Italy’s full men’s Olympic squad back on 2025 roster

Ferdinando De Giorgi, the head coach of the Italian men’s national volleyball team, announced a list of 30 players he will count on for the upcoming Volleyball Nations League 2025. All 13 athletes, who were on De Giorgi’s squad at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, are back on the roster for the new season.

“The preparatory work is proceeding very well. The SuperLega championship that is coming to an end was interesting and there were some confirmations that I was waiting for,” Di Giorgi said upon presenting the list. “We as a senior national team must give important messages and make the most of courageous young people, also stimulating them through call-ups. When I arrived, I truly believed in the youngest, calling them up for the European Championship in 2021 and for the World Championship in 2022. I did this because in Italy there are truly ready and valid young people, they just need confidence and they have to play. At that historic moment there were many young athletes who were just waiting for someone who believed in them. The boys immediately felt this trust.”

After finishing fifth in VNL and fourth in Paris last year, Italy are currently the number five team in the men’s FIVB Volleyball World Ranking. Their new season will officially start with a VNL game against Bulgaria on June 11 in Quebec. During that first week of VNL action in Canada, Italy will also meet Germany, reigning VNL and Olympic champions France, and Argentina. In week two, they will have a difficult trip to Chicago with matches against Poland, China, Brazil and hosts USA from June 25 to 29. During the last week of the Preliminary Phase, from July 16 to 20, Italy will face Serbia, Ukraine, hosts Slovenia and the Netherlands in Ljubljana. The VNL Finals in Ningbo Beilun, China are set to take place from July 30 to August 3.

“For the VNL I made choices that confirm some cornerstones of this team,” Di Giorgi commented. “Giannelli, for example, granted me his availability to come immediately for the VNL, despite the long season played. This is something very important for me. I will dose the players during the three weeks of VNL, also based on the workloads they have had at their clubs.”

At the end of the season, Italy are set to defend their 2022 title at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the Philippines. In the pool stage of the competition, they will play against Algeria on September 14, against Belgium on September 16, and against Ukraine on September 18.

“This year we will play the World Championship and we will arrive there as champions. There will certainly be pressure on us, but as always we take all this as another challenge to confirm ourselves and enter the dimension of an excellent team,” Di Giorgi added.

Italy men’s national team full roster (subject to eligibility check to be conducted by the FIVB):

Setters: Mattia Boninfante, Paolo Porro, Riccardo Sbertoli, Simone Giannelli
Opposites: Alessandro Bovolenta, Fabrizio Gironi, Giulio Pinali, Kamil Rychilicki, Yuri Romano
Оutside hitters: Alessandro Michieletto, Daniele Lavia, Davide Gardini, Francesco Recine, Francesco Sani, Luca Porro, Mattia Bottolo, Tim Held
Middle blockers: Federico Crosato, Francesco Comparoni, Gianluca Galassi, Giovanni Gargiulo, Giovanni Sanguinetti, Lorenzo Cortesia, Riccardo Caneschi, Roberto Russo, Simone Anzani
Liberos: Domenico Pace, Fabio Balaso, Gabriele Laurenzano, Marco Gaggini

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