France completes the "Grand Slam"! The U20 team wins the #EuroVolley just like U18 and U22

France vs. Bulgaria 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-16, 28-26)

Here’s a quick recap of how the teams reached the final match. Winning all seven of their group-stage matches at the European Championship, six of which ended 3-0, and only one – the last, where they had already secured first place – ended 3-1 against Latvia, the French U20 team once again proved themselves in Vrnjacka Banja (Serbia) on Friday, defeating the Czech Republic in straight sets in the semifinal.

Bulgaria reached the final with only one loss and seven wins. In the semifinal, they confidently defeated Ukraine 3-0.

From the very first minutes of the final, it was clear that neither team would settle for just three sets. The competition was incredibly tight, with short rallies, as "Les Bleus" pulled ahead by 4 points, creating a comfortable lead. However, the Bulgarian team not only erased this lead but also surged ahead thanks to brilliant defense in this set. They recorded 6 blocks, while the French managed only 2. Despite France’s stronger performance in attack, they made far more errors (10) and lost the set 21-25. Bulgaria’s top scorer in this set was Aleksandar KANDEV, with 4 points.

In the second set, Slimane Belmadi’s team corrected their mistakes and took control from the start. By the end of the set, they had a commanding 20-10 lead! Overcoming such a gap was nearly impossible, and the set ended 25-18. Bulgaria remained strong on the block, but this time France excelled in attack, scoring 14 winning spikes. The third set followed a similar pattern, but this time the French improved their blocking and committed fewer errors. Bulgaria played well offensively but made too many mistakes, preventing them from reaching even 17 points in the set. The score was 25-16, and France took the lead in the match.

In the fourth set, Bulgaria took the lead 3-2 (the first point coming from a Nikolev ace), but they immediately allowed the French to equalize. The set continued with a slight advantage for France, but Bulgaria leveled the score at 5-5. Kandev scored from the back row, making it 16-13, but France equalized again after scoring three points in a row thanks to solid defense. Bulgaria called a timeout. Tomislav Rusev’s successful play put his team ahead again, but they quickly made a mistake. The same scenario repeated – Titrisky scored, making it 21-20, but a service error tied the game again. Nikolev gave Bulgaria the lead once more, but France responded with a successful attack. Both teams exchanged service errors, and Kandev’s powerful shot earned Bulgaria a set point. France saved two set points. Bulgaria earned a third, and Vitekov was brought in for the serve, executing it perfectly. However, instead of closing the set, Bulgaria made a reception error. The French capitalized on this and earned a match point. The final score – 28-26, and 3-1 in favor of France.

The top scorer for France was Adrien ROURE, who scored 19 points, including 2 aces and 2 blocks.

This summer, the French men's national team became Olympic champions for the second time in a row and also secured three European Championship titles, as the U22 and U18 teams had already won their championships in July. The "Grand Slam" of European Championships is complete.

A few hours before the final, the bronze medal match also took place, where the Czech Republic emerged victorious. The final result was:

Czech Republic vs. Ukraine 3-1 (25-27, 25-23, 25-15, 25-22).