U.S., Japan, Slovenia plot FIVB surprises

Don’t expect a walk in the park for Italy, Poland, France and Brazil.

While they’re tagged as heavy favorites — Poland is world No. 1, Italy is the defending FIVB Men’s World Champion, Brazil is world No. 3 followed by Olympic gold medalist France — several teams are ready to give them a run for their money in the highly-anticipated FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship 2025 set from 12 to 28 September at the Mall of Asia Arena and Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Crowd favorites Japan and United States along with the lethal Slovenia loom as the next three big guns on their coattails as the No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 team, respectively, in the final FIVB rankings heading into Manila.

Led by the troika of Yuji Nishida, Ran Takahashi and skipper Yuki Ishikawa, the fifth-ranked Ryujin Nippon will be out with guns ablaze in front of an expected pro-Japanese crowd in a bid to finally perform better after early exits in the last three major tournaments.

Japan posted quarterfinal finishes in the 2024 Paris Olympics and 2025 Volleyball Nations League and should be ready for a deep run this time around as one of the most loved squads by the sport-crazed Filipino crowd.

The sixth-ranked Americans, spearheaded by star setter Micah Christenson, libero captain Erik Shoji and Paris Second Best Middle Blocker Taylor Averill, also serve as one of the crowd darlings in Manila that should add fuel to their campaign.

US wound up sixth in the 2022 world meet but will march into the Philippine shores riding the crest of a bronze medal finish in the Paris Summer Games.

Falling prey to US in the third-place match was no less than the reigning world champion Italy, teasing what it’s capable of in the 32-team world joust as the biggest in history.

Then there’s the ever-dangerous Slovenia, a consistent semifinalist in all major tournaments behind the leadership of super spiker Rok Mozic.

Slovenia finished fifth in Paris and placed fourth in the 2022 world championship and 2025 VNL.