Norway and the Netherlands have successfully claimed the initial semifinal positions in the men’s division of the 2025 CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Finals. Both nations are now just two victories away from clinching the coveted championship title in Espinho.
Norway advanced through pool play with an unblemished record of six consecutive victories.
Friday marked the conclusion of the men`s pool play stage at Praia da Baía, where both the Norwegian and Dutch teams impressively finished at the top of their respective pools. This outstanding performance guaranteed them direct advancement to the semifinals. Meanwhile, four other countries, having secured second and third places in their pools, remain in the competition and are set to compete in Saturday`s quarterfinals.
The quarterfinal matchups will see Spain facing Portugal, and Austria going head-to-head with Lithuania. The winners of these crucial matches will then progress to play against Norway and the Netherlands in Sunday’s semifinals. The ultimate showdown for the gold medal is also scheduled for Sunday, promising an exciting climax to the tournament.
Norway`s Dominant Campaign
Building on their two strong victories against Austria on Thursday, the Norwegian teams continued their exceptional performance on Friday, adding four more wins to decisively top Pool B. Their first opponents were Denmark; in that encounter, Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen triumphed over Nicolai Hovmann and Christian Andersen in a tight 2-1 battle (21-19, 23-25, 15-11). Following this, Anders Mol and Christian Sørum delivered a convincing straight-sets victory (21-13, 21-10) against Mads Møllgaard and Kristoffer Abell.
A few hours later, the “Beach Volley Vikings” faced the host nation, Portugal. They once again secured a pair of victories, solidifying their leading position in the pool. Hendrik Mol and Berntsen initiated the wins with a two-set conquest (21-15, 21-11) over brothers Gonçalo and Tomas Sousa. Anders Mol and Sørum then sealed Norway`s perfect pool record by also winning in straight sets (25-23, 21-16) against Hugo Campos and João Pedrosa.
Norway concluded Pool B in first place with an impressive 12 points, followed by Austria with nine, Portugal with eight, and Denmark with seven points.
Netherlands Completes Unblemished Pool Play
In Pool A, the Netherlands mirrored Norway`s success, completing their flawless pool campaign with significant victories over duos from defending champions France on Friday. These wins came after their earlier triumphs against teams from Lithuania and Spain on Thursday, which marked the inaugural day of matches in Espinho.
Olympic medalist Alexander Brouwer, alongside his partner Steve van de Velde, delivered a dominant performance against Kéran Duval and Calvin Aye, defeating them in two sets (21-14, 21-8) in the opening match of their duel. Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot then completed the day`s sweep by overcoming Téo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat in straight sets (23-21, 21-16).
With a total of 12 points accumulated, the Dutch team secured the top spot in their pool. Spain finished second with nine points, Lithuania advanced in third place with eight, while France was eliminated with seven points.
The Beach Nations Cup, introduced to the European beach volleyball calendar in 2022, is an exciting “country versus country” team competition, drawing conceptual similarities to the popular Davis Cup format in tennis.
Jasper Thornfield 
Finley Blackwood