WC final volleyball 2025 28.09.2025

The World Volleyball Championship in the Philippines has been one surprise after another. And we have been given matches in a row where we have seen the most extreme ball exchanges and situations that you only see on the international stage. Now all that remains is the bronze medal final and the final itself. Unfortunately, my World Cup analysis is wrong with Poland (3.50) winning the World Cup in the semi-final between Poland and Italy 0-3. This means that we have Poland and the Czech Republic in the bronze medal final. In the final itself, we have one of the pre-favorites, Italy, while the other finalist team, Bulgaria, is a big surprise that has managed to make it all the way to the final.

In this analysis, I will look at the final between Bulgaria and Italy, where I will take a closer look at the teams' path to the final,

Bulgaria

Bulgaria has impressed since the first group match, where Germany was beaten 3-0 followed by a five-set match against Slovenia where Bulgaria eventually won 3-2. The last group match was an easy 3-0 win against Chill. In the round of 16, Bulgaria defeated Portugal 3-0. In the quarter-finals, they were down 0-2 against the USA, but managed to turn the game around after fantastic play from the brothers Aleksandar Nikołow (wing) and the rising star Simeon Nikolov (set-up).
The semi-final ended 3-1 to Bulgaria after an even match against the Czech Republic. The highlight of the match was Aleksandar Nikolov, who delivered an incredible 32 points and is by far the best point scorer in this year's World Cup. This gives us a historic final for Bulgaria, who for the first time gets a World Cup medal in volleyball.

Italy

In the group stage, Italy started with a comfortable 3-0 win against Algeria, but in the second group stage match, they suffered a surprising 2-3 loss against Belgium. Italy therefore had to win the last match against Ukraine to advance. And they did that quite easily with a convincing 3-0 win led by winger Alessandro Michieletto and setter Simone Giannelli. On their way to the knockout rounds, Italy beat Argentina 3-0 in the round of 16. Italy got their revenge against Belgium in the quarter-finals with an easy 3-0 win and in the semi-finals, they won 3-0 against Poland, who were odds-on favorites for the 2025 Volleyball World Championship. This puts Italy in the final and can defend their World Cup gold from 2022. 

Who can call themselves world volleyball champions in 2025?  

Bulgaria enters the final as a clear underdog against the big favorite Italy. The odds are 1.15 to win Italy, while Bulgaria offers a whopping 5.00 odds for those who believe in another sensation. However, I think we will have a more even match, and that Bulgaria will at least take a set in the final. Why? Because Bulgaria has nothing to lose in this match, and they have shown throughout the World Cup that they play with their hearts on the outside of their shirts. When they also have the Nikolov brothers in the form of their lives, they have proven that they can cause trouble for any team they face. Italy will probably have some fear for what awaits tomorrow, because Bulgaria is guaranteed to go all out and they will not give up until the last ball is played

Volleyball WC: Bulgaria - Italy: Bulgaria +2.5 handicap (1.64)