Serbia fall in five as Czechia celebrate breakthrough win at the Men's World Championship
recap
In Pasay City, Czechia made history by defeating Tunisia to reach the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship for the first time*. In the same round, Serbia fell to Iran in a five-set battle, bringing their tournament to an end.
The match began with Czechia setting the tone. In the opening set, they took an early lead and maintained it, with outside hitter Lukáš Vašina scoring the final point for a 25-19 win.
The second set followed a similar pattern. Czechia's confident attacks and solid defense kept them in control, allowing them to widen the gap and close the set 25-18.
Tunisia fought back in the third set with an early 4-0 run and built a seven-point lead. However, Jan Galabov ignited a Czech comeback with an impressive streak of seven consecutive serves. With each point, Czechia edged closer, and the noise in the hall grew louder. Eventually, Czechia closed the gap and ultimately won the set 25-23, finishing the match in three sets with scores of 25-19, 25-18, and 25-23.
Opposite Patrik Indra led the team with 13 successful spikes at a 57% rate, including the match winner, and added an ace to finish with a match-high 14 points. Galabov contributed 12 attack points at 55% and one ace for a total of 13 points.
With this result, Czechia not only secured its place in the quarterfinals but also wrote a new chapter in the history of its national volleyball team. Tunisia, meanwhile, exits the competition.
Jan GalabovIt’s something incredible! I think we are currently writing Czech volleyball’s history. We can say that dreams come true. We made our way pretty hard to the quarterfinals, and we can be really proud of ourselves, but we are not finished yet. There are still more games ahead of us.
The second game of the day was a hard contest. Serbia started well, taking the first set 25-23 by winning the key points at the end. Iran answered in the second, keeping control and winning 25-19 to level the match.
The third set was the tightest of all. Serbia came through 26-24 and looked close to finishing the job. But Iran stayed calm in the fourth, pulled ahead late, and won 25-22 to send the match to a fifth set.
In the decider, Iran started fast and held their lead to the end, closing it 15-9 for a 3-2 victory with set scores of 25-23, 19-25, 26-24, 22-25, and 15-9.
Drazen Luburić scored 27 points for Serbia, but his effort was not enough to close the match in Serbia's favour. For Iran, Ali Hajipour and Morteza Sharifi both finished with 23 points and carried their side through the long rallies.
The match was close on the numbers. Serbia had more receptions (98 to 89) and more digs (70 to 67), but Iran found the points they needed in the late stages.
With their victories, Czechia and Iran will now face each other in the quarterfinals. Czechia enters this stage for the first time after their win over Tunisia, while Iran arrives with momentum from their comeback against Serbia.
*A legendary team representing the former Czechoslovakia claimed World Championship titles back in 1956 and 1966 - an era where the country was a real Volleyball powerhouse and finished second only to the Soviet Union in the 1949, 1952, 1960, and 1962 editions of the global event.