Leon leads the world’s number one team in beating Czechia for the third place
Poland celebrate the Men’s Volleyball World Championship bronze
Poland made the podium of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the Philippines. In Sunday’s central European clash for the third place in Pasay City, they overcame Czechia’s tough resistance in four sets. This was the first bronze medal finish for Poland in history. Previously, they had three world titles and two silver medals on their record. The final match for the 2025 world title, featuring a southern European derby between the teams of Bulgaria and Italy, will serve off later on Sunday, at 18:30 local time (10:30 UTC).
- Watch the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on VBTV
Star outside hitter Wilfredo Leon led Poland in a one-sided first set with as many as 11 points as the silver medalists of the previous edition took the lead in the match. Riding the momentum, Poland stormed into a 6-1 lead in set two and kept it up through 14-9, when Czechia started their gradual comeback. Outside Lukas Vasina led the way in this turnaround. Finally, he spiked a kill to bring in set point and spiked another one to convert it and level the match. Vasina continued to excel in Czechia’s offense in set three and, despite the many unforced errors they made, his team managed to wipe out a four-point Polish lead to catch up at 20-20.
However, Polish sub-in middle blocker Szymon Jakubiszak was playing a fantastic set. With two points in a row, he brought in set point at 24-21. Shortly after, Leon put away the winning touch to put Poland in front again. Czechia tried keeping the fight up in set four, but after 7-7, Poland broke away and never looked back, finishing the job with a 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21) victory.
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Poland’s winning point came from an attacking error by Czechia. In fact, this was the element that made the greatest difference in the game – 28 unforced errors by Poland against 35 by Czechia. The world’s number one team slightly outperformed their opponents in the other three scoring elements as well – 5-3 in serving aces, 9-7 in kill blocks and 49-48 in spike kills. Wilfredo Leon shined with a match-high 26 points. He put up three kill blocks and 23 points in attack at a 64% success rate. Opposite Kewin Sasak fired three aces towards an 11-point total.
His Czech counterpart Patrik Indra also finished with 11 points, all in swings, while Lukas Vasina led the team with 19 points, including one block. Vasina registered a 56% success rate in attack.
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“It’s always a struggle. It doesn’t matter who is on the other side, because now everybody is playing volleyball. Everybody has got two to three players, who are playing in strong clubs, and they can play a really great game. So, I am proud of these guys!” Poland’s Serbian head coach Nikola Grbic told VBTV. “We were devastated yesterday, because the expectations were higher, because we know how hard we worked, what quality we have and how important it was for us to try to play another final. Coming back from that tough loss yesterday wasn’t easy at all. That’s why I am satisfied that we came back. I have great guys and I am proud of them. I just hope we will continue to come back to Poland with a medal every time.”
2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship: full schedule and results
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