September 16 ------ ALAS Pilipinas will be up against formidable Asian and African foes in Pool A of the 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship on home soil. The Philippines were drawn with 11-time African champion and world No. 24 Tunisia, reigning African champion and world #20 Egypt, and current Asian runner-up and world #15 Iran.
In what will be his biggest test yet in next year's global meet on home soil, Alas Pilipinas head coach Angiolino Frigoni gave a frank preview of a challenging but not as tough a group than the rest of the tournament's biggest-ever 32-team playing field. "For us, all teams are pretty difficult, but they are not difficult as Italy, as Poland, and everything. And by the way, I have only two words to say today. Big responsibility that we have in this championship, and big challenge for us," Frigoni said. "We are in this level. We want to be better. Physically, we are good. Mentally, we are good. But we need a little bit more to compete for the team."
Alas' Pool A will play at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay alongside unnamed pools which will split hosting rights with the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The former, as per AVC and PNVF president Ramon 'Tats' Suzara, will host the entirety of the knockout stage and Alas' opening-day showdown on Sep. 12.
Pool play set
The top two teams from each pool will advance to the knockout stage, with the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, battle for third and championship match to follow suit. Here's the rest of the World Championship pools drawn by FIVB ambassadors and volleyball legends in Thailand's Nootsara Tomkom, Netherlands' Nimir Abdel-Aziz and Slovenia's Tine Arnaut.
POOL A
Philippines (#64)
Iran (#15)
Egypt (#20)
Tunisia (#24)
POOL B
Poland (#1)
Netherlands (#13)
Qatar (#21)
Romania (#26)
POOL C
France (#2)
Argentina (#9)
Korea (#28)
Finland (#23)
POOL D
USA (#3)
Cuba (#12)
Portugal (#22)
Colombia (#45)
POOL E
Slovenia (#4)
Germany (#8)
Bulgaria (#19)
Chile (#27)
POOL F
Italy (#5)
Ukraine (#14)
Belgium (#16)
Algeria (#50)
POOL G
Japan (#6)
Canada (#11)
Türkiye (#17)
Libya (#44)
POOL H
Brazil (#7)
Serbia (#10)
Czechia (#18)
China (#25)
Source: spin.ph
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