Argentina ousts Olympic champ France, advances to FIVB Worlds Round of 16

Argentina booked a spot in the Round of 16 at the 2025 FIVB Men’s World Championship after eliminating two-time Olympic gold medalist France, 28-26, 25-23, 21-25, 20-25, 15-12, on Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

After taking the first two sets, Argentina was on the brink of a sweep, but France capitalized on an opponent’s error to tie the third set at 16-all. Argentina briefly reclaimed the lead at 17-16, but Nicolas Le Goff’s attack leveled the score again and sparked a 4-0 French run. German Alfredo Gomez stopped the momentum, but France held on to take the third set.

With momentum on their side, the French continued to hold off Argentina and managed to force a deciding fifth set.

In the decider, both teams traded points until France tied it at 7-all. Argentina responded with a crucial 3-0 run to regain control. France came within one, 12-11, but Argentina stayed composed and eventually sealed the win with Luciano Vicentin closing out the match.

“We came so far, so France was important for us. We fought until the end — we lost, we won — but in the end, we just kept going to take the game. We’re so happy,” said Vicentin.

Vicentin led all scorers with 22 points, while Luciano Palonsky added 17 as Argentina swept all three of its Pool C matches.

On the other side, Trevor Clevenot paced France with 16 points, but it wasn’t enough as the reigning Olympic champions ended their run with a 1-2 record.

Also advancing from Pool C is Finland (2-1), who earlier defeated Korea in four sets, 25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 25-21.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News