Tunisia and Serbia secured spots in the Round of 16 of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on Thursday at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
Mahdi Ben Tahar’s block in the third set allowed the Tunisian spikers to win the final match point and repulse African champion Egypt, 25-19, 25-18, 25-22, in Pool A, earning them the first quarterfinals’ slot in their bracket.
Elyes Karamosli went on to finish with a game-high 14 points off his attacks and help Tunisia reach the quarterfinal stage with their 2-1 win-loss card in their bracket.
Serbia earned quarterfinal qualification in Pool H, posting a 25-22, 25-20, 25-22 upset of world no. 3 Brazil.
This gave Serbia a Round of 16 slot with its 2-1 slate, putting Brazil on the brink of elimination with a 1-1 card.
With their qualification, Tunisia and Serbia joined eight other qualified squads — Team USA, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Portugal, Canada, Turkey, the Netherlands and Belgium to the next phase, even as seven more are still at stake.
The Brazilians now need to wait for the outcome of the match between Czechia and China later on Thursday to know their fate.
Opposite Dražen Luburić led Serbia’s team’s offense with 19 points, which included 17 kills and two aces.
In Pool C, Finland took a step towards qualification for the Round of 16 in smashing Korea, 25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 25-21 in the first match of the day at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Luka Marttila carried Finland with 25 points, which consisted of 22 kills and three blocks.
