Three teams who have received assistance from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program achieved a clean sweep of the medals at the first AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup. The tournament took place at the Isa bin Rashid hall in Manama, Bahrain. Hosts Bahrain secured the title, becoming the inaugural champions of this event and the fifth unique winner across the five total editions of the competition (which was previously known as the AVC Men’s Challenge Cup). Their previous best finish was second place in 2023. This victory also qualifies Bahrain for the 2026 Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship. In the final match on Tuesday, Bahrain defeated Pakistan, who finished as silver medalists for the second consecutive year. Qatar, the champions from the previous year, earned the bronze medal.
The Bahrain Volleyball Association has received USD 210,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their men’s national teams, currently guided by French coach Arnaud Josserand. The Pakistan Volleyball Federation has been allocated a total of USD 290,500 from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment for coach support for their men`s national teams, now training under Iranian coach Rahman Mohammadirad. Additionally, FIVB Volleyball Empowerment provided Pakistan with USD 11,500 worth of volleyball equipment and USD 6,000 for a national team coaches development knowledge transfer program. The Qatar Volleyball Association also received USD 210,000 in coach support for their men`s national team through FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, working with Argentinean coach Camilo Soto. Qatar also benefitted from USD 18,000 for national team coaches development programs and USD 11,500 for volleyball equipment.
Bahrain had an undefeated run at the AVC Nations Cup, winning all five of their matches. They topped Pool A with wins over Thailand (four sets) and Indonesia (three sets), followed by a dominant three-set victory against Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinal. Their toughest match was the semifinal against Korea, which they won narrowly in five sets (25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 15-13). In the gold medal match on Tuesday, the home side came back after losing the first set to defeat Pakistan 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-18) and claim the historic championship.
Pakistan`s journey to the final included Pool C victories against the Philippines (four sets) and Chinese Taipei (five sets), along with a 3-1 win over Indonesia in the quarterfinal. In a repeat of last year`s AVC Challenge Cup final, they got revenge on defending champions Qatar by sweeping them 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-21) in the semifinals.
Qatar finished first in the two-team Pool B after a three-set win over Australia. They advanced through a tough five-set quarterfinal match against Vietnam. After their semifinal loss to Pakistan, they secured third place by sweeping Korea 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-23) in the bronze medal match.
The teams ranked from fifth to eleventh in the final AVC Nations Cup standings were Australia, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and New Zealand, in that specific order.
Bahrain`s 30-year-old outside hitter, Mohamed Abdulla Yaqoob, was named the tournament`s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and included in the Dream Team. The Dream Team also featured setter Mahmood Alafyah (Bahrain), opposite Ali Khamis Ebrahim (Bahrain), outside hitter Murad Jehan (Pakistan), middle blockers Musawer Khan (Pakistan) and Belal Nabel Abunabot (Qatar), and libero Ayman Haroon (Bahrain).
AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup 2025: results, statistics and standings
Oliver Wrenwick 
Finley Blackwood