We’re down to the semifinals! Two teams will move on (sorry, no consolation match here). Cast your vote now!

Semifinal Match 1: Japan v. New Zealand

Japan quite handily beat Ecuador 69%-31%. Although Ecuador does the largest population of people living near volcanoes in South America, it doesn’t hold a candle to the high population density in Japan.

Japan does currently have two volcanoes that appear on the most recent Global Volcanism Program’s Weekly Volcanic Activity Report. The Aira Caldera is a perennial entry but many people might know it better for its active volcano within the caldera: Sakurajima. Another consistently active volcano is Suwanosejima in southern Japan. It is in year 22 of the current eruption.

2025 was a busy year in Japan for volcanoes. The GVP registered eruptions at Kikai, Ioto, Akan, Kirishimayama, Aira and Suwanosejima. That’s two more than what erupted in 2024.

New Zealand had a surprisingly close match with Colombia. The Pacific nation won 55%-45% over its South American rival. The scale of eruptions in New Zealand’s history might have helped it get over the top.

Right now, New Zealand doesn’t have any volcanoes in the GVP WVAR or even in the Global Volcanism Program’s list of currently active volcanoes. New Zealand did see eruptions at Whakaari (White Island) in both 2024 and 2025.

Semifinal Match #2: México v. DR Congo

To say México won its match would be an understatement (sorry Scotland fans). The North American nation won 75%-25% over Scotland, which is understandable considering that México outvolcanoed Scotland 30-0 for the Holocene alone.

México is having a relatively quiet week with no volcanoes showing up on the WVAR. There is still one volcano that is considered actively erupting right now and that is Popocatépetl that is still going strong after 21 years. In fact, the last couple years have seen only Popocatepetl erupting in México.

In what I would consider an upset, the Democratic Republic of the Congo beat the USA 67%-33%. I guess that having an active lava lake could have tipped the scale (or other mitigating opinions about the States right now).

Although neither appear in this week’s WVAR, both Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira show up on the current eruptions list for the GVP. The former has been erupting for 23 years and the latter for 8 years. They were both the only active volcanoes in the DR Congo in 2024 and 2025 as well.