The match between the national teams of Portugal and Turkey in Pool A was played on Wednesday. This was for sure a tough match for Portugal since they competed against reigning champions Turkey, who finished with the gold not only in 2021 but in 2019 as well. In the thrilling ending, it was Turkey who took a 1:3 win (21-25, 25-21, 17-25, 24-26).

It started off as a point-by-point set and the team Portugal showed that they are for a reason in the Golden League company. But Turkey managed to separate from the Portuguese team (from 13-15 to 13-19) and they managed to make a nice advantage. Portugal tried to break through the attack of Turkey but with four aces from the Turkish side it was impossible and the set went to Turkey with 21-25.

But already in the second set, the team Portugal showed why they are in the elite company. They were on top of their game and they managed to take an important win in the second set. The Portuguese team balanced through the whole set and was always keeping up with the Turkish team. They had an early head start with 5-3 and it only continued to grow up until the very end when they scored for 25-21 and Portugal has won the second set.

The third set was a tough one for Portugal. They were at a 1-5 score on the board when their head coach, João José Miguel, called for a time-out but it only got worse. They were at 1-7 and the coach was forced to call for another time-out. They started scoring but it just wasn’t enough this time and the set ended with 17-25 in favor of the Turkish team.

The fourth set was a real thriller for both teams. Turkey was behind by five points and they needed this set to already secure the win. They managed to get back up but Portugal didn't let them off that easily. Both teams were still in the game and they started to play completely point-by-point. In the end, Turkey secured a new win with 24-26 in the last set.

The situation in Pool A is as follows: Turkey is first with six points, Portugal is second with three points and Slovakia is last with zero points.