Czechia shrugged off an early setback to dismantle Iran, 22-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-21, and advance to the semifinals of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Czechs continued to make history, securing their first-ever semifinal appearance since becoming an independent nation in 1992. Their previous best finish, excluding their time as part of Czechoslovakia, was 10th place in the 2010 edition.
After suffering a straight-sets loss to Brazil in their second pool play match, Czechia bounced back with three consecutive victories to book a spot in the Final Four.
The Central Europeans will now face the winner of the USA-Bulgaria quarterfinal later in the day.
“I still don’t understand what just happened. It will take some time for sure. I cannot find the words… Against Brazil it was [a tough loss] we lost by a lot and after that, it’s like fairytale,” said opposite Patrik Indra, still in disbelief that they had reached the semifinals.
“Historic moment for us. Our team for the moment has no limits. We take the games how they come, we prepare and we play together and this is the result,” said head coach Jiri Novak, whose squad entered the tournament ranked 21st but now stands among the last four nations remaining.
Facing a resilient Iran side that had battled through back-to-back five-set thrillers to reach the quarterfinals, Czechia ensured the match would not go the distance, closing it out in four sets.
Indra led the way with 22 points on 20-of-29 spikes, while Lukas Vasina added 21 points on 19-of-31 attacks. Antonin Klimes chipped in eight points, while both Jan Galabov and Adam Zajicek tallied seven apiece for the semifinalists.
Iran, the last Asian nation standing in the tournament, ended its campaign with pride, competing valiantly despite the absence of superstar Amin Esmaeilnezhad.
Poriya Hossein Khanzadeh and Ali Hajipour each delivered 18 points for Iran, while captain Morteza Sharifi was limited to 11 points.
#WATCH: Luboš Bartůněk highlights how their #MWCH2025 Top 4 finish is a huge win for Czech fans, rare outside of hockey 🇨🇿🏐#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/I0iduZxuMT
📹 @jonashdcd /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/yYYNys6BZI
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) September 25, 2025
