The Bulgarian national volleyball team lost by 2:3 (22:25, 25:23, 17:25, 30:28, 17:19) to France in their second match of Group E in the World Championship in Italy.

Despite the defeat, however, they will continue competing in the next phase of the tournament because they have a win and a loss with a game difference of 5:3. That means that even if they lose by 0:3 to the Czech Republic in their last match in Group E, China would still have to defeat France by 3:0 with a big difference in the scores.

The third round of the first phase of the championship is only defining the places in which the competitor teams will play.

In the second match, the Bulgarian nationals, led by Italian coach of the Bulgarian, Silvano Prandi, showed good blockade skills, but made more mistakes than France.

The star of the Bulgarian volleyball, Matey Kaziyski, made a very good game, showing character and class in decisive moments. He was also the player who scored the most points in the match – 26.

Nine teams have qualified for the next phase of the World Championship – Italy, Cuba, Brazil, Russia, Puerto Rico, Argentina. The United States, France and Poland.

The Bulgarian national team will face the Czech Republic Monday 6 pm (GMT+2). The match between France and China will be Monday 10 pm (GMT+2).