Bulgaria cruise through Chile to top pool at Men’s Volleyball World Championship

Bulgaria stayed undefeated through the first stage of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the Philippines to top the final Pool E standings. On Wednesday in Quezon City, they mastered a dominant sweep of their last pool game against Chile and kept the South American opponents winless and ready to go home. In the eighthfinals, Bulgaria will play the Pool D runners-up, but will have to wait to find out whether it is going to be Portugal, Cuba or USA.

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

The Bulgarians put on a superb show on the court against Chile and hammered out a merciless 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-12) shutout, emphatically outplaying the opponents in attack by 44-23 in spike kills, in net defense by 9-1 in kill blocks and in serving by 7-1 in aces.

Bulgaria’s 21-year-old star outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov was once again the team’s leading scorer. A brilliant 83% success rate in offense and two aces brought him up to a match-high 17 points, which included the match winner at the end of set three. His cross-court teammate Martin Atanasov also showed great efficiency in attack. He spiked at an 80% success rate and put away three kill blocks and an ace to finish with 12 points. Opposite Asparuh Asparuhov reached the double digits with 10 points, including two aces and a block.

“It was a very nice game! I am so happy about the team, about how we approached it. After two great and difficult games against Slovenia and Germany, for such a young team as ours it was difficult to come out against Chile, also a good team, and stay focused. It was a great job for everybody,” Bulgaria’s middle blocker and captain Aleks Grozdanov told VBTV. “It’s amazing to be part of this team. I’m happy that the boys grew up so fast to such a high level. I am not sure who we can play against in the next round, but for me the most important is our game, on our side of the court, and to prepare for it as well as possible.”

Chile slightly outperformed Bulgaria in precision. They made 15 unforced errors against 16 from the Europeans. With seven points apiece, middle blocker Vicente Valenzuela and opposite Vicente Parraguirre were the team’s most prolific scorers of the match.

In the last match of the pool, Slovenia and Germany will lock horns in a direct duel for the second place and the second ticket to the eighthfinals. The game serves off at 21:00 local time (13:00 UTC) on Wednesday.

2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship: full schedule and results

Quick links:
2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter