Brazil start strong and sweep Greece in Chiang Mai

Pursuing their first FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship title, South American giants Brazil started their campaign in the 2025 edition of the tournament with a strong victory against Greece on Friday.

Playing at the Chiang Mai International Exhibition and Convention Centre, the Brazilians were in control from start to finish and dominated the Europeans to produce a 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-16) win in their first match in the tournament and get a head start in Pool C.

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Brazil, who have four silver medals (1994, 2006, 2010, 2022) in 17 World Championship appearances, had in captain Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimarães their leading scorer in the match with 18 points (16 kills, two aces), two more than fellow outside hitter Júlia Bergmann, who left the court with 15 kills and one block. Opposite Kisy Nascimento also got to double digits, registering ten points, with nine kills and one block.

“For sure, we were a little bit nervous before the first match, but we worked together and helped each other on the court,” Bergmann reflected. “I think that we have the team to win gold this time, and we’re excited to see how far we can go. I have a lot of confidence in my team and I hope we can get there.”

Greece, who played their first match in the tournament since 2002, had the match’s top scorer in 21-year-old opposite Mártha Anthoúli, who tallied 18 points, with 17 kills and one block.

“Coming into the match, we knew that Brazil were stronger than us and that they would press us with their serving, blocking and defense,” head coach Apostolos Oikonomou reacted. “And I think that, despite that, we still did pretty well in attack, especially Mártha, who was very good. I think that the keys going forward are working better on our blocking and defense, and having more players contributing offensively. We need to be hungry and be more competitive so we can win points and, hopefully, matches.”

Brazil dominated Greece in all accounts, outscoring the Europeans in kills (49 to 32), blocks (nine to six) and aces (three to zero), besides benefiting from more opponent errors (14 to 12).

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

Earlier on Friday, France defeated Puerto Rico 3-1 (25-22, 25-18, 21-25, 25-14) in the first match of the pool. The four teams will return to action on Sunday, with Greeks and Puerto Ricans facing off at 16:00 local time (9:00 GMT) and Brazilians and French meeting later, at 19:30 local time (12:30 GMT).

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