From Brink of Elimination to Last Eight: Iran overcomes Serbia in epic comeback

From a near early exit to a spot in the quarterfinals.

Iran staged a thrilling 23-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-22, 15-9 comeback over Serbia to secure a place in the quarterfinals of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The world No. 16 Iranians rallied from a 1-2 deficit, finishing with a decisive 6-1 run in the final set to frustrate the 13th-ranked Serbians in a two-hour, 14-minute marathon, and will now represent Asia in the Last Eight.

Team captain Morteza Sharifi led Iran’s last stand, hammering through Serbian blockers to cap a killer rally that turned a precarious 6-5 lead into a commanding 12-6 advantage en route to victory.

Sharifi finished with 23 points, while scoring partner Ali Hajipour Moghaddam Farouji also contributed 23 for Iran, which had narrowly avoided elimination in the group stage last week against host Alas Pilipinas.

Iran also drew 18 points from Ali Haghparast and 10 from Mohammad Valizadeh against Serbia. The team had been on the brink of defeat in a five-set duel versus the Filipinos, but a successful net touch challenge by Italian coach Roberto Piazza turned the tide for a 21-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 22-20 win.

Riding the momentum from that dramatic victory, Iran kept its composure against the heavily favored Serbians, who had taken a 2-1 set lead following a gutsy 26-24 win in the third.

With their backs against the wall again, Iran—second in Pool A—refused to go down quietly, breaking away from a 13-all deadlock to take the fourth set and force a decider. From there, it was all Iran, toppling the European contender and setting up a chance to surpass its best-ever fifth-place finish from the 2014 edition when they face first-game winner Czechia in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“I'm happy. We are all happy, of course. That was a crucial game—but the most crucial one was against the Philippines. Maybe we trained perfectly for that because we ended up winning an amazing match. It was truly a special one—at one point, we had lost everything. And for one video challenge, one check, and now here we are, talking about the future. That was the turning point,” said Piazza.

“We’ve been preparing the team—all of us coaches—to be ready to play at this level. To be able to play three five-set matches in a row: 3-2, 3-2, 3-2. That’s the mindset we need to have during this tournament.”

For Serbia, Drazen Luburic scored 27 points, while Miran Kujundzic, Aleksandar Nedeljkovic, and Pavle Peric added 17, 13, and 12 points, respectively. Despite topping Pool H, their efforts fell short.

In the other Round of 16 match, world No. 18 Czechia cruised past No. 37 and Pool A leader Tunisia, 25-19, 25-18, 25-23, with 14 points from Patrick Indra. Jan Galabov and Lukas Vasina contributed 13 points each for Czechia, which finished second to Serbia in Pool H.