Paris 2024: France set to face strong competition in Pool A

The men’s volleyball tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympics will begin in just a few days as starting on July 27, the 12 best national teams in the world will battle at the South Paris Arena 1 in the biggest event of the season.

Pool play will be the first phase of the tournament, with eight of the 12 teams entered moving forward to the elimination rounds. Three pools were formed ahead of the start of the event and, at the conclusion of the pool phase, all three pool winners and runners-up will advance to the quarterfinals, as well as the two best-ranked third-placed sides.

Pool A will feature hosts and reigning champions France, who will count on the support of their home fans to defend the Olympic title they won three years ago in Tokyo. The Europeans, however, will face highly motivated opponents in Slovenia, Canada and Serbia and will need to earn their place in the elimination rounds.

Here’s all you need to know about the four national teams that will compete in Pool A:

France

Sitting in fourth place in the FIVB World Rankings, France enter the Paris 2024 Games in excellent form following their victory at the Volleyball Nations League 2024 less than a month ago. After their triumph in Tokyo three years ago, the French also topped the podium in the VNL 2022 and finished fifth in the FIVB World Championship in that same year.

Head coach Andrea Giani has one of the most talented and deepest squads in Paris, with VNL MVP Antoine Brizard and captain Benjamin Toniutti offering different options at setter, Jean Patry emerging as one of the most reliable opposites in the world, Earvin Ngapeth and Trévor Clévenot shining at outside hitter, Barthélémy Chinenyeze and Nicolas Le Goff dominating in the middle and star libero Jenia Grebennikov controlling the backcourt for them.

Slovenia

Occupying the fifth spot in the FIVB World Rankings, Slovenia make it to Paris determined to make a strong impression in their first Olympic appearance. Their qualification was the final product of a solid three-year period for them, who won back-to-back medals (silver in 2021, bronze in 2023) at the European Championship and made semifinal appearances at both the World Championship (2022) and the VNL (2024), finishing fourth on both occasions.

The squad that qualified the Slovenians for the first time to the Games under the guidance of head coach Gheorghe Crețu counts on some of the top players ever developed in the country, such as opposite Tonček Štern, outside hitters Tine Urnaut, Klemen Čebulj and Rok Možič, setter Gregor Ropret and middle blocker Jan Kozamernik.

Paris 2024 – Match Schedule

Canada

The ninth-best team in the FIVB World Rankings, Canada have qualified for three straight Olympics for the first time, consolidating their program as one of the best in the world. Since their appearance in Tokyo, three years ago, the Canadians had some success at the continental level, winning silver medals at the NORCECA Championship in 2021 and 2023. At the international level, they were sixth at the VNL 2024 and 17^th at the 2022 World Championship.

An Olympic medalist at Tokyo 2020, head coach Tuomas Sammelvuo has elite-level outside hitters in Stephen Maar, Eric Loeppky and captain Nicholas Hoag. Opposite Arthur Szwarc, setter Luke Herr and middle blocker Lucas Van Berkel are other key pieces in the team.

Serbia

Serbia’s qualification for the Paris Games after missing out on the last two editions meant that some members of one of the country’s most talented generations would be able to make one final Olympic appearance. Ranked tenth in the world, the Europeans were among the last teams to qualify and secured top-ten finishes in most events they played in the last three years, including the World Championship (ninth in 2022), the VNL (ninth in 2023 and tenth in 2024) and the European Championship (fourth in 2021 and sixth in 2023).

Middle blocker Marko Podraščanin, opposite Aleksandar Atanasijević and outside hitter Uroš Kovačević, who were with the team in London 2012, are the only members of the squad with Olympic experience. Head coach Igor Kolaković, who qualified the team 12 years ago, has picked a veteran roster, which features setter Nikola Jovović, opposite Dražen Luburić and outside hitter Pavle Perić as some of its most popular names.

Men's Pool A Match Schedule

July 28
17:00 local time (15:00 GMT) – France vs. Serbia
21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) – Slovenia vs. Canada

July 30
17:00 local time (15:00 GMT) – Slovenia vs. Serbia
21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) – France vs. Canada

August 2
17:00 local time (15:00 GMT) – France vs. Slovenia

August 3
21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) – Canada vs. Serbia

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