With France out, Benjamin Toniutti says competition now tougher

For France team captain Benjamin Toniutti, the world of volleyball is now more competitive, especially with the upsets happening in the 2025 FIVB Men’s World Championship.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was booted out of the World Championship after losing to world No. 8 Argentina in a five-setter, 28?26, 25?23, 21?25, 20?25, 15?12.

“High?level game,” Toniutti said.

“Unfortunately, it was not enough today because we faced a really good team in Argentina who was mentally strong until the end. We came back in the game but we lost the first and second set.”

But what mattered more for Toniutti was the loss against Finland, where France fell 25?19, 17?25, 29?27, 21?25, 15?9. 

“You can see that a lot of teams lose, Japan’s out, Italy will play for qualification tonight, so there is a lot of surprises,” he added.

“I think the volleyball world is super high level now, there is not a lot of difference between the teams.”

Aside from the upset against France, Alas Pilipinas also pulled one against higher-ranked Egypt, while Belgium also defeated Italy.

France finished fifth in the last edition of the world championship in 2022, but won the gold in the recent Tokyo and Paris editions of the Olympics.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News