The law of the strongest prevailed: Portugal fell in the World Cup

The victory against Colombia had to come by the nose after two narrow opening sets . The wait for the USA's match against Cuba seemed like an eternity given the Caribbean team's strong comeback. The first, surprising objective had been achieved: with two group stage victories, one of which came against a Cuban team that started as favorites, Portugal reached the knockout stage of a Volleyball World Cup for the second time in history, taking another step in the sustained growth in the final stages seen in the last three European Championships. Now, Bulgaria was next. And, once again an outsider , the national team was playing for its best performance ever.

"Before the game, we'll adjust some tactical points and try to exploit Bulgaria's weaknesses. There are no secrets, just hard work. Our weapons? Dedication and tactical rigor. Looking at the entire process and analyzing it calmly, we achieved our objective. We fought hard to make it possible, and along the way we had ups and downs," said national coach João José. "I feel the team is calmer, meaning the worst is over for us. Our main goal was to advance past the group stage, knowing it would be very difficult, and we did it right to the end, with a lot of nerves from the first to the last game. There was a huge emotional release, and now I think the group is much calmer because it's also a one-game, all or nothing, we have nothing to lose," added Alexandre Ferreira, the team captain who continues to overcome physical problems.

The 2025 edition in the Philippines has been marked by surprises, with two-time Olympic champion France being eliminated in a group with Argentina and Finland, and Brazil, which had reached the top four consecutively in the last seven editions, also falling to Serbia and the Czech Republic. However, in the round of 16, the rule of the strongest prevailed, with Poland (Canada), Turkey (Netherlands), Italy (Argentina), and Belgium (Finland) sealing their place in the next phase. Portugal would also try to counter this with Bulgaria.

In the end, and after a third set that had little or nothing to do with what had been done before, the National Team ended up having no arguments to counter the favoritism of the Bulgarians, also failing to reach the 15th place they had achieved in their first ever presence at the World Championships when they could at least equal their best record: eighth place at the 2002 World Cup. Bulgaria, which remains only with victories, will now face the winner of the match between the USA and Slovenia.

The first set was still balanced, but on key points, the Bulgarian team consistently came out on top, quickly taking a three-point lead (9-6) before rallying late to a 24-15 lead before closing with a 25-19 lead. The second set ultimately proved decisive: despite starting 3-0 down, the national team found new attacking solutions, particularly with the attacking play of the middle blockers. They applied more pressure on serve and even took the lead (14-13) before a finale where details made all the difference , as Bulgaria won 25-23. The match was almost over, and unlike what happened from the first to the second set , Portugal was unable to maintain its upward trajectory, breaking down early with a series of poor attacks and receptions that sank the team until a clear 25-12 defeat.