Four European national teams have successfully reached the knockout stage of the 2025 FIVB Women`s Volleyball Nations League, having secured positions within the top eight during the preliminary round, which concluded this past weekend.
The lineup of European contenders still in contention for the title includes the defending champions Italy, final round hosts Poland, current European champions Türkiye, and Germany. They will compete alongside non-European powerhouses Brazil, Japan, the People’s Republic of China, and the United States of America in the ultimate phase of the tournament.
Italy delivered an exceptional performance throughout the preliminary phase, achieving a perfect record of 12 wins from 12 matches and dropping only seven sets. This flawless run earned them the first seed, positioning them favorably to claim their third FIVB Women`s Volleyball Nations League trophy. Securing a third title would place the reigning Olympic champions level with the United States of America for the most gold medals in the competition`s history.
Following their initial eight victories in the first two weeks, Italy traveled to Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, where they added four more triumphs. Their matches there began with a dominant 3-0 win over Belgium, followed by another straight-sets victory, 3-0 against Serbia.
The most significant challenge came in a rematch of the CEV EuroVolley 2023 Women`s final against Türkiye. Italy took the first set comfortably at 25-19, but found themselves trailing after losing the subsequent two sets, 21-25 and 21-25.
Led by key contributions from Ekaterina Antropova (20 points), Paola Egonu (17 points), and Sarah Fahr (15 points), the star-studded Italian roster demonstrated resilience. They fought back to win the final two sets, 25-20 and 15-11, securing a hard-fought victory despite Türkiye`s star player, Melissa Vargas, registering a match-high 26 points.
Finishing their preliminary round schedule with a 3-0 sweep of the Netherlands, Italy solidified their first-place standing with a total of 33 points. This put them two points clear of Brazil, who finished second after suffering just one loss in the preliminary stage, ironically against Italy.
Japan secured the third position, while Poland, hosting the final round, finished in fourth place. Poland matched Japan`s nine wins and three losses but had a slightly lower set ratio, placing them just outside the top three.
During the final week of competition, Poland recorded wins against the Republic of Korea (3-1) and Bulgaria (3-0). However, losses to Brazil (1-3) and Japan (1-3) caused them to fall to fourth place, having spent a considerable time higher in the standings.
Türkiye`s performance included losses against Czechia (1-3) and Serbia (0-3), resulting in them finishing sixth in the standings. Conversely, Germany mounted a late surge, securing victories over Canada, Thailand, and the Dominican Republic. Despite a narrow 2-3 defeat against China, Germany managed to secure the seventh position in the preliminary round standings.
Following the conclusion of the preliminary round, the final standings were confirmed. France finished ninth, the Netherlands tenth, and Czechia eleventh. Bulgaria, Belgium, and Serbia ended up in 13th, 14th, and 15th place respectively.
The final phase of the 2025 FIVB Women`s Volleyball Nations League is scheduled to be held in Łódź, Poland, from July 23 to 26.
In the quarter-finals, a highly anticipated clash will feature the two most decorated teams in the competition`s history: Italy and the United States. Also in the upper half of the bracket, host nation Poland will face China.
The remaining two European qualifiers are in the lower half of the draw. Germany will go head-to-head with Brazil, while Türkiye will compete against Japan, with both matches setting the stage for potential medal contention.
