The competition day in Bangkok starts early on Saturday. The first of two semifinals, featuring the teams of Japan and Turkiye, will get underway at 15:30 local time (08:30 UTC).
The three most recent Volleyball Nations League encounters between Japan and Turkiye, in 2023, 2024 and 2025, were all pushed to five sets and resolved Japan’s way in the tie-breakers. Earlier this summer, they met in the VNL quarterfinals in Lodz. Turkiye came back from a set down twice during the match, but Japan stepped in front again to take the fifth set and the match. The two sides also met in a four-set Olympic qualification match in September 2023 and that was the last time the European team managed to beat its Asian rival.
Japan are one of the most decorated teams in the history of the women’s World Championships, crowned with three titles, three silver medals and a bronze, which was their most recent medal from 2010. In VNL 2025, they finished fourth and are now the number five team in the World Ranking. The Japanese team swept its Pool H opener against Cameroon, but had to battle back from two sets down to overcome Ukraine. In the first-place decider, Japan defeated defending two-time world champions Serbia in four sets. In their eighthfinal encounter with hosts Thailand, they produced a straight-set victory to progress to the quarterfinals, where they outlasted the Netherlands in a five-set battle, coming back from a set down twice in the match. Outside hitter and captain Mayu Ishikawa is Japan’s leading scorer of this World Championship with 99 points so far. She is the highest ranked player among the four semifinal teams in the best scorers chart and another four individual statistical charts – for best attackers, for best receivers, for best diggers and for best blockers.
Turkiye are the reigning European champions, but they have never made it to a World Championship podium. In fact, this is the first time in history they advanced to the semifinals. Their previous best result was the sixth place they took in 2010. Turkiye were the only team at Thailand 2025 that went through the pool stage and the eighthfinals without dropping a single set. In Pool E, they shut out Spain, Bulgaria and Canada to top the table, and in the first elimination round, they disposed of spirited rookies Slovenia, also in straight sets. Finally, in the quarterfinals, they lost a set to the United States, but still won in four to celebrate a historic success. That win over USA also lifted Turkiye up a spot to number four in the World Ranking, overtaking Japan. Turkiye’s star opposite Melissa Vargas is also a main contender for the best scorer honors of the World Championship, currently leading the team with a total of 91 points.