September 17, 2025.- The United States knocked Cuba out of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the Philippines. In the last Pool D match in Pasay City on Wednesday, the Americans beat the Caribbeans in four sets and left them third in the final pool standings on a 1-2 win-loss record.
Portugal, who finished pool runners-up with 2-1, will join undefeated USA in the eight finals. The squad from southwestern Europe will face Pool E winners, Bulgaria, for a spot in the quarterfinals, while USA will meet Slovenia on September 22 at 8PM (local time).
The Americans took the first two sets of the match, enough to secure the first place in the pool. With their backs against the wall, the Cubans started mounting a comeback. In set three, they were denied the first five of six consecutive set points, but on the sixth, they managed to close the set.
A similar story unfolded in set four, but this time Cuba failed to hold on to the advantage they had at 23-19. They also failed to convert the set point they reached at 24-23 as USA dramatically turned the course of the set around to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-22, 23-25, 27-25) victory, with outside hitter Cooper Robinson nailing the match winner.
Robinson emerged as the best scorer of the match with 14 points. He spiked 13 points at a 59% success rate and added a kill block to his tally. These were the two elements the Americans performed better than the Cubans – 61-45 in spike kills and 13-10 in kill blocks. Their outside Jordan Ewert (two blocks and a 71% success rate in attack) and opposite Gabriel Garcia (two aces, two blocks and a 62% success rate in attack) also reached the double digits with 12 points apiece.
“We knew that Cuba needed this game. We knew Cuba was going to come out firing on all cylinders. But we were also on the edge. It was a great game for us. All 14 guys came in the court and did their job. I think we still have a lot of learning, a lot of growing up to do, but for us to pull out this win the way we did was pretty impressive,” Gabi Garcia told VBTV. “Being ready at all moments here at this World Championship is going to be important for all of us.”
Before exiting the tournament with grace, Cuba did better than USA in serving by 6-3 in aces and in precision by 23-28 in unforced errors. Their middle blocker Javier Octavio Concepcion attacked at a 67% success rate and raised four kill blocks to finish with a total of 12 points and share the team’s leading scorer honors with opposite Jose Israel Masso, who put away two blocks and an ace. Star middle Robertlandy Simon registered a 70% success rate in spiking and also reached the double digits with 10 points, including three blocks.
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