Bulgaria shock Japan with three-set victory

Bulgaria’s first home match in the Volleyball Nations League 2025 was a massive success for the Europeans, who upset last year’s silver medalists Japan on Wednesday in Burgas.

Playing in front of a loud and passionate crowd, the Bulgarians built from a massive comeback at the end of the first set and were better in the key moments of the match to take the Japanese down with a 3-0 (27-25, 25-23, 25-19) victory in the last match of the day at the Arena Burgas.

• Watch the Volleyball Nations League on VBTV

The unexpected victory had big consequences in the FIVB World Rankings, with the Bulgarians adding 17.46 points to their total and moving three spots up from 17^th to 14^th and the Japanese dropping the same amount and going down from fourth to sixth.

The positive result also brought the teams closer in the VNL standings, as the Asians moved from second to fourth with nine points (three wins, two losses), while the Bulgarians went up to sixth, getting inside the qualification zone, with eight (three wins, two losses).

Fan favorite and star outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov carried the Bulgarians to victory with 17 points (14 wins, two blocks, one ace). Team captain and middle blocker Aleks Grozdanov added 12, one more than opposite Venislav Antov.

“It was a very, very special night,” Nikolov reacted. “It was an incredible game and an incredible atmosphere. We need all the wins we can get, and we’ll keep pushing. We count on the fans for the next days.”

On the Japanese side, outside hitter Masato Kai was the most productive player with 13 points (ten kills, two aces, one block), while opposite Kento Miyaura delivered 11, all in kills.

“Playing Bulgaria in their stadium was very difficult for us,” outside hitter Tatsunori Otsuka said. “We couldn’t play our game today, but we have another important match tomorrow and we’ll prepare to do better.”

France and Slovenia also win

The Bulgarian victory ended the first day of matches in Burgas, which also had defending champions France beating Ukraine 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-17) and Slovenia taking down Türkiye also 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-18).

VNL 2025 – Match Schedule & Results

Thursday’s schedule in the Bulgarian city will have two matches, with France and Japan meeting at 15:00 local time (12:00 GMT) and Türkiye and Ukraine playing later, at 18:30 (16:30 GMT).

Quick links:
Volleyball Nations League
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter