Bulgaria’s men’s volleyball team produced one of its most memorable victories in recent years, defeating reigning world champion Italy 3-2 in the Nations League in Ljubljana. After dropping the opening set 18-25, the Bulgarian side responded with determination to take the next two sets 25-20 and 25-23 before Italy forced a deciding tiebreak with a 25-19 fourth-set win. The Bulgarians finished strongly, dominating the final set 15-9 to secure a long-awaited triumph.
The result ended a painful streak of ten consecutive official-match defeats against Italy dating back to 2015. Among those losses was last year’s World Championship final, making the victory even sweeter for Gianlorenzo Blengini’s squad. Bulgaria entered the match with mixed results in the tournament, having beaten Iran and Argentina but lost to Belgium and Serbia.
After a difficult start, Bulgaria found its rhythm in the second set, building a significant lead through strong attacking and defensive play. The third set was more evenly contested, but a key serving run by Simeon Nikolov helped create separation before crucial contributions from Iliya Petkov and Alex Nikolov secured the advantage. Italy responded in the fourth set, taking control behind a strong service sequence from Luca Porro and pushing the match into a tiebreak.
