Czechia against Bulgaria and Poland against Italy on Saturday’s program
Poland against Italy in the VNL 2025 final
The weekend is here and the moment we will all know the 2025 men’s volleyball world champions is fast approaching! But first things first, the semifinals of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship are on Saturday’s program in the Philippines, and by the end of the day, we will know which two teams will battle for gold on Sunday, having already secured their spots on the podium. But watch out – the starting times of the matches are earlier than those on the previous competition days! In the first semifinal, at 14:30 local time (06:30 UTC), Czechia will take on Bulgaria. In the second, at 18:30 (10:30), the top two teams in the FIVB World Ranking, Poland and Italy, will lock horns in battle.
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Semifinal 1: Czechia v Bulgaria
The first semifinal in Pasay City will offer a clash between two teams that were not expected to be among the best four of the tournament. Yet one of them will make it all the way to the final. With well-deserved places in the semis, Czechia and Bulgaria will cross swords at 14:30 local time (06:30 UTC).
These two teams have only met twice within the past decade, producing five-set battles that ended Bulgaria’s way in both cases – first at the 2015 CEV European Championship in Bulgaria and, most recently, at the 2021 edition of the continental competition in Czechia.
As a successor of Czechoslovakia, Czechia had a glorious past in the World Championships, with the titles in 1956 and 1966, in addition to four silver medals between 1949 and 1962. However, they had not reached the final four since 1970. Reaching the semifinals at this championship is already by far the best result Czechia have achieved in the history of the competition as a separate nation. They entered Pool H of this championship as underdogs, but surprised Serbia with a shutout in their opening match. Then, they lost to Brazil and beat China, both in straight sets, enough to finish pool runners-up and progress. In the eighthfinals, they took out Tunisia in straight sets, and in the quarterfinals, they came back from a set down to beat Iran in four. Czechia have moved from number 21 in the World Ranking before the tournament up four spots to number 17 now.
Opposite Patrik Indra tallied a total of 85 points to emerge as the best scorer of the team and the fourth best scorer of the tournament so far. Czechia’s libero Milan Monik is third in the best diggers chart.
Bulgaria has collected five medals in the history of the World Championships. In addition to their best result, the 1970 silver, the Bulgarians have picked up four bronze medals, most recently in 2006. They are still undefeated at the ongoing edition of the World Championship. In Pool E, they upset two higher ranked opponents, Germany in straight sets and Slovenia in five sets, and topped the pool with a shutout of Chile. The Europeans cruised on to a straight-set win over Portugal in the eighthfinals. In the quarterfinals, they mounted a spectacular comeback from two sets down to knock out the United States and progress to the semis.
Bulgaria entered the tournament as the number 15 team in the World Ranking and moved six positions up to their current spot as number nine. Bulgaria’s 21-year-old rising star outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov is the best scorer and the best attacker of the tournament with 119 points in total, of which 106 in spike kills.
Bulgaria’s middle blocker and captain Aleks Grozdanov is second in the best blockers ranking, while 18-year-old playmaker Simeon Nikolov is third among the best setters.
Semifinal 1: Czechia v Bulgaria
The first semifinal in Pasay City will offer a clash between two teams that were not expected to be among the best four of the tournament. Yet one of them will make it all the way to the final. With well-deserved places in the semis, Czechia and Bulgaria will cross swords at 14:30 local time (06:30 UTC).
These two teams have only met twice within the past decade, producing five-set battles that ended Bulgaria’s way in both cases – first at the 2015 CEV European Championship in Bulgaria and, most recently, at the 2021 edition of the continental competition in Czechia.
As a successor of Czechoslovakia, Czechia had a glorious past in the World Championships, with the titles in 1956 and 1966, in addition to four silver medals between 1949 and 1962. However, they had not reached the final four since 1970. Reaching the semifinals at this championship is already by far the best result Czechia have achieved in the history of the competition as a separate nation. They entered Pool H of this championship as underdogs, but surprised Serbia with a shutout in their opening match. Then, they lost to Brazil and beat China, both in straight sets, enough to finish pool runners-up and progress. In the eighthfinals, they took out Tunisia in straight sets, and in the quarterfinals, they came back from a set down to beat Iran in four. Czechia have moved from number 21 in the World Ranking before the tournament up four spots to number 17 now.
Opposite Patrik Indra tallied a total of 85 points to emerge as the best scorer of the team and the fourth best scorer of the tournament so far. Czechia’s libero Milan Monik is third in the best diggers chart.
Bulgaria has collected five medals in the history of the World Championships. In addition to their best result, the 1970 silver, the Bulgarians have picked up four bronze medals, most recently in 2006. They are still undefeated at the ongoing edition of the World Championship. In Pool E, they upset two higher ranked opponents, Germany in straight sets and Slovenia in five sets, and topped the pool with a shutout of Chile. The Europeans cruised on to a straight-set win over Portugal in the eighthfinals. In the quarterfinals, they mounted a spectacular comeback from two sets down to knock out the United States and progress to the semis.
Bulgaria entered the tournament as the number 15 team in the World Ranking and moved six positions up to their current spot as number nine. Bulgaria’s 21-year-old rising star outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov is the best scorer and the best attacker of the tournament with 119 points in total, of which 106 in spike kills.
Bulgaria’s middle blocker and captain Aleks Grozdanov is second in the best blockers ranking, while 18-year-old playmaker Simeon Nikolov is third among the best setters.
Semifinal 2: Poland v Italy
A titanic clash between the number one and the number two teams in the World Ranking will determine the second finalist of Philippines 2025. Poland will take on Italy at 18:30 local time (10:30 UTC) on Saturday in Pasay City.
Poland and Italy have met 33 times at major world-level tournaments. Poland have won 19 of those matches, Italy – the other 14. They met in the final of the previous World Championship in 2022, when Italy dethroned Poland in a four-set showdown. Their most recent encounter was in this year’s Volleyball Nations League final on August 3 in Ningbo, China, when Poland hammered out a straight-set victory.
Poland have been ruling as the number one team in the FIVB World Ranking for many years now. With three world titles (1974, 2014 and 2018) and two silver medals (2006 and 2022), they are one of the most decorated teams in the history of the World Championships. To get to this encounter with Italy, they cruised through the first phase of Philippines 2025 with three-point victories over Romania, Qatar and the Netherlands in Pool B, before disposing of Canada in a four-set eighthfinal and of Turkiye in a quarterfinal sweep. Star opposite and captain Bartosz Kurek and outside hitter Kamil Semeniuk are the team’s leading scorers so far, with 57 points apiece.
Italy are also one of the most decorated teams in the history of the World Championships. They triumphed with the world title three times in a row – in 1990, in 1994 and in 1998 – as well as at the most recent edition in 2022. They also have a 1978 silver around their necks. By finishing runners-up in VNL 2025, Italy climbed to number two in the FIVB World Ranking. Despite being the heavy favorites to win Pool F in the Philippines, they suffered a five-set upset at the hands of Belgium and qualified for the eighthfinals as pool runners-up. The southern European team started off with a shutout of Algeria and secured the second place in the pool with a shutout of Ukraine. In the eighthfinals, Italy defeated Pool C winners Argentina in straight sets, and in the quarterfinals, they got back at Belgium with another emphatic sweep. With a total of 70 points across the five matches played, outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto is the team’s best scorer of the tournament so far.
FIVB Men’s World Championship schedule for Saturday, September 27, 2025
Sep 27, 14:30 local (06:30 UTC): Czechia v Bulgaria
Sep 27, 18:30 local (10:30 UTC): Poland v Italy
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2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship: full schedule and results
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