The 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship is the 21st staging of the FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship, contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). It is currently taking place in two cities of the Philippines from 12 to 28 September 2025, and the first edition under the two-year cycles in odd-numbered years with an expanded format featuring 32 teams.
The tournament is the first World Championship to be hosted in Southeast Asia, and the second of two consecutive World Championships in 2025 held in this region, following the Women's World Championship in Thailand. The Philippines became the second country in Asia to host the World Championship, following Japan. The competition is also the second world senior championship in Olympic team sports to be hosted in the Philippines.
Italy are the defending champions, having won their fourth title in 2022.
Background
Previously, the competition format was determined through agreements between the host country and the FIVB, resulting in varying and inconsistent formats. In March 2022, the FIVB Board of Administration approved the new proposed World Championship format.[3] To standardize, the proposed format started with a pool phase and then proceeded with a direct elimination phase. Additionally, they proposed increasing the number of teams from 24 to 32 to guarantee universality. The new format of the World Championship was confirmed in late 2022 and started with this edition.[4][5]
In May 2022, the FIVB revealed the television rights agreement for Polsat covering the competition events from 2022 to 2032, which included a new event to be held in 2025 and 2029.[6] Before that, Fabio Azevedo, now the FIVB president and a member of the Board of Administration, suggested that the World Championships be held in 2027 and subsequently every two years, while the Continental Championships would take place in 2026 and 2028, serving as qualifiers for the World Championships.[3] However, the proposed timeline was moved up after the FIVB announced the competition calendar for 2025 to 2028 in June 2023, shifting the World Championships to 2025 and using the 2023 Continental Championships as qualifiers for that event.[7][8]
Host selection
The bidding procedure to host the 2025 and 2027 FIVB World Championships began in August 2023. National federations had until 31 August 2023 to register interest.[9] Around 31 countries expressed interest to host the tournament.[10] This figure was reduced to three final candidates: Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.[11][12] On 20 March 2024, FIVB announced that the Philippines was selected to host the tournament.[13][14]
The host country Philippines qualified for the competition as well as the defending champions Italy. The top three teams from each of the 2023 Continental Championships secured qualification. The final 15 places belonged to top 15 teams as per FIVB World Ranking who had not yet qualified.[15]
dCompeted as Czechoslovakia from 1949 to 1990; 5 appearances as Czech Republic.
Format
The tournament is played in two rounds: a preliminary round (pool phase) and a final round (direct elimination phase). During the preliminary round, 32 qualified teams were divided into eight pools, labeled A through H, with four teams in each pool. In this phase, every team within a pool competed against the other three teams once. After the pool phase, the top two teams from each pool will advanced to the final round, creating a round of 16 teams. Simultaneously, the bottom two teams from each pool will be ranked from 17th to 32nd based on the Team Combined Ranking System.[16][17]
The final round follows a single-elimination format with the round of 16 match-ups determined by each team's pool and ranking position. The initial pairings—A1 versus H2, H1 versus A2, D1 versus E2, E1 versus D2, B1 versus G2, G1 versus B2, C1 versus F2, and F1 versus B2—ensured that teams from pools A, D, E, and H will not encounter with teams from pools B, C, F, and G until the final match. As the competition progresses, the round of 16 losers will be ranked from 9th to 16th according to the Team Combined Ranking System, while the winners will advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals followed a similar pattern, with losing teams will rank from 5th to 8th, and victorious teams will moving to the next stage of the competition. In the semifinals, the losers will compete for the third place, while the winners will face each other in the final match.[16][17]
Pools composition
The 32 teams were distributed to eight pools of four teams. The draw of lots took place at Solaire Hotel in Parañaque on 14 September 2024.[18][19][20] Rankings of teams are shown in brackets.
The host and the top seven teams are automatically seeded as the first teams of the eight pools.[21]
To establish the ranking of the teams after the preliminary round, the following criteria were implemented:
Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost)
In the event of a tie, the teams will be ranked by the most point gained per match as follows:
Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser
Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser
Match forfeited: 3 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser
If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, then the FIVB will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order:
Set quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all set won by the number of all sets lost.
Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the set quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets.
If the tie persists based on the point quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. When the tie in point quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.
Teams combined ranking system
To establish the final ranking of the teams, the following criteria were implemented:
Position of the team in the Pool (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th)
Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost)
In the event of a tie, the teams will be ranked by the most point gained per match as follows:
Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser
Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser
Match forfeited: 3 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser
If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, then the FIVB will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order:
Set quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all set won by the number of all sets lost.
Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the set quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets.
If the tie persists based on the point quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. When the tie in point quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.
After the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, the eliminated teams were ranked in the final standings according to the Teams Combined Ranking System, which takes into account all matches played during both the preliminary and final rounds.
The tournament will have two venues in two cities in Metro Manila.[a] Both the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay and the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City were the first two confirmed locations for the championship. There were possibilities for the finals to be held at the Mall of Asia Arena due to its capacity and the technical reasons. Other host cities would be confirmed later.[23][24] The former was confirmed to be the venue for the final round matches.[25]
Filipino indie band Ben&Ben was named as the official music partner in March 2025. The band's 2024 song "Triumph" was also used as the official song. In the same month, Philippines national team players Eya Laure and Bryan Bagunas were named ambassadors, followed by Philippine volleyball icon Alyssa Valdez who was added in June 2025.[35][36][37]
The host nation's battle cry, "Set Na Natin 'To", the official anthem "Electrify" by Karencitta, the introduction of the mascots "Koolog",[b] "Hataw",[c] and "Kid Lat",[d] and the championship trophy were all unveiled during the ceremony at the Mall of Asia Arena Music Hall, which took place one month prior to the competition.[38] The organizing committee also did the "Set Na Natin 'To Mascot and Trophy" tour in three cities: Cebu City, Laoag City, and Cagayan de Oro.[39][40][41]
On 12 September 2025, prior to the opening match between the Philippines and Tunisia, K-pop group BoyNextDoor performed as the headline act for the opening ceremony, serving as global celebrity ambassadors for the event.[42] The next day, the organizing committee announced that ticket prices was lowered as a gift to the fans and in commemoration of President Bongbong Marcos's birthday. The prices lowered by 30 percent became effective the following day.[43][44]
Concerns and controversies
Gambling platform sponsorship
The partnership of gambling platform 1xBet with the FIVB was scrutinized since 1xBet has no license to operate in the Philippines. It was clarified that the 1xBet only appears in Volleyball World for global subscribers of the FIVB streaming platform and the branding 1xBet does not appear on marketing materials or the actual venues.[45][46]
Volleyball World confirmed that the television feed of the tournament for broadcast of the Philippine broadcaster Cignal TV is free of virtual overlay and graphics promoting unlicensed and unauthorized gambling platforms.[47]
Ticket prices and attendance
The low attendance in games not involving the Philippines, Japan, and the United States has been noted. The perceived high ticket prices has been attributed to the attendance which was brought into attention by Senator Erwin Tulfo.[48][49][50]
The low attendance has been noted by the media arm of the Polish league PlusLiga.[48][51][52]
Alleged censorship
Senator Erwin Tulfo has condemned the alleged censorship of the journalist who reported on the high ticket pricing controversy.[53] John Mark Garcia of Sports Interactive Network Philippines (Spin.ph) had his media accreditation revoked for "negative reports".[54]
The National Press Club (NPC) condemned what it says the PNVF's attempts to censor media coverage of the 2025 FIVB Men's Championships alleging it has warned Rappler and other media outlets against publishing critical material about the event. The NPC also noted Suzara's prior libel charges against The Manila Times and Daily Tribune following the 2019 SEA Games which were dismissed.[55][56]Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick Gregorio made a successful request to the PNVF to reinstate Spin.ph's accreditation.[57]
^ abcFor promotional purposes the host city of the tournament is designated as "Manila". The two competition venues within Metro Manila are outside the City of Manila.[1]
^Koolog is a combination of the Filipino word "kulog" (which refers to thunder) and the idea of the mascot being energetic and dynamic.
^Hataw represents strength, speed, and dynamism—qualities that are central to the sport of volleyball, especially with the fast-paced spikes and powerful movements on the court.
^Kid Lat is a playful name that represents speed, agility, and power—similar to a lightning strike—qualities that are essential in volleyball, especially with the rapid movements and quick reflexes required during matches. The name emphasizes the fast-paced, electrifying nature of the sport, with a fun, youthful twist, as "Kid" suggests energy and enthusiasm.
Philippines
Italy
Japan
Iran
Qatar
Brazil
Argentina
Colombia
United States
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Canada
Cuba
Egypt
Algeria
Poland
Slovenia
France
Libya
Germany
Serbia
Netherlands
Ukraine
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Belgium
Turkey
Czech Republic
Bulgaria
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Portugal
Finland
Tunisia
China
Romania
Chile
South Korea
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