The Iranian men`s volleyball team secured a dramatic five-set victory over the Philippines, earning their spot in the eighthfinals of the 2025 FIVB Men`s Volleyball World Championship. This epic match, held in Pasay City, ended in disappointment for the packed home crowd, as the Philippines squandered six match points.
Match Progression
The home team twice took a set lead, controlling the first and third sets. However, Iran managed to level the score twice, pushing the game to a decisive fifth set. In the tie-breaker, the Philippines recovered from a 6-10 deficit to reach match point first. Despite this, the higher-ranked Iranian team denied them as many as six opportunities to close out the match. Adding to the drama in Pasay City, just when everyone thought the sixth match point had converted to a 20-18 win and Filipino celebrations had begun, a successful net touch challenge by Iran reset the score. With the psychological advantage now on their side, the Iranians took control and triumphed with a 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 22-20) victory, sealed by a monster block from 22-year-old middle blocker Yousef Kazemi Poshtpari on their second match point.
Statistics and Key Players
In this tightly contested five-set saga, Iran slightly outperformed the Philippines in attack with 63-62 spike kills and in serving with 6-5 aces. Three players shared top scorer honors with 22 points each, two of whom were were Iranian. 21-year-old outside hitter Poriya Khanzadeh contributed 19 points in offense with a 66% success rate and served three aces. Opposite Ali Hajipour also delivered 19 attacking points at a 53% success rate, adding three kill blocks.
Iran`s Italian coach, Roberto Piazza, commented after the game: “When you are playing with fear, it is difficult to play, because you are not able to analyze the situation. This is what I felt in the third set and in some moments of the fourth set, and also during the tie-breaker, when we lost some really easy balls, just because we were afraid to play those balls. We do not have a lot of experience because we changed a lot from last season, but experience cannot just be the reason. Winning was really important and the only positive, because I know that we didn’t play at our level at this tournament until now.”
Philippines` Top Performers
Philippines` outside hitter and captain Bryan Bagunas also tallied 22 points, featuring 18 spikes at a 60% success rate, along with three blocks and an ace. 22-year-old opposite Leo Ordiales scored 19 points in offense with 66% success, finishing with 21 total points. Other key contributors included outside hitter Marck Jesus Espejo and middle blocker Kim Malabunga, who reached double digits with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Jasper Thornfield 
Oliver Wrenwick