Qatar finally broke through on the global stage, securing its first-ever FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship victory by toppling Romania, 20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-22, in the final Pool B match at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
Making only their second appearance at the Worlds, the Qatari spikers erased an early deficit to engineer a comeback fueled by Youssef Oughlaf’s potent offense and clutch plays from veterans Nikola Vasic and Mohamed Ibrahim.
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After dropping the opening set, Qatar shifted the momentum in the second. The team rallied from 20-22 down with a 5-1 finishing run capped by Vasic’s attack to level the match.
The third set proved just as tense, but a pivotal 4-0 surge, highlighted by an ace from Ibrahim, gave Qatar a 20-16 cushion en route to a 25-20 win.
Qatar set the tone early in the fourth set with a 4-0 start, forcing Romania to chase.
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Even when Romania closed in at 22-23 on a spike from Bela Bartha, Ribeiro Renan halted the comeback with a crucial kill. He later delivered the match-clinching point with a block on Cristian-Daniel Chitigoi.
“Alhamdulillah, finally. We are very happy. Second World [Championship]. The first one, we just won two sets. In this one, we were just winning one set only. And in the last game against a huge team that [is doing very well in the Golden League in Europe],” said Qatar coach Camilo Soto.
“It was very important. First, the victory. And second, the quality of the opponent. That’s very good… We are very happy [with the win].”
Qatar closes its 2025 campaign with a 1-2 record, leaving Romania winless at 0-3 in their first World Championship return since 1982.
