TEHRAN – Iran lost to France 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-19) in the 2023 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Week 3 early Wednesday.

Timothée Carle scored 17 points for France and Iran’s Morteza Sharifi earned eight points.

 Iran are scheduled to meet France on July 4 in Anaheim, the U.S. and will also meet Bulgaria on Thursday, Argentina on Saturday and Cuba and on Sunday.

The VNL Preliminary Phase features three weeks of competition, with each of the 16 teams playing 12 matches.

The eight best-ranked national teams in the Preliminary Phase will qualify for the Final Phase, which will be held in Gdańsk, Poland, from July 19-23 – host country Poland are already guaranteed a spot.