Brazil`s national volleyball team has secured their spot in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) gold medal match, marking their first return to the final since 2022. They achieved this by overcoming Japan in a hard-fought semifinal, setting up a championship clash against Italy on Sunday.
In a thrilling semifinal showdown at the 2025 Volleyball Nations League in Łódź, Poland, Brazil triumphed over Japan, securing their return to the gold medal match for the first time since 2022. Facing the team that eliminated them in last year`s semifinals, Brazil emerged victorious with a decisive 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 19-25, 15-8) win, fueled by a dominant performance in the fifth set.
Brazil is now poised to challenge the reigning VNL and Olympic champions, Italy, in Sunday`s final, a repeat of their 2022 championship encounter. The gold medal match is scheduled for 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT). Earlier in the day, Japan will compete against Poland for the bronze medal at 16:00 (14:00 GMT).
Brazil`s victory was largely driven by the exceptional performance of their outside hitters. Captain Gabriela `Gabi` Guimarães was the top scorer with 25 points (24 kills, 1 block), closely followed by Julia Bergmann, who contributed 24 points (23 kills, 1 block).
“They demanded a lot from us, both physically and mentally,” Captain Gabi stated. “I`m incredibly proud of our team`s resilience and our ability to bounce back from a slow start. It wasn`t our peak performance, but we fought relentlessly, recovered from a challenging situation, and initiated the tie-breaker effectively despite a tough fourth-set loss.”
Looking ahead to the final, she added, “Italy played exceptionally well against Poland, but we`ve made significant strides throughout the VNL, and we`re confident in our ability to challenge them. We are determined to win our first VNL title.”
The middle blockers also played crucial roles in securing the win. VNL blocking leader Julia Kudiess contributed 13 points, including four blocks, while Diana Alecrim added 12 points, highlighted by five blocks.
For Japan, opposite Yukiko Wada led their scoring with 20 points (19 kills, 1 block), and star outside hitter and captain Mayu Ishikawa contributed 19 points (17 kills, 1 block, 1 ace). Japanese libero Manami Kojima expressed disappointment, saying, “We’re truly upset with this defeat. However, every match against Brazil provides valuable lessons that aid our team`s ongoing development. Now, our focus shifts to preparing for the bronze medal match and addressing areas for improvement.”
Brazil`s dominance at the net was a key factor, as they outscored Japan significantly in both kills (69-62) and blocks (14-9). Japan, however, had a slight edge in aces (3-2) and capitalized more on opponent errors (23-22).
Despite reaching three consecutive VNL gold medal matches from 2019 to 2022, Brazil has yet to claim their first tournament title. They will have another opportunity to achieve this on Sunday against Italy, who are two-time champions.
Jasper Thornfield 
Oliver Wrenwick