The match to determine the winner of Group A in the Olympic volleyball tournament between France and Slovenia turned into a real thriller. France was on the verge of making a complete comeback in the match after Slovenia took a 2:0 lead in sets. At the end of the match, the crowd loudly booed the first referee, Vladimir Simonovi from Switzerland, who lost control of the match at its very end.
Slovenia was more active in the first set and deservedly closed it with a score of 25:20.
In the second part, the hosts led throughout, when at a score of 22:21 for France, a challenge called a net touch by Ngapeth and the score was tied. After a strong serve by the Slovenians, the first set point came, which materialized on the second attempt after an attack from the second line by Stern.

France started the third set well, with the teams tying the score six times by the middle. After the 11th point, the hosts took the initiative. However, the Slovenians did not give up, and there were five more ties in the score until the end of the set. The drama escalated after another tie (22:22) and a service error by Trevor Clevenot, followed by an attack by Stern from the second line, after which Slovenia earned its first match point. After an attack by Ngapeth and a block against Urnaut, the score was again tied (24:24). The captain of Slovenia redeemed himself, leading his team to a second match point. Another tie followed, after which Stern hit the ball out, and a serve by Brizard finished off the Slovenians and sent the match into a tie-break, after the ball hit the net cord and dropped right on the middle line (a shot known as a "drawer").
The Slovenians started better in the tie-break, managing to pull ahead by four points after a net touch by Ngapeth and a subsequent block on his attack (6:2). After a serve into the net by Brizard, the teams switched sides with Slovenia leading by 2 points (8:6). Three unanswered points for the hosts followed, and Slovenia called a timeout with the score at 9:8 for France. Urnaut tied the score with a block-out. Ngapeth managed to take the lead for his team after two attacks by the hosts were defended. The next tie (10:10) proved to be the bone of contention, as everyone in the hall saw that Urnaut had carried the ball, but referee Simonovic thought otherwise. The hall loudly booed the referee's decision. An ace by Urnaut followed, who then made a service error. Patry did the same and put the opponent ahead by a point (12:11). After an unsuccessful video check for a block, the score became 13:11 for Slovenia. The tension reached its peak at Slovenia's first match point. All the players jumped to dispute the referee's decisions, as a result of which Brizard received a yellow card. The double block against Patry's attack ended the match. The hall continued to boo Simonovic even after the match, but Slovenia's victory was a fact. Some of the French players refused to shake hands with Simonovic. Slovenia topped Group A with 8 points, France remained second with 6.
Tonček Štern scored the most points for the winners with 28 (1 block and 3 aces).
For the French team, Ngapeth scored 21 points (2 blocks and 1 ace).