Iran secures third world championship title in junior volleyball

Having advanced to the final with eight straight wins in the preliminary and knockout stages, Iran faced Italy today at 15:30 in the main hall of the competition. With a 3–1 triumph, Iran was crowned world champions in this age category for the third time.

In the opening set, head coach Gholamreza Momeni-Moghadam’s squad was caught off guard, losing 25–15, as Italy took a 1–0 lead. Iran’s reception struggled in this set.

However, Iran bounced back strongly in the second set, delivering a complete performance—especially in blocking and serving—to win 25–18 and level the match 1–1.

The third set was a closely contested battle, but Iran managed to edge past Italy 25–22, moving ahead 2–1.

In the fourth set, the Iranian juniors dominated with a 25–14 win, displaying a spectacular performance that sealed the 3–1 victory and the world championship.

Seyed Matin Hosseini led the scoring with 18 points, earning the title of top scorer of the match.

Italy had hoped to avenge its previous defeats against Iran in 2019 and 2023, but the young Iranians once again denied them and secured their third world championship title, cementing Iran’s status as Italy’s “nemesis” at this level.

The 2025 tournament marked Iran’s 15th appearance in the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship. Out of their 14 previous campaigns, Iran had reached the podium three times: winning gold in 2019 under Behrouz Ataei, gold again in 2023 under Gholamreza Momeni-Moghadam, and bronze in 2007 with head coach Mostafa Karkhaneh.