Bulgaria 🇧🇬 vs France 🇫🇷 | Highlights | Men's VNL 2026

Bulgaria vs France | Highlights | Men's VNL 2026. France finished its 2026 FIVB Volleyball Nations League campaign with a convincing 3-0 victory over Bulgaria in the final match of Week 3 in Chicago, USA. Although already eliminated from Final Eight contention, the Olympic champions produced one of their strongest performances of the tournament, defeating Bulgaria 25-21, 25-22, 25-21. For Bulgaria, the match was a decisive opportunity to secure qualification for the VNL Finals after an impressive campaign, but the straight-set defeat ended their hopes despite remaining competitive throughout all three sets.

Every set was closely contested, with Bulgaria keeping pace for long stretches thanks to its aggressive serving and powerful attack led by Aleksandar Nikolov. However, France proved more composed during the decisive moments of each set. Strong serving pressure, efficient first-ball side-out play, disciplined blocking and excellent defensive organization allowed the French side to consistently pull away late in the sets and complete the sweep.

Mathis Henno was the standout performer of the match, finishing as France's top scorer with 20 points while delivering several crucial attacks during the closing stages. Setter Antoine Brizard expertly distributed the offense, allowing France to maintain a balanced attack throughout the match. Bulgaria relied heavily on Aleksandar Nikolov's scoring ability, but the French block and defense gradually limited his effectiveness as the match progressed.

France started Antoine Brizard at setter, Stephen Boyer at opposite, Mathis Henno and Antoine Pothron as outside hitters, Mousse Gueye and François Huetz in the middle, with Benjamin Diez as libero. Bulgaria featured Simeon Nikolov at setter, Venislav Antov opposite, Aleksandar Nikolov and Asparuh Asparuhov as outside hitters, Alex Grozdanov and Iliya Petkov as middle blockers, and Damian Kolev at libero.

The victory allowed France to conclude the preliminary round with six wins from twelve matches and finish its VNL season on a positive note before shifting focus to future international competitions. Bulgaria also finished with six victories, having recorded impressive wins over Italy, China and the United States earlier in the tournament, but narrowly missed qualification for the Final Eight after falling to France in the decisive final match.