site.btaUPDATED Bulgaria Reaches Volleyball World Championship Final
Bulgaria’s national men’s volleyball team reached the final of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the Philippines on Saturday, defeating Czechia 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22) in the semifinals. This marks Bulgaria’s second-ever World Championship final, following the appearance in the 1970 World Championship final, when they hosted the tournament and claimed silver against East Germany.
Bulgaria once again started with its usual line-up: Simeon Nikolov, Aleks Grozdanov, Aleksandar Nikolov, Asparuh Asparuhov, Iliya Petkov, Martin Atanasov, and libero Damyan Kolev. During the match, Preslav Petkov came in as a substitute.
The Bulgarians started strongly, with key points from captain Aleks Grozdanov and Aleksandar Nikolov, taking the opening set 25-20. Czechia responded in the second, capitalizing on service pressure and blocking to edge a 25-23 win. Bulgaria regained control in the third, building momentum through solid defence and strong attacking from Aleksandar Nikolov and Martin Atanasov to secure it 25-21. In the fourth set, decisive plays from Nikolov and a block by Preslav Petkov carried Bulgaria over the line at 25-22.
Team leader Aleksandar Nikolov delivered an outstanding 31 points (27 attacks, 3 aces, 1 block), supported by Grozdanov with 12 points and Asparuh Asparuhov with 10. Czechia’s top scorer Lukas Vasina managed 17 points.
Statistically, Bulgaria dominated in most elements: 65-49 in attack points, 12-7 in blocks, and 8-4 in aces. Only in errors did the Bulgarians trail slightly, with 28 to their opponent’s 22.
In a post-match court interview, Bulgarian outside hitter and team leader - currently the tournament’s top scorer with 150 points - Aleksandar Nikolov said: “I cannot believe it. Thank you. Tomorrow we are going to try to colour the medal in gold”.
With the victory over Czechia, Bulgaria secured its first World Championship medal in nearly 20 years, following the bronze earned in Japan in 2006.
In the World Championship final, Bulgaria will face reigning world champion Italy who beat Poland 3:0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-23) later on Saturday.
Bulgaria's aiming at a spot in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, US. The host nation will join the five champions of the Continental Championships in 2026, the top three teams of the World Championships 2027 not yet qualified, and the three highest-ranked teams not yet qualified according to the world ranking taken after the preliminary phase of the Volleyball Nations League 2028.
The Bulgarian national team started 2025 at the 19th place of the global ranking. In May 2024, Gianlorenzo Blengini was appointed head coach and led by the Nikolov brothers (21-year-old Aleksandar and 18-year-old Simeon) the team climbed to No. 9 in the world.
/KK/
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