Volleyball World Championship 2025 Philippines 12.09.2025

The Philippines will host the 2025 Men's Volleyball World Championship, which will be held from 12 to 28 September 2025. This is the first World Championship to expand from 24 teams to 32 teams participating in this year's World Championship.
The World Championship venues used in the Philippines are the SM Mall of Asia Arena (Pasay) with a capacity of 18,000 and the Araneta Coliseum (Quexon City) with a capacity of 14,429.

This year's World Cup has two debutants in the World Cup: the Philippines (host nation) and Colombia (bronze winner from the South American Championship). The Philippines will probably have a tough time at home, but Colombia will also make it through the group stage. 

Italy will have the chance to become the third team in this century to defend the World Cup title, after Brazil managed to defend the title in 2006 and 2010. Poland defended the World Cup title in 2018 after winning in 2014.

Leading up to this year's World Cup, several nations are missing some of their best players. Among the most high-profile absentees is Daniele Lavia from Italy, one of the championship's big gold favorites. For the Netherlands, the loss of Nimir Abdel-Aziz is heavy. He could have lifted the team to become an opponent even the top nations would prefer to avoid in the playoffs. Aleksander Śliwka is missing from Poland, but there are good replacements. For the USA, the absence of Matthew Anderson is a clear weakness, while Rok Mozić makes Slovenia less competitive. In addition, Yuji Nishida has chosen to sit out the championship for Japan to save his health. Look him up on YouTube and you can see why he wants to save his health.

I will also go through the groups and predict which teams will advance to the playoffs. I will also give a tip on who can remain as world champion on September 28. I will also take a closer look at some alternative odds bets – including who can be the tournament MVP and who will end up as the top scorer in the World Cup.

Group divination

Group A

In Group A we have Iran who are big favorites to win the group. I will be very surprised if Iran does not win Group A. The question is who will take second place and it will be between Egypt and Tunisia. Otherwise there is nothing more to be gained from here in the odds segment. Neither team will be world champions in 2025.

1. Iran (1.15)
2. Egypt (8)
3. Tunisia (8)
4. Philippines (51)

Group B

In Group B, Poland should win quite easily. Poland is the odds-on favorite to win this year's World Cup. Will come back later in the article about Poland's chances of winning the World Cup.
Second place should be the Netherlands, but the uncertainty for the Netherlands is that they do not have their best game in Nimir Abdel-Aziz. This opens up the possibility for Romania to advance from the group stage. The match between the Netherlands and Romania will be the highlight of Group B. Qatar does not have much to play for here.

1. Poland (1.05)
2. Netherlands (10)
3. Romania (25)
4. Qatar (51)

Group C

Frankerike are 2x Olympic champions and enter this World Cup looking for the World Cup gold of the "Ngapeth generation" to complete their collection of the most prestigious national team titles.

They should win this group as long as they don't face Argentina and expect them to win easily. What Argentina showed in the World Cup two months ago was very good and came as a surprise to many. Can Argentina surprise by winning Group C?
Our neighbor in Finland will be fun to follow in this year's World Cup from the Philippines. I think Finland will have a tough time against France and Argentina, but hope they can get a win against South Korea.

1. France (1.3)
2. Argentina (3.5)
3. Finland (25)
4. South Korea (101)

Group D

Group D could be more open than many think. The United States is without some of its biggest names, including Matthew Anderson, who has already set his sights on the 2028 Olympics on home soil in Los Angeles. This significantly weakens the Americans' impact.

Cuba, on the other hand, comes to the World Cup with the certainty that they, with their explosive and physical play, can go far. The challenge lies in concentration: when the team is not fully engaged from the start, they often struggle to find their rhythm again. Then they can suddenly look like a team that is not able to play as a team. Since this is the World Cup, I think Cuba will be on from the start and eye the possibility of winning the group ahead of the USA. Portugal and Colombia can look far to advance from Group D. For them, it is all about winning the home match. 

Have an odds bet from Group D: Cuba wins the group at 2.40 1 units.

1. Cuba (2.40)
2. United States (1.6)
3. Portugal (15)
4. Colombia (101)

Group E

This is the group everyone is talking about. Group E features three strong teams – Slovenia, Germany and Bulgaria – all of whom have ambitions to go far in this year's World Cup.

I think Germany will finish top of the table. They have been boosted under Michał Winiarski, and the combination of experience and young talent gives them both stability and power, but they are dependent on diagonal player György Grozer being in top form

I see Slovenia as second, but it will be close. They have several established stars and are known for performing well in championships, but they can also be vulnerable when the pressure gets big, especially after winger Rok Mozić was not included in this year's World Cup.

Bulgaria thus ends up in third place, just behind Slovenia. They have enough quality to challenge, but do not have enough quality in their midfielders to challenge Germany and Slovenia. What we will be keeping a close eye on in this Bulgarian team is the rising star Simeon Nikolov. 

For Chile, this will be too tough a task. And they will end up last in the group.

I also try Germany as group winner at 3.10 at odds of 1 units

1. Germany (4.00)
2. Slovenia (1.6)
3. Bulgaria (4.00)
4. Chill (101)

Group F

Italy are the big favourites to win Group F, and they are also considered among the hottest candidates to take the entire World Cup title. The battle for second place, however, looks more open – and here I think we could get a little surprise. Belgium has a good chance of progressing ahead of Ukraine. The two teams already met in the opening match on Sunday 14 September, which could prove to be absolutely decisive for the outcome of the group.

For Algeria, the championship will be much tougher. They lack the level required to match the other teams, and everything indicates that they will finish last in Group F.

1. Italy 1(.10)
2. Belgium (25)
3. Ukraine (7)
4. Algeria (101)

Group G

Japan should progress well from the group stage, but there is still some uncertainty surrounding the team. First-choice midfielder Sekita is not in the squad, and star midfielder Nishida has chosen to prioritize his health. This means Laurent Tillie's team could be vulnerable in the early stages.

Canada and Turkey both have the capacity to exploit a slow Japanese start. However, Japan has more quality in their squad overall and should secure first place in the group. Behind them, I think Canada will sneak into second place after a dramatic five-set win against Turkey.

For Libya, the level will be too high – they have little to offer in this group and must settle for last place.

1. Japan (1.45)
2. Canada (3)
3. Turkey (12.5)
4. Libya (101)

Group H

Brazil are the clear favorites in this group, led by the legendary Bernardo “Bernardinho” Rezende, who returned to the national team in 2023. He has won everything as coach of Brazil, and the team is always considered a candidate to win the World Cup. However, I think this year's championship will end in disappointment for the Brazilians - who will be eliminated in the semifinals. Anything other than the final would be a disappointment by Bernardo's standards

Behind Brazil, I think we will get a small surprise. The Czech Republic takes second place ahead of China, while Serbia ends up last in the group. Serbia is in the middle of a generational change that has not gone as planned. We saw this clearly in the VNL, where little was going well for the team. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, has had several positive experiences recently. They reached the final of the Golden League against Finland (lost 3–1), and followed it up with a strong 3–1 win away to Norway in the Euro qualifiers, which secured them a place in Euro 2026.

China is a team that can be very troublesome to face. The reason is their head coach Vital Heynen, who won the World Cup as coach of Poland in 2014. Therefore, I think China will take third place in the group.

1. Brazil (1.05)
2. Czech Republic (15)
3. China (51)
4. Serbia (12.5)

Winner of the 2025 World Cup

Who will be crowned world champions on September 28, 2025? The excitement is building, and the odds suggest that the battle for the trophy will be intense. The favorites seem to be Poland (3.60), Italy (4.00) and France (6.00).

Italy, who won the 2022 World Cup, have shown solid play, but the challenge of defending the trophy is enormous. The team may lack the same spark that made them winners three years ago. France, Olympic champions in both 2020 and 2024, undoubtedly have the stars and talent, but history shows that Olympic success does not always translate into World Cup gold, and it does not help that their star player Ngapeth is out injured.

Therefore, my prediction is that Poland will win the 2025 World Cup in the Philippines.

Why Poland?

The biggest reason is that this is most likely Wilfredo León's first and last chance to win a World Cup with Poland. León has long said that this World Cup is a goal he has been working towards for many years, and that he dreams of winning the World Cup title with Poland. Ppd I rank León as the best volleyball player in the world.

In addition, Poland has the best and deepest squad in the World Cup. We got a clear sign of that in this year's VNL, where Poland fielded a B-type team in the first rounds, but still won the group stage by a good margin. In the main round, Poland brought León into the match squad and he showed his class, and was a decisive contributor to Poland taking the VNL title in 2025. Those who followed could secure a bet on Poland winning the VNL at odds of 4.00.

MVP in the World Cup

If Poland wins this year's World Cup in the Philippines, I'm almost certain that Wilfredo León will be named MVP. León is considered by many to be the best volleyball player in the world – and there are several good reasons for that. With his 201 cm and enormous agility, he has a reach of 370 cm. This allows him to attack from almost anywhere on the court and very often beat the block. In addition, he has a world-class serve, which is both extremely hard and feared by opponents. Therefore, I'm taking a bet on Leon being named MVP at 6 at odds of 1 units.

Best points picker in the World Cup

This is a long odds bet on who will pick up the most points in the World Cup. With odds of 27.0 on György Grozer from Germany as the top scorer, it will be very interesting to follow throughout the World Cup.

Why? Germany is in the toughest group, and I predict that they will play many close matches with several sets from the first match. That gives Grozer more opportunities to score points. In addition, he is Germany's best point picker, and therefore I take 1 unit that György Grozer will end up as the World Cup's top scorer.

Betting World Cup Philippines 2025

Volleyball World Cup 28.09.2025: Poland wins the World Cup in the Philippines (3.65)

Alternative bets:
World Cup 28.09.2025: Cuba wins Group D (2.10) 1 units
World Cup 28.09.2025: Germany wins Group E (3.10) 1 units
World Cup 28.09.2025: Wilfredo León MVP (6.00) 1 units
World Cup 28.09.2025 György Grozer World Cup top scorer (27) 1 units

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