Bulgaria punched their ticket to the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship quarterfinals with a commanding 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-23, 25-13) over Portugal.
Aleksandar Nikolov was unstoppable, delivering 19 points — 17 from spikes, one ace, and one block — while swinging at an impressive 55% success rate, and Martin Atanasov added another p points for Bulgaria.
Portugal showed resilience, particularly from the serve line with six aces, three of them by Lourenco Martins, who also topped his team’s scoring with 10 points. Captain Alexandre Ferreira praised his young squad’s spirit, highlighting their underdog run to the Round of 16.
With the win, Bulgaria now awaits the winner of USA vs. Slovenia to determine their quarterfinal rival.
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