TEHRAN – Iran made history by winning the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship for the first time ever.

In the match held at the Isa Sport City Hall C, Iran earned a hard-fought win over the European giants.

Iran defeated Italy 3-2 (25–17, 17–25, 23–25, 25–22, 12–15) in the 2019 FIVB U21 World Championship final.

Porya Yali led Iran with 23 points and Daniele Lavia had 19 points for the Italian team.

“The final was such a difficult match. Italy really tried their best in this championship. Nobody could beat them in the earlier rounds. We knew it was going to very difficult, so we also tried to do all we could for the win. My players really worked hard in this match. They are the best and I have the honor that I can be their coach. I dedicate this win to all the people in my country,” Iran coach Behrouz Ataei told fivb.org.

Earlier on the day, Brazil won the bronze medal by defeating Russia in straight sets (25-21, 27-25, 25-12).

Final Standing
1. Iran
2. Italy
3. Brazil
4. Russia
5. Argentina
6. China
7. Korea
8. Bahrain
9. Czech Republic
10. Cuba
11. Poland
12. Canada
13. Egypt
14. Tunisia
15. Morocco
16. Puerto Rico

Dream Team
 

Most Valuable Player: Amirhosseini Esfandiar (IRI)
Best Outside Spikers: Daniele Lavia (ITA), Morteza Sharifi (IRI)
Best Middle Blockers: Lorenzo Cortesia (ITA), Guilherme Voss Messias Dos Santos (BRA)
Best Opposite Spiker: Maksim Sapozhkov (RUS)
Best Setter: Lorenzo Sperotto (ITA)
Best Libero: Mohammadreza Hazratpourtalatappeh (IRI)

The 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship was held in Riffa, Bahrain from July 18 to 27.

Reporting by Masoud Hossein