MANILA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship on Wednesday, sweeping Canada to secure first place in Pool G.
Ranked 16th in the world, Türkiye stunned world No. 8 Canada with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 27-25) victory, climbing to 13th in the world rankings.
"Actually, this was our goal before we came here that we wanted to advance as the leader of the group, and we did it," said Türkiye middle blocker Marko Matic. "We are a young team with a big potential, and now with the new coach, we learned how to be disciplined, how to fight for every ball, how to stay in system."
World No. 1 Poland also finished pool play on top, edging the Netherlands 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-22) in Pool B. Poland registered 53 attack points to the Netherlands' 51, dominated from the service line with seven aces to four, and committed fewer errors.
"I think we needed this type of game before the more important period in the World Championship. For sure, it is good that we won the game. For sure, we still have space to improve. But we look forward to playing the next round," said Poland outside hitter Kamil Semeniuk.
Elsewhere, Bulgaria kept its unbeaten run alive by sweeping Chile 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-12), Portugal rallied from two sets down to defeat Colombia 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-11), the United States secured its spot in the last eight by eliminating Cuba with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-22, 23-25, 27-25) win, Japan swept Libya 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-12), Slovenia edged Germany 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 31-29, 25-22), while Qatar wrapped up pool play by defeating Romania 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-22). ■
