Loaded 2025 finale ahead as PH hosts 3 world sports events

Filipino sports and hospitality will be on full display like never before with the country’s yearend hosting of the FIVB Volleyball World Championship, the FIFA Futsal World Cup, and the Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

MANILA, Philippines – In 2023, the Philippines launched itself on the global sporting map with the hosting of the top-flight basketball showpiece, the FIBA World Cup.

Though the country has had its fair share of hosted tournaments in the past, they have usually only been on a regional level, like the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, which even drew as much flak as it did praise at the time.

At the turn of the pandemic, however, not only has the country shaped up in sporting excellence, but it also turned a corner in hosting capacity, setting attendance records in basketball, volleyball, and football despite being nowhere near the level of top world-beaters in the aforementioned sports.

Today, the fruits of that camaraderie — from athletes, fans, sponsors, to stakeholders — are now being seen. With four months left in 2025, the Philippines is still set to host three world-level sporting events, all for the first time ever.

FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship

On the heels of hosting both the FIBA World Cup in 2023 and Volleyball Nations League legs for three straight years since 2022, the FIVB volleyball governing body has deemed the Philippines fit for arguably its most challenging hosting job yet: the 32-nation Men’s World Championship this September 12 to 28.

Including the Philippines, the world’s best men’s volleyball teams are coming to Manila for the biennial event (previously held every four years from 1962 to 2022), including world Nos. 1 to 6 Poland, Italy, Brazil, France, and top fan attractions Japan and the United States.

The Philippines, ranked world No. 82 and represented by the Bryan Bagunas and Marck Espejo-led Alas Pilipinas, will, in all likelihood, have the toughest road ahead as it takes on No. 13 Iran, No. 23 Egypt, and No. 43 Tunisia in the pool phase.

While wins may be difficult to come by for the Philippines on the court, it can, at the very least, prove that it can hang with the world’s best outside the taraflex in terms of facilities and hospitality, perhaps paving the way for a consistent world-level presence in what used to be a pure basketball country.

The fabled Araneta Coliseum and Mall of Asia Arena are set to serve as the two sole venues for all 32 nations’ matches until the finals.

Smaller venues like the PhilSports Arena, Rizal Memorial Coliseum, and Ninoy Aquino Stadium, among others, will then serve as training facilities for the world’s top volleyball icons.

FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup

From the Miracle of Hanoi in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup to Sarina Bolden’s historic header in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, from Azkals to Filipinas and beyond, Philippine football has steadily grown in the last two decades to a point where it now refuses to be a doormat for the sport’s giants.

That success and surge in interest through the years now culminates in the Philippines’ hosting of the first-ever FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup from November 21 to December 7.

Unlike FIBA and the FIVB, FIFA opted to explore more of the sprawling archipelago and bring world-class sports to the Visayas as the 16-country futsal tilt will emanate from the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City and the Victorias City Coliseum in Negros Occidental.

All squads of the five-a-side football variant, including the Filipina5, will soon learn what lies ahead with the World Cup groupings draw at the BGC Arts Center, Taguig City, on September 15.

A tough climb also awaits world No. 63 Philippines as nine of the 16 qualified teams are also the top nine in the world, led by the top three in Brazil, Spain, and Portugal, and world Nos. 4 and 5 Thailand and Japan leading the Asian contingent.

But all the same, the fact that the Philippines — a rookie in the world football scene — is now hosting a bonafide FIFA World Cup is already a championship in itself that the country can forever be proud of.

3rd FIG Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

In 2024, Carlos Yulo stunned the world twice over when he became the most bemedalled Filipino Olympian in history in a mere 24-hour span by winning two Olympic gold medals in gymnastics floor exercise and vault.

Though a shock to many observers in and out of the Philippines, Yulo’s golden double was simply the culmination of a decade-long grind combined with natural talent that evidently trickled down to his younger siblings, Eldrew and Elaiza.

With that, 16-year-old Eldrew will have a chance to prove he is indeed next in line to Kuya Caloy as he banners the Philippine flag in the country’s hosting of the 2025 FIG Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships on November 20 to 24, concurrent with the Futsal World Cup.

Unfortunately for the Yulos, 14-year-old Elaiza will not have a chance to join her brother as the Philippines may only bring one male and one female representative to the competition due to its absence in the 2023 tilt in Turkey, per an ABS-CBN report.

Joining Eldrew is 15-year-old Fil-Am standout Elisabeth Antone, and both are already deep in overseas training before returning home for the November showdown.

With three world events in as many months, Filipino sports stakeholders will certainly be frantic, busy hosts in the final quarter of the year, and that’s not even taking into account the preparations for other local and international tournaments, like the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand in December.

While it will certainly be a difficult stretch for all involved, the only thing that matters is the goal of further elevating Philippine sports at the turn of the calendar year. – Rappler.com