Alas Pilipinas stuns Egypt for historic first-ever FIVB Men's World Championship win

Alas Pilipinas Men etched their names in the history books with a thrilling 29-27, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21 upset over Egypt in the 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The win marked the country’s maiden win in the history of FIVB World Championship.

The Philippines banked on Bryan Bagunas and Leo Ordiales to rebound from a straight-sets loss to Tunisia last Friday and improve to 1-1 in Pool A while African champion Egypt fell to a similar card.

Bagunas continued his all-around brilliance, dropping 25 points anchored on 23 attacks and two blocks together with six digs and three receptions while Ordiales atoned for his two-point outing last game after posting 21 markers this time around. 

Marck Espejo chipped in 13 markers, highlighted by the game-winning block on Elhossiny Eissa in the fourth set that sealed it for the Philippines. 

"For me, sobrang proud ako kasi hindi namin inaasahan na mananalo kami kasi underdogs kami. Ayun, siguro maganda naging performance ng lahat, ni Marck, ni Ordiales, at buong team," Bagunas said. 

"Sa tingin ko naging malaking bagay 'yung defense namin lalo na 'yung serve namin kaya siguro mas na-control namin 'yung game."

[For me, I'm so proud because we didn't expect to win because we're the underdogs. I guess we just had good performances from everyone, Marck, Ordiales, and the whole team... I think the big thing was our defense and especially our serve, which is why we were able to control the game.]

The Philippines was in control the entire game with Ordiales rising to the occasion, closing out both Set 1 and Set 3 with a service ace and a hammer from the right wing, respectively. 

The world no. 21 Egypt, though, rallied in Set 2 with Eissa and Deyo Omar joining forces to avoid giving the hosts a commanding 2-0 set lead. 

They continued to keep it close in the fourth set after 7-foot middle blocker Hamada Elhadded unleashed back-to-back rejections to tie things up at 12-all. 

But Alas' defense clicked in the endgame, punishing Eissa with a triple block before Ordiales converted two consecutive kills from the opposite side to build a crucial 20-17 cushion. 

Bagunas made it a 21-18 advantage as Ordiales took advantage of a free ball to send the Philippines to a four-point lead. Egypt then pulled to within two courtesy of two errors in a row from the Filipinos, 22-20. 

Bagunas destroyed the wall of Zyad Mohamed to bring the Philippines to the match point before Espejo linked up with the towering duo of Peng Taguibolos and Kim Malabunga to deny the last attack of Egypt and propel Alas to the victory. 

Alas now hopes to carry this momentum in their do-or-die match against Iran on Thursday, where the winner will advance to the Round of 16 alongside the winner between Tunisia and Egypt. 

—JMB, GMA Integrated News