Bulgaria continue on a roll and beat Slovenia in Burgas

Two days after sweeping Japan, then the fourth-best team in the FIVB World Ranking, Bulgaria managed to upset another elite national team on Friday, taking down Slovenia in their second match in the second week of the Volleyball Nations League 2025.

Playing in front of their home fans in Burgas, the Bulgarians got the better of Slovenia, which ranked fourth in the world at the start of the match, coming back from a first-set loss to produce a 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-22) victory at the Arena Burgas.

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The triumph against a higher-ranked opponent earned the Bulgarians 14.63 FIVB World Ranking points, which helped them continue to move up, going from 15^th to 14^th. The Slovenians went in the opposite direction, going from fourth to fifth after the defeat.

The result also placed the Bulgarians, who have two victories in as many matches in Burgas and four in six VNL 2025 encounters, strongly in the mix for a spot in the Finals, elevating them to fifth place in the VNL standigs, with 11 points – the same amount as Slovenia, who are now sixth. The seven best teams in the Preliminary Phase and hosts China will compete in the Finals, which are going to be held in Ningbo, from July 30-August 3.

Star outside hitter Aleksandar Nikokov again played a major role in a Bulgarian victory in the VNL 2025, tallying 19 points (16 kills, two aces, one block) against the Slovenians. Making his first appearance in the tournament, opposite Dimitar Dimitrov also had a productive shift, adding 11 points (seven kills, four blocks).

“We got the best fans in the world,” Nikolov said about the support of the home fans. “Our game dropped a lot in the third set after we had a 12-3 lead, but we managed to come back. Only good teams can come back from this. We’re a good team and we’re here to win.”

On the Slovenian side, opposite Nik Mujanović led the way with 13 points (12 kills, one block), two more than outside hitter Rok Možič, who got his entire production in kills.

The other match of the day in Burgas had Ukraine taking Japan down 3-2 (24-26, 25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13). On Saturday, Slovenia will play France at 15:30 local time (12:30 GMT), while Bulgaria will meet Türkiye at 19:00 (16:00 GMT).

Iran beat Argentina in Belgrade

In Belgrade, the first match of the day had Iran dominating Argentina to produce a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22) victory, their second in as many matches in the Serbian capital.

The Asians now have ten points (three wins, three losses) and are ranked ninth in the VNL 2025. The defeat took the Argentineans down to 12^th place, with eight points (three wins, three losses).

Outside hitters Morteza Sharifi and Ali Haghparast were instrumental in the Iranian victory, with the former producing a team-high 14 points (13 kills, one block) and the latter adding 11, with eight kills, two aces and one block. Morteza left the match injured when the Iranians led 24-21 in the fourth set.

“We had a very good start to the match,” opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad reflected. “We couldn’t play at the same level after the first set, but at least we managed to win. I hope Morteza can come back soon because we need him very much.”

Argentina had two players who tallied more points than the Iranians, with opposite Pablo Kukartsev topping all scorers with 18 (16 kills, two blocks) and outside hitter Luciano Palonsky contributing 15 (13 kills, two aces).

VNL 2025 – Match Schedule & Results

Cuba and the Netherlands play in the other match of the day in Belgrade. Saturday’s schedule in the city has Germany playing Iran at 16:30 local time (14:30 GMT) and Serbia meeting Argentina at 20:00 (18:00 GMT).

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