Day 12: Two more semifinalists coming up!

On Wednesday, Japan and Italy booked their spots in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship semifinals in Thailand. On Thursday, they will find out their opponents, as the other two quarterfinal battles unfold in Bangkok. The competition day in the Thai capital will get underway with a match between Brazil and France. Then, the United States and Turkiye will lock horns for the last remaining vacancy in the semis.

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

Quarterfinal 3: Brazil v France

Italy’s opponent in Saturday’s semifinals will emerge from the third quarterfinal fixture featuring the teams of Brazil and France and serving off at 17:00 local time (10:00 UTC) on Thursday.

This is the only quarterfinal match-up, in which both teams arose from the same pool and already met at Thailand 2025. In what proved to be the deciding match for the first place in Pool C, France shocked their opponents by winning the first two sets before Brazil could mount a sweeping comeback and win the match. The previous encounter between Brazil and France was also resolved after a five-set battle. In a Volleyball Nations League game in Japan on July 10, the South Americans came back from a set down twice before celebrating victory in the tie-breaker.

Mighty Brazil have never won the world title. Their World Championship medal count features four silvers, including one from the previous edition in 2022, and one bronze. They also took silver in this year’s VNL and currently stand second in the FIVB World Ranking. The South American giants went through Pool C of the ongoing World Championship undefeated, with straight-set sweeps of Greece and Puerto Rico, and a five-set reverse sweep of France. In the eighthfinals, Brazil defeated the Dominican Republic in four sets. Their scorers so far at the competition are led by iconic star outside hitter Gabriela Guimaraes (Gabi) with 53 points. Gabi is also among the best receivers of the tournament, while 22-year-old Julia Kudiess, with her 15 stuffs, is one of the most efficient blockers.

France are enjoying their fourth appearance at the World Championships and the first one in over half a century. They played at the inaugural edition back in 1952 and finished seventh, their best result in history to date, but back then it was an eight-team single round-robin tournament. So, this is the first time France will actually play in a World Championship quarterfinal. Currently, they are the world’s number 13 ranked team. In Pool C of the ongoing tournament, France started off with a four-set win over Puerto Rico. Then, they lost to Brazil in the tie-breaker. In their last pool game, France beat Greece in four sets to advance as pool runners-up. In the eighthfinals, France created the biggest surprise of the tournament so far by beating and knocking out Asian powerhouse China, also in four sets. Their outside hitter and captain Helena Cazaute was the best receiver of the World Championship through the end of the eighthfinal round. She is also France’s leading scorer with a total of 89 points and, if she dips into the double digits against Brazil, she will likely emerge as the best scorer and the best attacker of the tournament through the quarterfinal round. Meanwhile, opposite Iman Ndiaye is joint first among the competition’s best servers statistical ranking with 10 aces in the four matches played, while libero Juliette Gelin is among the best diggers of the tournament.

Quarterfinal 4: USA v Turkiye

The last World Championship 2025 semifinalist will emerge from the unpredictable quarterfinal duel between the USA and Turkiye, serving off at 20:30 local time (13:30 UTC). The winner of that match will take on Japan on Saturday.

USA put together a seven-game winning streak in the head-to-head series against Turkiye from 2021 to 2023, and that included a victory at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games as well as two wins at the 2022 World Championship (one of them in a three-set quarterfinal). Turkiye, however, celebrated in the next two encounters with the Americans – a four-set win in the VNL 2023 semifinals and a five-set victory in their most recent meeting, in VNL 2024.

The United States have medaled three times at the World Championships. After their bronze in 1990 and silver in 2002, they finally triumphed with the title in 2014. At the last edition in 2022, they finished in fourth place. Currently, they are the number six team in the FIVB World Ranking. USA qualified for the eighthfinals of the ongoing World Championship as the undefeated leader of Pool D. In the first stage of the tournament, they achieved four-set wins over Slovenia and Argentina and swept their last match against Czechia in straight sets. Then, they mastered a convincing shutout of Canada in the eighthfinals and progressed to last eight. Outside hitter Avery Skinner is USA’s best scorer so far with 56 points across the four matches played.

Turkiye are the reigning European champions, but they have never made it to a World Championship podium. In fact, their best result in the history of the World Championships was the sixth place they took in 2010. Currently, they occupy fifth place in the World Ranking. Turkiye are the only team at Thailand 2025 without even a single set dropped so far in the competition. In Pool E, they shut out Spain, Bulgaria and Canada to top the table, and in the first elimination round, they disposed of spirited rookies Slovenia, also in straight sets. Turkiye’s star opposite Melissa Vargas leads the team with as many as 70 points scored across the 12 sets played.

FIVB Women’s World Championship schedule for Thursday, September 4, 2025
17:00 local (10:00 UTC): Brazil v France
20:30 local (13:30 UTC): USA v Turkiye

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

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