World No. 14 Turkey shrugged off a narrow defeat in the extended opening set to turn back No. 20 Netherlands, 27-29, 25-23, 25-16, 25-19, and secure its first-ever quarterfinal berth in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2025 on Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Adis Lagumdzija erupted for 28 points, built on 25 attacks, two aces, and a block, while also contributing eight digs to power Turkey — which finished 11th in the previous edition — past its best-ever result and into a historic quarterfinal berth.
“I mean, we made history today by beating the Netherlands and reaching the quarterfinals. This was our target for the summer. We’ve been working for four months, like every other team, but we worked hard, and hard work pays off,” said the three-time European League champion.
It was a duel between the 26-year-old Lagumdzija and 27-year-old Michiel Ahyi of the Netherlands that kept the match razor-thin through the first two sets, but Lagumdzija erupted for nine points in the third set, giving Turkey the separation it needed — a surge that carried over into the fourth.
Lagumdzija teamed up with Efe Mandiraci, who scored three points from the service line, in a blistering 4-0 start that eventually turned into a 16-9 advantage, capped by back-to-back miscues from the Netherlands.
Turkey had to fend off a comeback attempt led by Tom Koops, who scored three points during a 6-1 run that trimmed the deficit to just two, 15-17. However, the Turks quickly steadied themselves to close out the match and remain unbeaten in the 32-nation tournament.
“We have really big momentum now. We know it’s going to be very difficult to reach the semifinals because this is the World Championship,” said Lagumdzija.
“But we have nothing to lose. We're going to give our best because whoever reaches the next stage is one of the top eight teams in the world. We’re one of those teams, and we want to show that in the next game,” he added.
Mandiraci backed Lagumdzija with 15 points on 11 attacks, three aces, and one block, while Mirza Lagumdzija and Bedirhan Bülbül added 13 and 12 points, respectively, rounding out the double-digit performers for Turkey.
The Turks will have three days to prepare before facing either World No. 1 Poland or Canada — whom they beat in a commanding pool-phase sweep — in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands failed to advance to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive time.
Ahyi paced the Dutch with 21 points, while Koops contributed 14 markers, along with seven excellent digs and six excellent receptions. Cornelis Luuc van Der Ent and Bennie Tuinstra added nine points each in the loss.
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