Italy edge Turkey to claim Women's Volleyball World Championship title

World No. 1 Italy outlasted world No. 3 Türkiye on Sunday to win its second FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship title.

Paola Ogechi Egonu scored 22 points, and Myriam Fatime Sylla and Ekaterina Antropova added 19 and 14 respectively as the reigning Olympic champion claimed a 25-23, 13-25, 26-24, 19-25, 15-8 victory and extended its winning streak at international competitions to 36.

Team Italy pose during the awarding ceremony after the final match between Türkiye and Italy at the Volleyball Women's World Championship in Bangkok, Thailand, Sept. 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Hou Zhaokang)

Trailing 6-4 in the tiebreaker, Italy staged a 5-1 run capped by a double-block against Ebrar Karakurt to overtake the lead at 9-7. Eda Erdem pulled a point back for Türkiye, only to find Italy run off six points in a row for victory.

Melissa Teresa Vargas had 33 points for Türkiye, which recorded its best result at a World Championship.

The first set was hotly contested and Italy ran off four points in a row from 22-20 down to go up at 24-22. Türkiye beat off one set point, but Stella Nervini drove a ball out off bounds to make it 25-23.

Türkiye raced into an 8-2 lead in the second set, prompting Italy head coach Julio Velasco to replace the struggling Egonu with Antropova. However, the substitution proved to be in vain as Türkiye prevailed with a 25-13 win to level things up.

Italy recomposed themselves and took an 11-6 lead in the third set, though Türkiye pulled things back at 16-16 and went on to take a 21-20 lead. Italy then ran off four straight points to go 24-21 up, while Türkiye answered with three points in a row including an ace from Melissa Teresa Vargas to tie it at 24-24. At the crucial moment, Egonu came up big with a smash and an ace to take a 2-1 set lead.

In the fourth set, Türkiye built a 16-10 lead on back of strong spiking and serving from Vargas and held on for a 25-19 win, before Italy sealed the decider.

Earlier on Sunday, Brazil held off Japan 25-12,25-17,19-25, 27-29, 18-16 to take home the bronze medal.

Gabriela Braga Guimaraes scored 35 points to lead three Brazilians in double digits.