Italy continue to dominate and claim the world title

Rome: Italy crowned their country’s women’s national team’s golden generation with another major victory in international volleyball, triumphing in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship in Thailand, on Sunday.

The FIVB World Ranking leaders added yet another trophy to their cabinet by prevailing over continental rivals Türkiye 3-2 (25-23, 13-25, 26-24, 19-25, 15-8) in the final held at the Huamark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok to return to the top of the podium in the tournament after 23 years.

The victory in Thailand gave Italy their fourth major international title in just over a year, following their victories at the Volleyball Nations League and the Paris Olympics in 2024 and their repeat as VNL champions just over a month ago. Now undefeated in the 35 matches they played in the last 15 months, the Italians are the first women’s national team to simultaneously hold the Olympic and the world titles since Cuba did it in 2002.

This was their second title and their fourth World Championship medal. The Italians won the tournament for the first time back in 2002 and have now made three consecutive podium appearances after taking silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022.

“This victory is very emotional for us,” head coach Julio Velasco reflected. “After winning the World Championship, the Olympics, and two VNLs, I believe this team will be remembered as a legendary one in the future, like a few others. I’m very proud of them. They won two very difficult matches over the last two days, and they do their best every single day in practice and really deserve everything they’ve achieved.”

Star opposite Paola Egonu bounced back after a somewhat inconsistent performance to her standards against Brazil in the semifinals and led the Italians to the title with 22 points (18 kills, three blocks, one ace).

“I still can’t believe it,” Egonu said after the gold medal match. “I’m really proud of the team and incredibly happy. This is a moment I’ll never forget. It’s probably the last time for some of our players, too, and my heart is full now.”

Outside hitter Myriam Sylla was also impressive, contributing 19 points (14 kills, four blocks, one ace), while Ekaterina Antropova again made a difference off the bench, producing 14 (12 kills, two blocks), many of which in key moments.

The final’s top scorer was Turkish star opposite Melissa Vargas, who tallied an incredible 33 points, with 28 kills, four aces and one block. Captain Eda Erdem also played a very solid match, contributing 19 points, with 15 kills, three blocks and one ace.

Interestingly, blocking was the only area of the game in which the Italians overcame the Turkish, outscoring them by 14 points to ten. Türkiye had the edge in kills (68 to 59) and aces (seven to five), and each team gave up 20 points in errors to their opponents.

Earlier on Sunday, Brazil topped Japan 3-2 (25-12, 25-17, 19-25, 27-29, 18-16) to finish third and claim the last spot on the podium in the 20th edition of the tournament.