Italy’s men’s national volleyball team claimed their second consecutive World Championship title, defeating Bulgaria 3–1 in the 2025 final held in the Philippines.
In the opening set, Italy pulled ahead thanks to a strong serving run by outside hitter Mattia Bottolo, including an ace (13:14 – 17:14). Opposite Yuri Romano kept the momentum with 7 kills on 9 swings. In the second set, Romano himself stepped up to serve and fired five consecutive aces (18:16 – 23:16). Bulgaria responded in the third set with aggressive serving, while Aleksandar Nikolov was unstoppable in attack, scoring 7 points.
The hero of the fourth set was Bottolo, who delivered 9 points, including three aces.
Aleks Nikolov finished as the top scorer of the final with 23 points at 58% efficiency (21/36). Romano scored 22 points with a remarkable 70% success rate (16/23).
Italy has now won the World Championship for the fifth time (1990, 1994, 1998, 2022, 2025) and the second time in a row. Bulgaria equalled their best result, taking silver for the second time (1970, 2025).
Double world champions: Simone Giannelli, Alessandro Michieletto, Yuri Romano, Simone Anzani, Roberto Russo, Fabio Balaso, Riccardo Sbertoli, Mattia Bottolo, Gianluca Galassi under coach Ferdinando De Giorgi.
First-time gold medalists: Luca Porro, Francesco Sani, Kamil Rychlicki, Giovanni Gargiulo, Domenico Pace.
2025 World Championship – Final
Sunday, September 28
🇧🇬 Bulgaria – Italy 🇮🇹 – 1:3 (21:25, 17:25, 25:17, 10:25)
Top scorers: Nikolov (23), Atanasov (11), Asparuhov (5) – Romano (22), Bottolo (18), Michieletto (11)
