The Philippines loves underdogs and telenovela-like plot twists.
And in the 2025 FIVB Men's World Championship, boy did the tournament deliver on the shockers and stunners.
At one point, you'd just get numb of reading all the "upsets"... just in the group stage alone.
Let's look back at the stunners of the tournament, as well as the team's reflections on those results.
Wild start: Bulgaria's super extended 40-38 set win over Germany
The shockers started on September 13, as Aleksandar and Simeon Nikolov helped will Bulgaria in 43 minutes against Germany at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
That was just the first set, 40-38.
That turned into a straight-set win over Germany (40-38, 25-22, 25-20), and eventually, a sweep of Pool E for Bulgaria.
It was only the sign of things to come.
Belgium stuns Italy in five sets
For the last match of the day on September 16 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Belgium shook things up by outlasting Italy in five sets, 25-23, 25-20 22-25, 21-25, 15-13.
They went on to become undefeated in Pool F.
"We learned a big lesson that in this kind of competition: you cannot go down with the level of concentration and focus if you want to have the best chance," Belgium coach Emanuele Zanini told One Sports. "It doesn't matter who is the opponent, but [the] most important is to keep the concentration and the focus high."
For Ferre Reggers, who turned out to be the top scorer of the preliminary stage with 73 points, the victory gave them belief and confidence. After the pool phase, everything was just a plus.
"Everything we win from now on is a bonus," Reggers told reporters heading to the Round of 16. "We have nothing to lose, nobody expects us to win."
[ALSO READ: Ferre Reggers, Belgium have nothing to lose heading to FIVB World Championship knockouts]
That bonus round ended in the quarterfinals, as Italy got its revenge and swept Belgium.
Japan's early exit, dealt by Turkiye and Canada
Perhaps the most shocking for fans in the Philippines, crowd-favorite Japan suffered not just one but two straight-set losses, effectively eliminating them right in the pool stage.
The then-world No. 5 team absorbed a 25-19, 25-23, 25-19 defeat to Turkiye (now at no. 14)
Adis Lagumdzija admitted he didn't expect such a result at first.
"I mean, we played the first game against Japan, we had no trouble losing. We know what kind of team Japan is," he told reporters. "So, when we won against them, we said, 'okay, we can compete.' We knew that already, but this is confirmation, let's say."
"So now, we just, there is no team that can defeat us in our mind, so we just need to push and play," Lagumdzija declared. "We showed that we can compete with the best teams."
[ALSO READ: Adis Lagumdzija, Turkiye sweep Pool G of FIVB World Championship: 'We showed we can compete']
"This tournament has so much surprise. I hope we will be one of, until the end, one of this surprises," noted Turkiye coach Slobodan Kovac. "This is, I think, [is] good [for] volleyball because only in our sport, I understand, you have so much good teams. If you don't play every time 100%, I understand it start to be so difficult."
Kovac wanted to make a strong statement. And he got just that on his 58th birthday.
"I think our power before the [World] Championship is totally normal. We are nobody. Everybody speak like we play here and after the second round, we go home," he began.
"I try to explain to the players: We don't want to be normal. We have the quality to play high-level volleyball."
[ALSO READ: FIVB: Turkiye coach Slobodan Kovac makes statement win vs Japan on his birthday]
Turkiye, which finished 11th in 2022, would end their Philippine journey proudly in sixth place. They beat Netherlands in the Round of 16 (27-29, 25-23, 25-16, 25-19), and would only be stopped by world No. 1 Poland.
"We know it’s going to be really difficult to go to the semifinals because this is the World Championship. But we have nothing to lose," Lagumdzija noted after the Round of 16.
[ALSO READ: Adis Lagumdzija keeps ‘nothing to lose’ mindset as Turkiye advances to FIVB Worlds quarterfinals]
Meanwhile, Japan was dealt the definitive blow with another straight-set loss to Canada, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22.
They certainly had a lot of work to do, missing several key players in Manila.
[ALSO READ: Ran Takahashi, Yuki Ishikawa reflect on Japan straight-set loss to Turkiye]
"Maybe next game, for sure, we have to be tough. But we can grow up during the game, and we have to get up ourselves and grow up," Ran Takahashi told reporters after the match.
[ALSO READ: Ran Takahashi admits Japan dealing with ‘many issues’ after early exit in FIVB World Championship]
Wild ride in the pool stage #1: Portugal dislodges Cuba
In one of the many shocking endings of the pool phase, we take a look at Pool D.
World no. 23 Portugal dealt world no. 12 Cuba a blow with a four-set effort, 20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-19.
The second day of matches would see Cuba salvaging a win against the debuting Colombia, and Portugal losing to top seed USA. This meant Cuba and Portugal would enter the third round of pool matches with a 1-1 record.
A five-setter against Colombia ensured Portugal would enter the knockout stage after more than 20 years.
Wild ride in the pool stage #2: Bye, bye Brazil
Perhaps one of the greater upsets of the tournament was witnessing 2022 World Championship bronze medalist Brazil shut out of the knockout stage altogether.
Stunningly, Brazil was on top of Pool H in the first two rounds after beating China in four sets and sweeping Czechia.
That one-set loss to China, just one frame, would prove to cost Brazil everything.
On the third round of the pool stage, Serbia swept Brazil after nearly a decade.
That meant Serbia and Brazil were tied at 2-1 with six points each.
On the last day of the pool phase, Czechia also secured a 2-1 record by beating China.
Serbia takes the top spot with head-to-head results. Czechia edged out Brazil by virtue of set ratio--that one set loss to China.
From bronze medalist in 2022 to 17th place in 2025, it was the worst result in World Championship history for the Canarinhos.
Serbia eventually bowed to Iran in five sets at the Round of 16.
Meanwhile, Czechia went on to beat Tunisia and Iran before losing to Bulgaria in the semifinals.
On the final day, they lost to Poland for the bronze medal.
"All this championship is about small things," Czechia's Patrik Indra explained after reaching the semifinals. "You need to play all the time good, without big mistakes, that’s the most important. And after, you know, just to play a good quality game. That’s it."
For a country of ice hockey, a country of football, giving Czechia its best World Championship finish since 1986 and its first as an independent nation, is already huge for Indra.
"For sure it’s always a little bit easier to play like underdogs," Indra said. "We already made big success when we advanced from the group. And now we are just living our dreams."
[ALSO READ: Patrik Indra proud of Czechia’s historic FIVB MWCH run: ‘We’re living our dreams’]
Wild ride in the pool stage #3: Alas Pilipinas, Iran, and what could have been
It's the ultimate "what could have been."
Host Philippines, then at world no. 88, first delivered a shocker with a four-set victory over world no. 21 Egypt, 29-27, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21.
Leo Ordiales, who turned in a poor performance in the opener against Tunisia, fulfilled his promise to bounce back by getting not just the first point but the first set win as well for the Philippines.
"Masaya lang po kasi nakakatulong ako sa mga kuya ko sa loob ng court,” the NU Bulldog told One Sports. “Hindi lang nakabawi sa laro kundi nakuha pa ‘yung panalo."
[ALSO READ: Leo Ordiales delivers on bounce-back promise to help Alas Pilipinas score historic FIVB win]
Bryan Bagunas, who turned out to be the Philippines' top attacker in the tournament (and third in the pool phase overall), couldn't help but think of the future.
[ALSO READ: Bagunas, Retamar, Ybanez, Espejo of Alas among top individual performers in FIVB MWCH pool]
"Ito na siguro ‘yung simula na para mapakita namin na hindi lang kami hanggang SEA Games, hindi lang kami hanggang Asian Games," said Bagunas. "May ibubuga rin kami sa World Championship kagaya nga nito."
[ALSO READ: Bryan Bagunas thrilled to make history again, this time in FIVB Worlds: ‘Ito na siguro ang simula’]
The results of the second day meant all four teams in Pool A—Philippines, Tunisia, Iran, and Egypt—were tied at 1-1.
It was win or go home for all squads.
Tunisia took the first win with a sweep against Egypt.
The Philippines, meanwhile, took the higher-ranked Iran all the way to an extended fifth set.
For a few seconds, the host country celebrated what would have been the match-winning block... only to be overturned by a crucial net touch challenge.
Iran would go on to take the win, 21-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 22-20.
At its debut, the Philippines finished 19th out of 32 squads.
"I’m happy because we are the 16th team that [will] play for the World Championship. I’m not happy about how we played the game," Iran coach Roberto Piazza told the media. "Philippines played an amazing game. They deserve to be in the first 16 teams like us because two points cannot change the game."
[ALSO READ: FIVB | Piazza praises Alas after narrow Iran escape: 'They deserve to be in first 16 teams']
Iran went on to beat Serbia in the Round of 16 before falling to Czechia. But truly, the biggest test of their resolve was against the Philippines.
"In one moment, we lost everything, and for one check, now we are here, I can talk with you about the future. That one was the crucial point," he said.
The world No. 16 squad finished eighth, improving from 13th in 2022.
[ALSO READ: Roberto Piazza points to Alas Pilipinas clash as Iran's crucial turning point in FIVB Worlds run]
Wild ride in the pool stage #4: A group of five-setters, and nuit nuit to France
If Philippines-Iran was the heartbreaker in the final day of pool stage at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, the outcome of Argentina-France was the stunner at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Pool C started with a five-set banger, with Argentina pulling off the reverse sweep against Finland, 19-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-11.
Then, Finland went on for another match going the distance. But this time, they pulled the rug under reigning Olympic champion France, 25-19, 17-25, 29-27, 21-25, 15-9.
"We can compete and even win against the best teams in the world if we play good," Luka Marttila told reporters after that game.
Finland had a 2-1 record, but only six points. And they had to await the fate of Argentina-France.
They had to believe.
"For me, it tells that the level of the world has been... there's a lot of teams that can win [against] anybody. So that's something I think also for our young team, that it's very important that we believe, that we can play against the best teams in the world and be also able to win," Finland coach Olli Kunnari told One Sports.
[ALSO READ: Luka Marttila, coach Olli Kunnari bank on belief in Finland FIVB World Championship run]
And the final stunner in the final game of the pool phase, the Olympic gold medalists were sent packing by Argentina.
And yes, it was another five-setter: 28-26, 25-23, 21-25, 20-25, 15-12.
"It was not for us today because we faced a really good team of Argentina, which was mentally strong until the end,” said French setter Benjamin Toniutti. "There’s a lot of surprise. I think the volleyball world is super high level now."
[ALSO READ: FIVB MWCH: France skipper Benjamin Toniutti gracious in defeat after Olympic champs bow out]
"We don't want to join this club."
World no. 1 Poland was very much aware of those surprises and upsets in the pool stage, ensuring they were not part of it.
"We look only to at ourselves. I think this tournament showed already that surprises happen left and right," Bartosz Kurek told media the media after the pool stage. "Us being number one in the world ranking, whichever loss for us, I guess it's a surprise. So we didn't want to join this club."
And for the champions of the 2025 VNL, playing under pressure is nothing new.
"These guys are playing under pressure all the time. They wake up with the pressure. They are eating pressure morning, afternoon and lunch and dinner," Poland coach Nikola Grbic told One Sports.
"So, I don't pay particular attention to pressure because playing as a favorite is much more difficult than playing as an outsider... Being a favorite is always more difficult because everybody is expecting when you win. Well, you know what? Everybody knew that you will win. So, there is no satisfaction, right? But if you lose, wow, then the music stops."
But he has nothing but appreciation for the underdogs: "You don't have nothing to lose. And if you win against somebody like us, you will gain so many points in the ranking list. And you won against the best."
[ALSO READ: After upsets in FIVB MWCH, Poland wary of ‘surprises’: ‘We didn’t want to join this club’]
The tournament eventually took a toll on Poland, losing to Italy in the semifinals before bouncing back against Czechia to salvage a bronze medal.
"We're going to fight for our dream."
And here we are.
Bulgaria shocks USA in five sets and dominates Czechia to reach the finals.
It's a little surreal for volleyball great Vladimir Nikolov.
"This Championship was very strange because in the world today, there are five teams which are better than Bulgaria. I mean, five teams which are definitely better," he explained. "These teams are Italy, France, Poland, Brazil, and Japan, and three out of five teams are not here. So when this happened, when Brazil was eliminated, we started to dream."
[ALSO READ: Vladimir Nikolov beams with pride for Bulgaria's first FIVB MWCH Final in 55 years]
"First of all, we had a little bit of luck, nobody’s going to deny that. But I think the main thing was not giving up," young setter Moni Nikolov said after the match against the USA. "Being down in such a big game, and since they were outplaying us in the first two sets, it was very hard to stay in the game.”
[ALSO READ: Moni Nikolov learns from Micah Christenson, earns praise after FIVB Worlds duel]
And now, Bulgaria is in its first World Championship final after 55 years.
"We came here with not much expectation. But now we have a shot at playing the final, which is our dream. So we’re going to fight for our dream to the last point," said Aleksandar Nikolov.
Defending champions' second chance
Now, it's the challengers against the defending champions.
Mattia Bottolo knew they were absolutely lucky the loss to Belgium came at the early stage of the pool phase.
"We learned that you can lose against everyone and this changes the attitude you need to have on the court. You have to keep humble, keep thinking about how you can improve every match, every game, every detail. For us, this is the key to success," he said.
"At the beginning of the tournament, we had a conversation all together and we said we have to start again, thinking as we did in 2022 before the World Championship. You have to think of yourself as an outsider and not as a powerhouse,” Bottolo explained.
"The attention you put onto the court every match is the key to beat strong teams and even not to lose against the ones who don’t respect you."
[ALSO READ: Mattia Bottolo emphasizes Italy's 'outsider' mentality in hunt for back-to-back FIVB Worlds titles]
This Sunday, Bulgaria would be the young challengers, fighting for a dream--and that storybook, telenovela ending.
And this time, defending champions Italy must have the mentality of the underdog.
(With reports from Kiko Demigillo, Luisa Morales, Pao Ambat, Jan Ballesteros)
Katrina Alba is a sports journalist and producer, notably with SportsCenter Philippines before taking on her current role at One Sports.
She primarily writes about basketball and volleyball, with experience covering the SEA Games, Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. Outside of work, her hobbies include running, swimming, pickleball, yoga, arnis, and krav maga.