Games Saturday
(Mall of Asia Arena)
3:30 p.m. – Turkey vs Netherlands
8 p.m. – Poland vs Canada
Action is likely to intensify while dramatic scenes are set to multiply as Round of 16 hostilities at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship begin on Saturday, Sept. 20, with world No. 1 Poland clashes with Canada at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Match is at 8 p.m. with the Polish seeking to ride the momentum of a dominant show in group elims that saw them top Pool B unscathed in three games.
The Netherlands and Turkey collide in the 3:30 p.m. with both teams also aiming to eclipse their previous finish of 10th and 11th, respectively, in the 2022 edition.
But attention will be on Poland as the 2022 runner-up squad has only dropped one set so far in the tournament.
The troika of Bartosz Kurek, Wilfredo Leon and Tomasz Fornal are expected to fuel Poland after consistent showing in the group stage.
Canada, which finished second in Pool G with a 2-1 record, is unfazed with Sharone Vernon-Evans leading the charge.
Like Poland, Pool G top seed Turkey also hopes to carry its usual firepower in this crucial knockout stage with the duo of Ramazan Mandiraci and Adis Lagumdzija leading the charge.
It can be recalled that Turkey dealt crowd favorite Japan its first loss in the tournament, before the Japanese crashed out of contention with another loss to Canada.
The Netherlands, meanwhile, hopes to bounce back from a four-set loss to Poland in its last match of the group stage with Michiel Ahyi at the forefront of its assault
