A baptism for the French women. Unlike their male counterparts, the defending champions, the French volleyball players have never yet competed in the Olympic Games. For their debut in the biggest competition, they will face the Serbians, bronze medallists in Tokyo, on Monday 29 July at 9pm (live on France Télévisions and france.tv), at the Arena Paris Sud, in Group A.
A historic first. At home, the Tricolores will participate in their first Games in Paris. Never qualified in previous editions, the French team will be present thanks to its status as host country. The Bleues will not be favorites against the Serbs and will even have to create a feat to get out of the group stage.
A more experienced opponent. Serbia has much more experience than the French in major competitions. Medalists at the last two Olympics (silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021), the Serbs are used to major events. But during the last Nations League last spring, they did not get past the preliminary round and finished in a poor 11th place, a symbol of their poor form.
A preparation that is not reassuring. Like their opponents, the French women went through the Nations League anonymously. With only two wins out of 12 matches, the Tricolores finished in 14th place out of 16. Not the best preparation for the Games. The only positive point, and not the least, was that the Blues beat Serbia in this competition (3-1) on June 14, but they lost 3-0 against the latter on July 16, in a preparation match.