Italy shuts out world no. 1 Poland, sets up FIVB Worlds finals vs. Bulgaria

Italy continued to be Poland’s kryptonite on the world stage, pulling off a 25-21, 25-22, 25-23 win in the 2025 FIVB Men’s World Championship semifinals on Saturday at the MOA Arena.

The Italians, who won the previous edition’s title by defeating Poland, thus punched their way back to the finals, where they will take on a youthful and surging Bulgarian side led by brothers Alex and Moni Nikolov.

Lefty opposite hitter Yuri Romano led the way with 15 points, anchored by 12 attacks, two blocks, and one ace, while Alessandro Michieletto contributed 12 markers to keep their title defense bid alive.

Before claiming the sweep victory, Italy once found itself down early in the third set, with Wilfredo Leon denying Romano at the opposite side to bring Poland to a 7-3 lead.

Jakub Kochanowski even extended Poland’s cushion to 14-9 off his own kill.

But Italy slowly closed the gap and tied it up at 18-all, thanks to a service ace from Michieletto that fueled the closing run for the world No. 2 team.

A costly Poland error capped off a long rally, giving Italy a crucial 23-21 lead before Michieletto soared for the last two points to send Italy to the championship round.

Poland, meanwhile, will hope to salvage a podium finish as it takes on Czechia in the battle for third place on Sunday.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News