Tunisia Advances to Eighthfinals After Dominant Victory Over Egypt

Tunisia has successfully secured a spot in the eighthfinals of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the Philippines, following a commanding straight-sets victory over North African rivals Egypt. This critical win in a Pool A showdown held in Pasay City saw the Tunisian team top their group with a 2-1 win-loss record, accumulating 6 points and an impressive 7-3 set ratio. Their next challenge will be against the runners-up from Pool H, which could be Czechia, Brazil, or Serbia.

In a resounding 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-22) triumph, Tunisia demonstrated superior performance across all scoring metrics. The decisive winning point came from a powerful block by 21-year-old middle blocker Mahdi Ben Tahar. This significant result propelled Tunisia seven places up the FIVB World Ranking to 33rd, while Egypt experienced a six-position drop to 28th.

Outstanding contributions came from 22-year-old outside hitter Oussama Ben Romdhane, who recorded 14 points, including four aces and two kill blocks. He shared the top scorer honors with his teammate Elyes Karamosli, who also contributed 14 points, all from spikes. Opposite Ali Bongui was a close second with 13 points, achieving an impressive 67% success rate in spiking and adding an ace.

Tunisia`s dominance was evident in their superior statistics, outscoring Egypt 42-32 in spike kills, 7-4 in kill blocks, and 5-3 in service aces. They also maintained better discipline, committing fewer unforced errors (20-21) than their opponents. Egypt`s scoring efforts were primarily led by opposite Seif Abed with 12 points and outside hitter Ahmed Shafik with 10.

“We are very happy, because from the start of the World Championship, we knew we had to win this match against Egypt, which is also an African derby, to qualify for the next round,” Ben Romdhane said. “I want to thank all my teammates. There are many young players and it was their first World Championship, so I also want to thank them and all the staff, as well as all the fans here.”

The final eighthfinal slot from Pool A is yet to be decided and will be contested later on Thursday between host nation Philippines and Iran at 17:30 local time (09:30 UTC).