The current champion Poland managed to defend its European title. Nikola Grbic's boys defeated the Olympic champion France after a very tough battle with 3:1 (31:29, 25:19, 20:25, 25:16) in the grand final of the EuroVolley 2026 for men, played tonight in the "Unipol Forum" hall in Milan, full of over 11,000 spectators, Sportal.bg reported.
Thus, Poland won the trophy from the championship of the Old Continent for the second consecutive time and the third time in history. "Druzhina Polska" has 5 silver and 4 bronze medals in its showcase. In addition, Poland won a quota for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
On the other hand, France retains the silver medals from the championship, which they have won for the fifth time. The "Roosters" remain with a single title, won in 2015, and two bronze medals.
Earlier today, Finland won its first ever bronze medal from a European Championship, after defeating Slovenia 3:0 in the match for 3rd place.
At the start of the first game, France led 2:0 after a mistake at the Poles' net and a strong ace by Antoine Brizard. Poland immediately turned it around to 4:2 in their favor after an attack through the center by Szymon Jakubiszak and three consecutive bomb aces by Wilfredo Leon. This forced the "Roosters" coach Andrea Gianni to take a break. This gave a result and the French reached 5:5 after an attack by Trevor Klevenot and a mistake by Bartholomew Boulag. "Druzhina Polska" again came ahead at 8:6 after two mistakes by Theo For. France once again tied at 10:10 after an attack through the center by François Wetz and a mistake by Jakubisak. An attack by Wilfredo Leon and an excellent block by Jakubisak and 12:10 for the current champions.
The game continued point by point until 16:14 after a mistake in an attack by Mathis Henaud. An attack by Simon Manin and a great single block by Henaud and 16:16. The two teams continued again very evenly and fought until the end for every ball and point until 29:29, exchanging one mini-turn. Meanwhile, France missed four game balls, and Poland two. In the end, Nikola Grbic's players pulled out the game with 31:29 after a great block by Wilfredo Leon and a strong counter by Bartlomiej Bolazh.
Poland also pulled ahead at the beginning of the second half with 2:0 after a wrong serve by Antoine Brizard and a strong counter-attack-pipe by Wilfredo Leon. The gap grew to 6:2 after an attack through the center by Bartlomiej Lemanski and a counter by Bartlomiej Bolazh, which in turn forced Andrea Gianni to take a time-out for France. However, the lead of "Drużyna Polska" swelled to 9:3 after an attack by Leon and another counter by Lemanski. The gap continued to grow to 12:4 after an ace by Lemanski and an attack in the out by Theo Faure. The lead of "Drużyna Polska" became double digits at 17:7 after an ace by Leon, a counter by Boulaghe and an error by François Wetz. Gradually, France closed its gap to 16:21 after an error by Marcin Komenda followed by an ace by Simon Manin and a counter by Mathis Henault. However, the current champions closed the game in their favor at 25:19 after another successful attack by Bartholomew Boulaghe and doubled their lead.
France started better in the third game, leading 4:1 after an attack by Trevor Klevenot and a block by Moussa Guy, who appeared at the end of the second half. The gap grew to 7:3 after an error in service by Bartholomew Boulaghe and a block by Simon Manin, after which Nikola Grbic took a break for Poland. Nevertheless, the lead for the "roosters" became 9:4 after an error by Polish distributor Marcin Komenda and a counter by Mathis Henault. A second time-out followed for Grbic and "Drużyna Polska", but the advantage of the Olympic champions became 11:5 after two more attacks by Henno.
Poland then managed to reduce its deficit to 9:13 after three consecutive successful attacks by substitute Kamil Semenyuk. This in turn forced Andrea Gianni to request a time-out for France. The French regained the lead at 18:12 after another attack by Henno and a mistake by the Polish team, and then even increased it to 20:13 after a strong counterattack through the center of Simon Manin. Despite Poland's efforts, France won the game 25:20 after a pipe attack by Mathis Henault and reduced its deficit to 1:2.
Poland started strongly in the fourth period and pulled ahead 4:1 after a strong attack by Kamil Semenyuk followed by counterattacks by Tomasz Fornal and Bartlomiej Bolaz. This prompted Andrea Gianni to take a break for France. Despite the French attempts to reach a draw, "Drużyna Polska" maintained its lead to 10:7 after a mistake by Antoine Brizard. The difference became 12:8 after a counterblock-out by Bolaz. Poland's lead swelled to 15:9 after two consecutive mistakes by Musa Gai. The score became 19:12 after a powerful ace by Bartlomiej Lemanski. Poland's advantage became 22:14 after a great block by Szymon Jakubiszak, then won the game with a convincing 25:16 after a block-out by Tomasz Fornal and the final with 3:1, thus defending its European title from 2023.