Argentina claw back to beat Finland and produce the first reverse sweep of the Men's World Championship

The third day of matches of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship started with the first five-setter of the tournament, and Argentina were on the right side of it, coming back from a two-set deficit to overcome Finland and start their campaign in the Philippines with a positive result.

South Americans and Europeans featured in the most exciting match of the tournament so far, and after five intense sets, the Argentines came out on top 3-2 (19-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-11) at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on Sunday.

• Watch the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship on VBTV

With the result, both teams earned points in their tournament's debut, with Argentina collecting two and Finland getting one to generate the first movement in the Pool C standings. The best two teams in each pool will progress to the elimination rounds.

Pablo Kukartsev and Luciano Vicentín were the catalysts of the impressive Argentine comeback, with the hard-hitting opposite leading the team with 20 points (16 kills, three blocks, one ace) and the mercurial outside hitter adding another 19 (18 kills, one block).

"We struggled a lot in the first two sets, but that's kind of normal as this is the first match in the tournament," said setter Luciano De Cecco. "We tried very hard to win the match, and we put a lot of effort into it. There's a lot of weight in the first match of the World Championship, and I believe it makes a big impact on the team's campaign. A victory in the opening match can take you a long way, and we're happy that we got it."

Finland had a more balanced offense and saw four of their players leave the court after getting to double digits in scoring. Opposite Jonas Jokela led the way with a match-high 26, followed by outside hitter Luka Martilla (18) and middle blockers Petteri Tyynismaa (17) and Severi Savonsalmi (11).

"It was a great game," Martilla reacted. "I didn't think we played badly, they were just the better team at the end. We started very well, but couldn't finish. But today we saw we can compete with the best teams in the world."

Finland's 33 errors were too much for them to handle as they ended up dropping the match despite being more productive than their opponents in kills (66 to 57) and blocks (14 to 11) and firing the same three aces as the Argentines, who limited their errors to 22.

2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship: Match Schedule & Results

The first round of matches in Pool C will be completed later on Sunday in Quezon City, with two-time Olympic champions France meeting Korea at 18:00 local time (10:00 GMT).

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