play.

Serbia will now face the Netherlands in the Round of 16, with the Dutch side winning Pool A, after a hard-fought win against Sweden, 3:2 (25:27; 25:11; 25:21; 21:25; 15:9), where the MVP of the CEV Champions League Women in the last season, Isabelle Haak, scored 31 points.

The Dutch side went on to win against Egypt, 3:0, and the hosts, Thailand, 3:2, with a 16:14 win in the decider, while Sweden conceded a 0:3 loss (18:25; 20:25; 22:25) against Thailand and will be heading home, finishing third in the standings.

The toughest battle for a qualification spot was in Pool D, where the USA dominated, winning three out of three against Slovenia, Czechia and Argentina. But the other three sides all finished with one win and two losses, with the qualified team decided on points.

There, Slovenia had four, Argentina three and Czechia two, despite Slovenia conceding a 3:2 loss against Czechia, after winning the first two sets. A 3:0 win over Argentina proved to be decisive for Slovenia in their maiden appearance in the competition, where they are due to face Türkiye in the Round of 16.

Poland and Germany had no issues to dispose of Kenya and Vietnam in Pool G, with Poland eventually winning the pool after a 3:2 win (21:25; 25:15; 19:25; 28:26 and 19:17 in the decider) against Germany, with France also making it through in Pool C, where Brazil secured the first place, after a 3:2 win against the European side.

The top scorer of the pool phase was Sweden's Isabelle Haak, with 95 points.

There will surely be four European quarter-finalists, as Netherlands face Serbia, Türkiye meet Slovenia, Italy measure forces with Germany and Poland are pit against Belgium in the Round of 16, due to take place between 29 August and 1 September in Bangkok.