Norway and the Netherlands have become the first nations to clinch spots in the men`s semifinals of the 2025 CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Finals. Held in Espinho, the tournament sees both teams just two victories shy of claiming the championship title.
Men`s pool play concluded on Friday at Praia da Baía, with Norway and the Netherlands dominating their respective pools to secure direct advancement to the semifinals. Four other nations, having finished second and third in their pools, remain in contention and are set to compete in Saturday`s quarterfinals. These matchups include Spain against Portugal, and Austria facing Lithuania. The victors of these quarterfinal clashes will proceed to challenge Norway and the Netherlands in Sunday`s semifinals. The tournament`s grand finale, the gold medal match, is also scheduled for Sunday.
Norway`s Flawless Pool B Performance
Following their two victories against Austria on Thursday, the Norwegian teams maintained their excellent performance on Friday, adding four more wins to finish atop Pool B. The `Beach Volley Vikings` first encountered Denmark, where Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen narrowly defeated Nicolai Hovmann and Christian Andersen in a thrilling 2-1 match (21-19, 23-25, 15-11). Subsequently, Anders Mol and Christian Sørum delivered a dominant 2-0 sweep (21-13, 21-10) against Mads Møllgaard and Kristoffer Abell.
Later the same day, Norway faced the host nation, Portugal, securing another two victories to consolidate their leading position in the pool. Hendrik Mol and Berntsen initiated this success with a swift 2-0 win (21-15, 21-11) over brothers Gonçalo and Tomas Sousa. Anders Mol and Sørum then sealed the deal, overcoming Hugo Campos and João Pedrosa in straight sets (25-23, 21-16).
Norway concluded pool play with a perfect 12 points, followed by Austria (9 points), Portugal (8 points), and Denmark (7 points).
Dutch Dominate Pool A Campaign
In Pool A, the Netherlands wrapped up their impeccable pool play by defeating teams from the reigning champions, France, on Friday. The Dutch had already achieved victories against Lithuania and Spain on Thursday, the opening day of matches in Espinho.
Olympic medalist Alexander Brouwer and his partner Steve van de Velde began their Friday matches by besting Kéran Duval and Calvin Aye in a convincing 2-0 performance (21-14, 21-8). Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot then finalized the day with a decisive 2-0 sweep (23-21, 21-16) against Téo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat.
Amassing a maximum of 12 points, the Netherlands secured the top spot in Pool A. Spain finished second with nine points, Lithuania advanced in third place with eight points, while France was eliminated with seven points.
#BeachVolleyball
The Beach Nations Cup, an exciting “country vs. country” competition akin to tennis`s Davis Cup, was first introduced to the European beach volleyball calendar in 2022.
