Italy retained their global crown thanks to a 3-1 (25-21, 25-17, 17-25, 25-10) victory over Bulgaria at the FIVB world championship of 2025 FIVB in Manila, the Philippines, on Sunday (September 28).
In addition, for the first time since 1998, the Azzurri claimed back-to-back title victories to conquer their fifth global crown.
The pulsating final was on a knife edge during all three sets, with the Italians denying the Bulgarians their very first gold medal on the global showpiece.
The lead was between the sides during the first three set before Italy was at the front with an advantage of one point at 15-14.
Bulgaria remained at a striking distance, but the Italians managed to take on the challenge to complete the first set.
The defending champion again delivered a slow burn in the second set before they flowed away in the last phases and won the second with eight points.
Momentum waved back in favor of Bulgaria when they opened a two-point gap after a tit-for-tat resulted in a 9-9 stalemate.
Bulgaria scored five consecutive points for a major lead on 15-10, which turned out to be enough of a buffer to keep an Italian fightback.
The Azzurri bounced back with revenge in the fourth set.
They took an early lead, opened a six -point gap on the Bulgarians and completely dominated the rest of the final.
Italy finished in an emphatic style when they scored eight points on the trot to secure the global crown.
Yuri Romanò turned into a stunning display for the Italians and contributed 22 points to the victory on his side while the Bulgarian star Aleksandar Nikolov Was the top scorer with 23 points.
Previously, Poland conquered the bronze medal with a 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21) victory over the Czech Republic.
The world number two now has the full set of medals, which contributes to their three world titles and two silver medals from earlier editions.
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