France open with merciless win over Korea at Men’s Volleyball World Championship

Two-time back-to-back reigning Olympic champions France left no doubts over their superiority in the team’s opening 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship game in the Philippines. They mastered a merciless shutout of Korea in a Pool C match in Quezon City on Sunday.

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On the way to a 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-16) landslide, the French domination was expressed in offense by 35-28 in spike kills, in net defense by 10-4 in kill blocks, in precision by 14-20 in opponent errors, and most substantially, in serving by 10-0 in aces.

Swinging at a 73% success rate, French opposite Jean Patry was the only player in this speedy match to reach the double digits. He fired three aces and raised two kill blocks to top the chart with a total of 16 points. It was the sub-in opposite Theo Faure, who hit the winning point of the match to finish with a total of three. Outside hitter Heo Subong was Korea’s leading scorer with nine points.

“It was important for us to have fun, to take a lot of pleasure, to start the World Championship with our spirit, because with this spirit we play well. So, it’s an important point for us to put this motivation and this happiness on the court,” Patry told VBTV. “In our team, some guys will stop playing after this tournament, so it’s an additional motivation for us to try to do something more, to achieve one objective together and to have fun one last time together.”

Earlier on Sunday, Argentina put together a reverse sweep of the Pool C opening match against Finland. Next in the pool, Argentina will meet Korea and France will face Finland on Tuesday, September 16.

2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship: full schedule and results

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