France is the first semi-finalist of EuroVolley 2026. "Les Bleus" played an almost flawless quarter-final in Sofia and defeated Romania 3-0 (25:16, 25:19, 25:18), thus taking revenge for the defeat against the same opponent in the group stage.
Andrea Giani's team this time did not allow the scenario from Cluj to repeat itself. In the group, the French took a 2-0 lead, but allowed a complete comeback for 2-3 (25:16, 27:25, 20:25, 33:35, 12:15). The match then did not matter for France's first place, but the loss was obviously a sufficient warning before the much more important match in Sofia.

France imposed control from the start

The difference was evident in the first set. The French took the lead and closed it with a decisive 25:16. Romania, which eliminated Ukraine in the round of 16, tried to stay closer in the second, but it also went to the Olympic champions – 25:19.
At 2-0, France did not give the opponent a chance to come back into the match, as had happened in Cluj. The third set ended 25:18 and after only three sets, "Les Bleus" could already think about the next stage.

Théo Faure led "Les Bleus"

Théo Faure was the most effective volleyball player in the match with 19 points, including 6 break points. François Huetz added 11, Mathis Henno finished with 9, and Simon Manin with 7. For Romania, Cristian-Daniel Chițigoi was the top scorer with 11 points.
France also showed something very important for a knockout match – they distributed the points among several of their attackers and did not allow Romania to find a player around whom to build a strong enough response.

After Sofia – Milan

With this success, France secured a place in the final four and can now pack their bags for Milan, where the semi-finals and medal matches will be played.
France's opponent in the semi-final will be the winner of the Italy – Finland quarter-final. Thus, if the hosts win, a big semi-final France – Italy is possible. The official EuroVolley bracket places the winner of France – Romania against the winner of Italy – Finland.
France still has a little time left in Sofia, but the ticket for the next stop is already secured – Milan and the battle for medals.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov