Philippine athletes celebrate victory - Photo: FIVB
Despite being the host of the 2025 World Championship, the Philippine men's volleyball team is considered to be far behind the other teams participating in the tournament.
This is reflected in the ranking of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB). The Philippines entered this match ranked 88th. Meanwhile, Egypt ranked 21st.
The first round also showed the strength of the two teams. The Philippines lost to Tunisia in a 3-0 defeat. On the contrary, Egypt won impressively 3-1 against Iran - a team ranked in the top 15 in the world.
But then again, sport proves to be unpredictable. Egypt was ranked 67 places above the Philippines, and that huge gap completely disappeared when the match started.
In front of nearly 20,000 spectators at the Mall of Asia Arena, the Philippines opened with a bang. They chased Egypt point for point, eventually winning the match 29-27 in a dramatic final.
Captain Bagunas played extremely well - Photo: FIVB
Egypt gradually regained stability and won 25-23 in game 2. It seemed that this would be the end of the excitement created by the home team.
But then the Philippines continued to surprise their African opponents. They stubbornly chased each point with their opponents, then exploded at the decisive moment to win 25-21.
It must also be said that the Egyptian athletes seemed to be psychologically affected by the strong cheering from the stands of the Mall of Asia Arena, one of the largest indoor stadiums in the world. Their stars continuously missed shots, smashed shots, and gave up points to the Philippines.
On the other hand, the Philippines captain Bagunas played like a "possessed man". He scored 25 points in this match, including 2 points from blocking. Bagunas is also the team's number one star, 1 of 2 Filipino players currently playing in Japan.
With strong morale, the Philippines won 25-21 in game 3, ending an impressive victory.
A large number of Filipino fans filled the stadium - Photo: FIVB
The volleyball world was completely shocked by this victory of the Philippines. The website Volleytrails commented that this was the "greatest victory" in the history of the Men's Volleyball World Championship.
The Philippines were 67 places below Egypt before the match started, and they created the biggest "over-level" win in the history of the tournament.
This victory also immediately brought the Philippines 18.14 points, jumping to 77th place in the world.
Mall of Asia Arena was almost full of spectators - Photo: FIVB
More importantly, the Philippines now has 1 win, equaling the record with the remaining 3 teams in Group A: Tunisia, Iran and Egypt. The situation in this group is quite complicated when all 4 teams have 1 win.
That means the two teams that win the two matches in the final round (Philippines - Iran and Egypt - Tunisia) will get tickets to continue.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/philippines-tao-nen-cu-dia-chan-lon-nhat-lich-su-lang-bong-chuyen-20250916200322968.htm
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