Canada vs. France | Highlights | Mens World Championship 2018

Ruse, Bulgaria, September 18, 2018 - Earvin Ngapeth led France to a remarkable win against Canada 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17) in front of over 2500 spectators in “Arena Monbat”! Both teams delivered a great volleyball spectacle and delighted the crowd in the final match of Pool B at the 2018 FIVB World Championship! The biggest leader for the Europeans in this battle was Earvin Ngapeth who finished as a top scorer with 22 points, including 3 aces. This victory brought France to the third place in the group and let Canada down to the fourth position.

Canada played pretty well in the opening set but in the end Earvin Ngapeth stole the show with two powerful aces in a row and led France to a 2-point advantage (22-20). A few minutes later Thibault Rossard spiked really smart against the Canadian block and the Europeans won the set by 25-22.

In the second set Nicolas Le Goff finished a great rally with powerful spike from the middle to make the result 14-14. Both teams continued to play point by point until 18-16 when the captain of France Benjamin Toniuti scored a break point with a great float serve. Ngapeth continued with his outstanding performance from the service line, scoring another ace by 22-17, and a few minutes later France was two sets ahead after 25-21.

In the beginning of the third set Ngapeth played really well in attack (8-6), but with great block Canada took back the advantage at the second technical time-out (16-13). A few minutes later Ngapeth made two incredible digs in a row and after a great single block by Kevin Tillie, France was only one point behind (19-20). With a good block and led by Sharone Vernon-Evans, who was brilliant near the net, Canada won the set by 25-22.

In the fourth set France reduced the easy mistakes and took huge 6-point advantage by 10-4. Laurent Tillie’s players continued to have the control on the field and achieved their third victory in Pool B after 25-17.

This is the third consecutive victory for France versus this opponent. The Europeans won both previous World Championship matches against Canada - 3-0 in Venice in 1978 and 3-1 in Brasília in 1990.