MANILA – Czechia (Czech Republic) pulled off a 25-19, 25-18, 25-23 victory over Tunisia on Tuesday night, Sept. 24, 2025, to secure a quarterfinals ticket in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Czechs rallied behind Patrick Indra, Jan Galabov and Lukas Vasina to wrest the upperhand at 20-19 after trailing 8-15 in the third set.
Tunisia tied the score at 21-all, but Czechia fought back to make it 24-22.
The Tunisians threatened at 23-24 on Ali Bongui’s attack, but Indra came up with another powerful spike to seal the win.
Indra finished with 14 points, while Galabov and Vasina added 13 each.
Czechia, back in the Last 8 after 39 years, will face Iran, which completed the cast of quarterfinalists with a nail-biting win over Serbia in Tuesday’s nightcap.
Bongui and Oussama Bon Romdhane scored 10 points apiece for Tunisia, which defeated host Philippines (25-13, 25-17, 25-23) in Pool A play.
The Czech Republic outplayed Tunisia across all scoring fronts -- 42-32 in spike kills, 8-4 in service aces, and 4-2 in kill blocks.
“I think we are currently writing Czech volleyball’s history. We can say that dreams come true. We made our pretty hard way to the quarterfinals, and we can be really proud of ourselves, but we are not finished yet. There are still more games ahead of us. I think we will continue to show the same performance,” Galabov told VBTV.
Meanwhile, Iran defended Asian pride in the Last 16, rallying twice to outlast Serbia, 23-35, 25-19, 24-26, 25-22, 15-9, and set up the quarterfinal clash against Czechia.
Iran’s sharper offense proved decisive, delivering 67 spike kills against Serbia’s 60. The Iranians also had a slight 5-4 edge in service aces, while Serbia committed more unforced errors (27) than Iran (24).
“The game was so tough, Serbia did a great job and pushed until the end, but we were here to win,” Iran captain Morteza Sharifi said. “I would like to thank all the players, because with their help I was able to show a good performance. We were together and believed that we could win this match.”
The hard-earned win was the second straight five-setter for the Iranians following their cardiac survival against Alas Pilipinas last week.
The defending Asian Games champion made it to the Last 8 after 11 years or since it finished sixth in the 2014 edition in Poland.
This will be Serbia’s second straight absence in the quarterfinals after finishing ninth in the previous World Championship three years ago. / PNA/XINHUA/RP2 SPORTS