Japanese volleyball team aims for top 3 in the world, but returns home after 2 matches

A big shock has occurred at the 2025 Men's Volleyball World Championship, when the Japanese team was officially eliminated after only playing 2 matches.

Japan played extremely badly in this year's tournament - Photo: FIVB

Japan is the only Asian nation to be highly regarded in both men's and women's volleyball. Going into the World Men's Volleyball Championship, the "Samurai Warriors" were seeded number 6.

But then the shocks came one after another. In the opening match, Japan lost to Türkiye 0-3. Before the tournament, Türkiye (ranked 16th in the world) was 10 places below Japan in the rankings.

This is considered the first earthquake of this year's world tournament, because Japan has been in very good form in recent years and is considered a candidate for the championship of the tournament.

And then the earthquake continued to appear in the second match of Group G, when Japan faced Canada. Compared to Türkiye, Canada is rated higher as it is ranked 9th in the world.

And then the Japanese team played as badly as the first match. Their top stars, from Nishida, Ishikawa to Miyaura, all played below their ability.

Japan (white shirt) lost to Canada in the second match - Photo: FIVB

In many attacking situations, the Japanese players appeared hasty, often failing against the tall wall of their North American opponents.

Canada even scored 10 points directly from blocks in this match, and in the end they won absolutely with the score 25-20, 25-23, 25-22.

With this defeat, the Japanese men's volleyball team officially "packed their bags and went home", because both Türkiye and Canada had already won 2 matches. The final match between Japan and Libya only had the meaning of deciding the 3rd place in the rankings.

This is a big shock to the volleyball world because Japan has made strong progress in both men's and women's volleyball recently.

At the Women's Volleyball World Championship which ended 2 weeks ago, the Japanese girls played extremely well and finished 4th overall. They received a lot of support in Thailand - the host of the tournament.

The men's tournament was held in the Philippines - where fans also had a lot of sympathy for the Japanese team. But the "Samurai warriors" were a big disappointment.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bong-chuyen-nhat-ban-dat-muc-tieu-top-3-the-gioi-nhung-danh-2-tran-da-ve-nuoc-20250915141201965.htm