The 2025 Men's Volleyball World Championship has been held in the Philippines since September 12th.
Japan, ranked 5th in the world before the tournament, came to this tournament with the goal of reaching the podium.
However, when the tournament began, they suffered two consecutive losses to lower-ranked teams, Turkey in the first match and Canada in the second, failing to win a single set, and were quickly eliminated from the qualifying rounds, a disappointing result that deviated from most people's expectations.
However, Japan was not the only team to experience unexpected results in the qualifying rounds of this tournament.
Below, we will explain the upsets that occurred in the qualifying rounds of this year's Men's Volleyball World Championships, dividing them into three major categories.
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①Japan, France, Brazil, and other top-ranked countries eliminated in the qualifying rounds
In the qualifying round, not only Japan, but also France and Brazil, who were favourites to win, were unexpectedly defeated.
France is a champion team that has won the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris twice in a row, and before the tournament they were ranked 4th in the world, the highest of the four teams in Pool C.
Furthermore, with several players retiring from the national team after this tournament, the players must have had a strong desire to play in this tournament. I think they were in top form with a full roster compared to this year's Nations League, where they finished in fifth place.
However, although they won their first match against South Korea 3-0, they lost to Finland and Argentina in the following matches after fierce battles in full sets, and were eliminated from the qualifying round in third place in Pool C.
Brazil was ranked third in the world before the tournament, and had achieved good results in this year's Nations League, finishing first in the qualifying round and ultimately winning the bronze medal.
In this tournament, they beat China 3-1 in their first match and the Czech Republic 3-0, making it almost certain that they would advance through the qualifying rounds, but then suffered a shocking straight set loss in their final match against Serbia.
Furthermore, Serbia, the Czech Republic, and Brazil were all tied with two wins and one loss, but Brazil was just one set behind the Czech Republic in set ratio, resulting in their disappointing elimination in the qualifying rounds. This was the first time in history that Brazil had been eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the World Championships.
② The rapid advance of mid-sized European countries
It was the European teams, ranked in the 10th to 20th place in the world, that made a great advance, defeating these top-ranked countries and favorites to win.
First, Turkey beat Japan 3-0 in their opening match (Turkey is under the jurisdiction of the European Volleyball Confederation). Before the tournament, they were ranked 16th in the world, third in Pool G, but they then went on to win consecutive matches against Libya and Canada to advance to the final tournament as the top team in Pool G.
Finland defeated France. Prior to the tournament, they were ranked 18th in the world, third in Pool C, just like Turkey. Although they did not participate in the Nations League, they had improved their skills, winning this year's Europa Golden League (a tournament for European teams not participating in the Nations League). In addition to beating France, Finland played a full set against Argentina, qualifying in second place in Pool C.
Portugal, who was 27th in Pool D, defeated Cuba, who was in the quarterfinals of this year's Nations League, to advance to the next round in second place. Portugal won the Challenger Cup in 2018 and joined the Nations League in 2019, but were quickly relegated and have not had any notable results since then, but they pulled off a surprise here.
Bulgaria, who played a send-off match against Japan before the tournament, is also on a roll. They were also ranked 15th and third in Pool E, but they defeated higher-ranked Germany 3-0 and Slovenia 3-2. They also comfortably defeated Chile 3-0, securing their spot in the final tournament as the top team in their pool.
Belgium, ranked 17th before the tournament, defeated Italy, the runner-up in this year's Nations League and world No. 2, in Pool F. Belgium, who were just one step away from qualifying for the 2023 Paris Olympics, showed the world what they're made of ahead of their first Nations League appearance next year. They also beat Ukraine and Algeria 3-0 to advance to the next round in first place, beating Italy.
In Pool H, Serbia, who finished 12th, and the Czech Republic, who finished 22nd, faced off against Brazil, who finished 3rd, in a three-way battle to advance to the final tournament. Since the Czech Republic had defeated Serbia 3-0 and Brazil had defeated the Czech Republic 3-0, Serbia was expected to lose to Brazil as well. However, in the end, Serbia played a nearly flawless game and won 3-0.
Until the last World Championship, the number of participating teams was 24, but this year it was expanded to 32. As a result, many mid-level European countries participated, resulting in an unprecedentedly turbulent qualifying round.
The tournament also demonstrated once again the high level of European competition.
3. Great performance by the host country, the Philippines
Along with the success of the mid-level European teams, we must not forget the performance of the host country, the Philippines.
Before the tournament, the Philippines was ranked 77th in the world. Although there were no teams in Pool A with single-digit world rankings thanks to the host nation's preferential treatment, there was a large gap in ability between them and Iran (13th), Egypt (23rd), and Tunisia (40th), and most people predicted that they might not even be able to win a single set, let alone win a single match.
As expected, they lost their opening match against Tunisia 0-3.
However, after beating Egypt 3-1, they went on to play a fierce full-set match against Iran, which would have meant a place in the final tournament. In the fifth set, the Philippines almost secured victory by taking the first match point after a deuce, but Iran's challenge was successful and the victory was a dream come true.
Iran ultimately won the fifth set 22-20, and the Philippines were unfortunately eliminated in third place in Pool A. However, no one could have imagined that the Philippines, ranked in the 70s in the world, would defeat Egypt and push Iran to the brink.
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