2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship Pool B

Pool B was one of eight pools of the preliminary round of the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship. The pool consisted of the current Olympic champion, Italy, as well as Belgium, Cuba, and Slovakia. ^{[1] [2]} Teams were played one another in a round-robin, where the top two teams advanced to the final round. ^{[3] [4]}

It took place from 22 to 26 August 2025, with rest days on 23 and 25 August. Each matchday features two games, held at 17:00 and 20:30. As the seeded team, Italy played at 20:30 in the first match against Slovakia, while their two remaining matches against Cuba and Belgium were played at 17:00 due to a broadcast time conflict with the Thailand vs. Sweden and the Thailand vs. Netherlands match in Pool A. ^{[5] [6]}

Teams

The following four teams competed in Pool B for the tournament, listed by their position in the pool.

Position	Country	Confederation	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances			Previous best performance
					Total	First	Last
B1	Italy a	CEV	2023 European 4th placers	30 August 2023	12	1978	2022	Champions (2002)
B2	Belgium	CEV	3rd World ranked non-qualified team	30 August 2024	4	1956	2022	9th place (2022)
B3	Cuba	NORCECA	9th World ranked non-qualified team	30 August 2024	13	1970	2018	Champions (1978, 1994, 1998)
B4	Slovakia	CEV	13th World ranked non-qualified team	30 August 2024	0	None		None

Notes

^aFinished at the European Championship as the 4th placers. Their spot was reallocated from Serbia, after qualified as the defending champions.

World Rankings

The following four teams were ranked in the FIVB World Rankings at the draw, the beginning and the final day of the tournament.

Position	Country	FIVB World Rankings
		Draw α	Before β	After γ
B1	Italy	1 (437.03)	1 (474.26)	1 (484.15)
B2	Belgium	14 (190.98)	14 (195.20)	14 (211.23)
B3	Cuba	23 (145.17)	28 (140.06)	27 (139.85)
B4	Slovakia	26 (137.47)	29 (128.54)	33 (112.34)

Notes

^αThe FIVB World Ranking at the end of August 2024. ^[7]

^βThe FIVB World Ranking before the first game on 22 August 2025.

^γThe FIVB World Ranking after the final game on 7 September 2025.

Standings

The following four teams were ranked based on the pool standing procedure.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Italy	3	3	0	9	9	1	9.000	246	159	1.547	Final round
2	Belgium	3	2	1	6	7	3	2.333	225	198	1.136
3	Cuba	3	1	2	3	3	7	0.429	181	245	0.739
4	Slovakia	3	0	3	0	1	9	0.111	200	250	0.800

Source: FIVB Women's World Championship - Standings
Rules for classification: Pool standing procedure

Matches

All times are Thailand Standard Time (UTC+07:00).

The following six matches of Pool B were played at the Phuket Municipal Stadium, Phuket.

Belgium vs Cuba

The teams recently faced each other in the 2014 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship, where Belgium won 3–0. This was the second game between Belgium and Cuba in the World Championship.

22 August 2025 (2025-08-22) 17:00	Belgium	3–0	Cuba	Phuket Municipal Stadium, Phuket Attendance: 2,283 Referees: Joo-Hee Kang (KOR), Ivaylo Ivanov (BUL)
	(25–23, 25–14, 25–11) P2 Report
	Scoring leaders
Lemmens (12/39)		Total	Tarin (8/36)
Herbots (10/23)		Attack	Tarin (8/27)
Van Avermaet (5/12)		Block	Suárez (1/4)
Lemmens (2/19)		Serve	Martínez (2/8)

Italy vs Slovakia

The teams recently faced each other in the 2021 Women's European Volleyball Championship, where Italy won 3–1. This was the first game between Italy and Slovakia in the World Championship, marking Slovakia's debut in the tournament.

22 August 2025 (2025-08-22) 20:30	Italy	3–0	Slovakia	Phuket Municipal Stadium, Phuket Attendance: 2,866 Referees: Ziling Wang (CHN), Ozan Çağı Sarikaya (TUR)
	(25–20, 25–14, 25–17) P2 Report
	Scoring leaders
Egonu (15/36)		Total	Šunderlíková (12/37)
Egonu (12/18)		Attack	Šunderlíková (10/24)
Fahr (2/8)		Block	Hrušecká (1/7)
Nervini (2/9)		Serve	Šunderlíková (2/11)

Italy vs Cuba

The teams recently faced each other in the 2018 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship, where Italy won 3–0. This was the sixth game between Italy and Cuba in the World Championship. Cuba has won three of the previous meetings in 1998, 2002, and 2010, while Italy has won two in 2006 and 2018.

24 August 2025 (2025-08-24) 17:00	Italy	3–0	Cuba	Phuket Municipal Stadium, Phuket Attendance: 2,347 Referees: Sasiprapa Pimthongkhonburi (THA), Ozan Çağı Sarikaya (TUR)
	(25–9, 25–8, 25–16) P2 Report
	Scoring leaders
Egonu (12/23)		Total	Madan (8/39)
Egonu (8/12)		Attack	Madan (8/31)
Orro (3/6)		Block	Martínez (2/4)
Egonu (2/6)		Serve	Suárez (1/7)

Belgium vs Slovakia

The teams recently faced each other in an official match during the European qualification of the 2012 Summer Olympics, where Belgium won 3–0. They also played a friendly match in 2023, with Belgium winning 3–1. This was the first game between Belgium and Slovakia in the World Championship.

24 August 2025 (2025-08-24) 20:30	Belgium	3–0	Slovakia	Phuket Municipal Stadium, Phuket Attendance: 2,655 Referees: Ivaylo Ivanov (BUL), Vlastimil Kovar (CZE)
	(25–19, 25–17, 25–18) P2 Report
	Scoring leaders
Herbots (21/59)		Total	Hrušecká (13/35)
Herbots (18/42)		Attack	Hrušecká (9/10)
Van Avermaet (3/12)		Block	Hrušecká (3/18)
Herbots (2/12)		Serve	Šunderlíková (1/10)

Italy vs Belgium

The teams recently faced each other in the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League, where Italy won 3–0. This was the fourth game between Italy and Belgium in the World Championship. Italy has won all three of the previous meeting in 1978, 2014, and 2022.

26 August 2025 (2025-08-26) 17:00	Italy	3–1	Belgium	Phuket Municipal Stadium, Phuket Attendance: 2,507 Referees: Ziling Wang (CHN), Ivaylo Ivanov (BUL)
	(25–16, 25–16, 21–25, 25–18) P2 Report
	Scoring leaders
Egonu (28/82)		Total	Martin (16/53)
Egonu (23/51)		Attack	Martin (15/40)
Egonu (4/15)		Block	Koulberg (1/2)
Egonu (1/16)		Serve	Krenicky (2/13)

Cuba vs Slovakia

The teams have never met before. This was the first game between Cuba and Slovakia in any tournament, including the World Championship.

26 August 2025 (2025-08-26) 20:30	Cuba	3–1	Slovakia	Phuket Municipal Stadium, Phuket Attendance: 1,735 Referees: Ozan Çağı Sarikaya (TUR), Vlastimil Kovar (CZE)
	(27–25, 25–21, 22–25, 26–24) P2 Report
	Scoring leaders
Martínez (20/62)		Total	Šepeľová (25/79)
Martínez (19/42)		Attack	Šepeľová (22/56)
Suárez (4/13)		Block	Herelová (4/13)
Martínez (2/21)		Serve	Jelínková (3/11)

References

1. "2025 Women's World Championship pool-play duels determined". Volleyball World (Press release). 17 December 2024. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
2. "FIVB Volleyball Women's World Champ 2025 Pools". Volleyball World . Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
3. "FIVB Volleyball Women's World Champ 2025 Competition Format". Volleyball World . Archived from the original on 13 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
4. "FIVB Volleyball Women's World Champ 2025 Competition Format". Volleyball World . Archived from the original on 11 March 2025. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
5. "Match Schedule Released for FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship 2025 in Thailand". Volleyball World (Press release). 11 March 2025. Archived from the original on 11 March 2025. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
6. "FIVB Volleyball Women's World Champ 2025 Match Schedule". Volleyball World . Archived from the original on 11 March 2025. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
7. "FIVB Women's Volleyball World Ranking". Volleyball World . 30 August 2024. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.

External links

• Official website