Women’s World Championship Pool Previews: Pool C

The most prestigious event in the international volleyball calendar in the 2025 season, the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship is set to enter a new era later this week, when the 20th edition of the tournament starts in Thailand.

This year’s tournament, which will be held across four cities – Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Phuket and Chiang Mai - from August 22 to September 7, will go down as the first in the new format, which will see the world title put in dispute every two years.

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

The event will also be the first to have an expanded field of 32 national teams, allowing more countries to participate in the sport’s main event and generating more opportunities for them to continue their development.

The 32 national teams were split into eight pools of four and will face each of their three opponents during pool play. The top two national teams in each pool will advance to the elimination rounds, which will feature the Round of 16, the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the medal matches.

Pool play will have as many as 48 matches held in the four host cities between August 22 and 27. For the elimination rounds, the competition moves entirely to Bangkok, which will host the Round of 16 from August 29 to September 1, the quarterfinals on September 3-4, the semifinals on September 6 and the medal matches on September 7.

It will be a historic edition of the World Championship and in the days leading up to the start of the tournament, we’ll preview each of the eight pools, giving you all the information you need to tune in on VBTV and enjoy the matches.

Pool C

Host City: Chiang Mai

Match Schedule

August 22 – Puerto Rico vs. France – 16:00 local time (9:00 GMT)
August 22 – Brazil vs. Greece – 19:30 local time (12:30 GMT)
August 24 – Puerto Rico vs. Greece – 16:00 local time (9:00 GMT)
August 24 – Brazil vs. France – 19:30 local time (12:30 GMT)
August 26 – France vs. Greece – 16:00 local time (9:00 GMT)
August 26 – Brazil vs. Puerto Rico – 19:30 local time (12:30 GMT)

Brazil

Brazil secured their spot in the World Championship with their victory in the 2023 South American Championship, which made them claim one of the three spots reserved for the continent in the event. The Brazilians are set to make their 18^th appearance in the tournament, having last missed it in 1967, and have won five medals – silver in 1994, 2006, 2010 and 2022 and bronze in 2014.

Coached by the legendary José ‘Zé Roberto’ Guimarães for over 20 years now, the South Americans appear in second place in the FIVB World Rankings. The team brings back eight players who were part of the squad that took silver in 2022 in setters Macris Carneiro and Roberta Ratzke, opposites Rosamaria Montibeller, Kisy Nascimento and Tainara Santos, outside hitter Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimarães and middle blockers Julia Kudiess and Lorena Viezel.

Puerto Rico

Qualified via the FIVB World Ranking, Puerto Rico are set to compete in a seventh-straight edition of the World Championship this year in Thailand. The Caribbean first took part in 1974 and then returned in 2002, accumulating seven appearances and having a 12^th-place finish in 2002 as their best result.

Ranked 18^th in the FIVB World Ranking, the Puerto Ricans had in 2024 the return of veteran head coach Juan Carlos Núñez, who qualified the team for the Rio 2016 Olympics and came back for his third stint. The experienced coach will rely on setter Natalia Valentín Anderson and libero Shara Venegas, two remaining players from their Olympic campaign nine years ago, to lead the Puerto Ricans against the best teams in the world in Thailand alongside middle blockers Neira Ortiz and Alba Hernández, opposite Decelise Champión and outside hitter Valeria Vázquez.

France

France captured one of the 15 spots available through the FIVB World Ranking pathway and are back to the World Championship after over 50 years. The Europeans made three appearances prior to this year’s, ranking seventh in the inaugural edition, in 1952, 12^th four years later and 20^th in their most recent participation in 1974.

Propelled by their participation at last year’s Paris Olympics, the French are moving their way up in the international volleyball scene and now appear in 15^th place in the FIVB World Ranking. Spanish head coach Cesar Hernández took the team over this season and has setter Nina Stojiljković, opposites Iman Ndiaye and Lucille Gicquel, outside hitter Héléna Cazaute, middle blocker Amandha Sylves and libero Juliette Gelin as some of their key players.

Greece

Greece earned the right to compete at the World Championship by taking the last of the 15 spots available in the tournament via the FIVB World Ranking. With that, they are set to compete in the tournament for just the second time in history, following an 11^th-place finish in 2002.

Ranked 30^th in the FIVB World Ranking, the Greek lost one of their top players right before the start of the tournament as outside hitter Anthí Vasilantonáki sustained a serious knee injury during a preparation match. Without her, second-year head coach Apostolos Oikonomou will rely on setter Lampriní Konstantinídou, opposite Mártha Anthoúli, outside hitter Ólga Strántzali and middle blocker Georgia Lamproúsi to push the team forward in Thailand.

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