Against the backdrop of tension surrounding the last matches of the intercontinental phase, the Bulgarian team fought until the very end for a place among the final eight, but unfortunately failed to qualify. The home team was part of the intrigue in recent days, when it seemed that the battle for seventh place would be decided between Ukraine and Bulgaria. In the end, however, Iran made a "leap over the line" and entered the race, but was displaced by Slovenia, who at the last moment snatched a 3:2 victory over Serbia and became the last participant in the finals. The tournament in Gdansk, from which 4 teams qualified for China, proved to be the most interesting and difficult to predict until the last day.

🇧🇷 Brazil – first and only with a clear opponent

The Canarinhos finished in first place in the standings after the intercontinental phase, which guaranteed them a match against the last qualified team. Since host China remained outside the top 8 but has a quota as organizer, they were ranked in eighth place – thus Brazil was the first to learn that they would play against the Asian team.

🇮🇹 Italy waited until the last moment

Unlike Brazil, the "Azzurri" had to wait for the outcome of the last matches to find out if they would face Iran, Slovenia, or another of the possible opponents. The final result of the Slovenia – Serbia match put the Slovenians ahead and sent Italy against Cuba in one of the most anticipated quarter-finals.

Poland and France could calculate

Olympic champions France and silver medalists Poland already knew they were in the final eight before their last match. They could only calculate who they would face in the quarter-finals depending on the outcome of the last two matches. For the "white-reds", the options were Japan, Cuba or Slovenia – but in the end, the draw paired them with Japan.

Final tournament – time for medals

The quarter-final matches of the2025 Men's Nations League final tournamentwill be held onJuly 30 and 31inNingbo, China. According to the official regulations, the pairs are formed according to the principle: 1-8, 2-7, 3-6 and 4-5. Host China, despite not being among the top eight,receives eighth position by default.as an organizer.

🎯 Quarter-final pairs - Nations League, men 2025:

• 🇧🇷 Brazil – China 🇨🇳

• 🇮🇹 Italy – Cuba 🇨🇺

• 🇫🇷 France – Slovenia 🇸🇮

• 🇯🇵 Japan – Poland 🇵🇱

The winner of Brazil – China will meet the winner of the Poland – Japan match. The winner of Italy – Cuba will dispute with the better of the France – Slovenia pair.
The semi-finals are scheduled forAugust 2, andthe final for first placewill be helda day later – on August 3.

🎖 Spectacular clashes await us, and each of the eight best selections will be looking for a place on the podium in the most prestigious annual men's volleyball tournament.

📅 We are expecting the official start times for the matches soon.

Here is the standing after the end of the intercontinental phase of the Men's Nations League 2025:

WarningNetherlands is the team that is relegated from the Nations League and will not play in the elite group in the next edition.