The 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship started with 32 teams competing for the top crown.
After an intense pool stage that saw many unpredictable results, only 16 teams remain.
The second phase of the World Championship takes place from September 20 to 23 in Manila, two matches will be played per day.
Turkey and the Netherlands are the first to clash on Saturday, followed by the exciting meeting between Poland and Canada.
Italy and Argentina headline Sunday’s clash, followed by Belgium vs. Finland.
Bulgaria faces Portugal on Monday, while the USA battles with Slovenia during the second match of the day.
Tunisia meets Czechia on Tuesday, while Serbia faces Iran on the last day of the knockout stage.
Manila heartbreak
Manila became a place for heartbreak for some top volleyball teams after failing to reach the knockout round of the World Championship.
Crowd favourite Japan was among the teams that crashed out of contention after only securing one win in Pool G.
Turkey and Canada both defeated the Asian team in straight sets during the pool phase.
Japan only won against Libya on September 17.
“I was really happy and proud to have been able to represent Japan in this tournament,” middle blocker Larry Ik Evbade-Dan said, as reported by Volleyball World.
“It was very important for us to end the season with a victory. We’ll come back stronger next year,” he added after the match against Libya.
An emotional moment between Japanese opposite hitter Kento Miyaura and veteran Libyan libero Foad Elmaarug was also captured after the final point of the match.
Miyaura and Elmaarug exchanged jerseys with one another, with the Libyan player then announcing his retirement from the national team.
Meanwhile, back-to-back Olympic champions France also exited the tournament early after having similar results to Japan in Pool C.
Top seed Argentina and second seed Finland defeated the European champions in five grueling sets. France only won against South Korea during the pool phase.
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Alas Pilipinas thanks fans
Tournament hosts the Philippines also bowed out of contention for the knockout stage after being defeated by Asian Games champion Iran in five sets.
Filipino fans had already started celebrating during the supposed end of the fifth set after Filipino player Kim Malabunga secured a kill block against Iran.
However, Iran called for a block touch challenge during the last play and were successful.
The Iranian players never looked back after the successful challenge and stole the Top 16 spot from the Philippines in the fifth set, leaving many local supporters sad over the missed opportunity for the Alas Pilipinas Men players.
Even though heartbroken with the result, Alas Pilipinas players expressed their gratitude to the Filipino fans who supported the Philippines’ campaign in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship.
Malabunga also took the blame for the Philippines’ missed opportunity in the knockout stage and apologised to fans for his crucial net touch fault in the fifth set.
“It’s hard to explain. I was really down after the game. That moment was mine… we should’ve won, but I lost my balance.”
“I’m really sorry. That one’s on me,” he told reporters, according to Inquirer.
Alas Pilipinas coach Angiolino Frigoni also expressed gratitude to the Filipino fans for their support despite the early exit of the team from the international tournament.
“I am very proud. I am very proud because we improved a lot. We showed that we can play good volleyball.”
“Thank you to all the fans that came here because they support us very much,” Frigoni said, according to the Philippines News Agency.
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Geoffrey H. Latayan 
Vivien Bernardino