The Bulgarian national team experienced a painful repeat of the scenario from last year's edition of the Nations League. Back then, "the Lions" needed just one victory to qualify for the Final Eight but lost heavily to Iran 0:3 in Gdansk. At that time, "the Persians" had no chances of qualifying even with a win over our team. A year later, history repeated itself – this time against Olympic champion France, who also would not have qualified for the finals with a victory, but played one of their strongest matches and won decisively 3:0 (25:21, 25:22, 25:21), leaving Bulgaria out of the medal fight.
The paradox is that in 2025, seven victories were enough to qualify for the finals, whereas now this tally was not enough, and the Bulgarians remained outside the Top 7. Although our national team improved its performance and finished eighth in the final standings compared to tenth place a year ago, the feeling of a missed huge opportunity remains.
Several missed chances during the tournament proved particularly painful. The biggest regret remains the dramatic loss to Slovenia in the second week in Ljubljana. Bulgaria was leading 20:16 in the fourth set and was just five points away from a clear victory and three points, but allowed a comeback, lost the set, and subsequently the match 2:3. The defeats in the very first week in Brazil against debutant Belgium and the Serbian team also weighed heavily, ultimately proving decisive for missing out on qualification among the best.
The disappointment is even greater due to the impressive 3:1 victory over the USA just a day earlier in Chicago, which had restored hopes for a historic qualification. Instead of building on that, Gianlorenzo Blengini's players played one of their most nervous matches in the tournament. The French acted freely and confidently, while the Bulgarians never found their rhythm. The entry of Martin Atanasov, as well as the substitutions with Venislav Antov, Zhasmin Velichkov, and Preslav Petkov, could not change the course of the match.
France started strongly from the very first rallies and led 4:0 in the opening set. Bulgaria managed to come back to 9:9, but then "the Roosters" again took the initiative. Antoine Brizard's serve and Matthieu Herno's stable play gave the Olympic champions an advantage, and they closed the first set 25:21.
In the second set, "the Lions" briefly seemed capable of turning the tide. After trailing by four points, they caught up and equalized at 22:22 following a strong run by Aleksandar Nikolov. It was then that the French showed stronger nerves, scored the decisive points, and after an ace by Antoine Pothron, won the second set 25:22.
The third set started excellently for Bulgaria, who led 8:3 after excellent block play by Alex Grozdanov and Simeon Nikolov. The national team maintained their lead until 16:12, but an inexplicable collapse followed. France gradually erased the difference, equalized at 16:16, and turned the tide. The Bulgarians reached 20:20 after an ace by Simeon Nikolov, but in the final rallies, Matthieu Herno led his teammates to victory. He put an end to the dispute with a powerful ace for the final 25:21.
Statistics also show France's superiority in key elements. The Olympic champions scored 45 points from attack against 38 for Bulgaria, had an advantage in blocks – 5:4, and in serves – 4:2 aces. Both teams received 20 points from opponent errors, but the French finished with a total of 74 points against 64 for "the Lions". They were more stable in defense with 45 digs against 41, while Bulgaria had a minimal advantage in reception – 58:56. The most effective player for the nationals was Aleksandar Nikolov with 16 points, all from attack, and Asparuh Asparuhov added 10 points. For France, Matthieu Herno scored 19 points, and Théo Faure finished with 11. It was precisely the higher attack efficiency and better serving that proved to be the main weapons for the French on their way to a clean victory.
The loss also came at a high cost in the FIVB World Ranking. Bulgaria lost 9.35 points, which led to a drop of one position to tenth place in the world, where we stand with a total of 272.25 points.
Despite the bitter end, the national team took a step forward compared to last year. Eighth place in the VNL is Bulgaria's best finish in the tournament in years and shows real progress. At the same time, however, there remains the feeling that this squad could have achieved much more. Victories over Iran, Argentina, Italy, Canada, Ukraine, China, and the USA showed the team's potential, but the lack of consistency in the most crucial moments against Belgium, Serbia, Slovenia, and France ultimately deprived Bulgaria of a place in the Final Eight. Ukraine's team takes their place there.