France roared back from a first-set loss to stun defending chamions Brazil 3-1 in the battle of the Pool B favourites on Sunday at the Marine Messe stadium in Fukuoka.
Raising their game to near perfection in all aspects, the French had the normally fluid Brazilians sprawling to score a 20-25, 25-22, 25-23, 29-27 victory in their crucial FIVB Volleyball World Championship for Men clash.
A Brazilian infringement that ended the match was no justice to the quality put on by both teams and kept the excited crowd on the edge of their seats.
France looked second best in the opening set against the seemingly unbeatable South Americans but came together as a team over the next three sets to take their record to 3-0 in the group.
Olympic champions Brazil fell to 2-1, with this single defeat putting them under immense pressure to make the semi-finals when they take their expected place in the second round in Hiroshima.
The Brazilians must now beat Australia and Germany in their last two matches if they want to travel to Hiroshima with a decent chance of making the final four.
France, who have also beaten Greece and Australia, take on Germany and Cuba in their final two games.
The defending champions who took the early initiative, grabbing an 8-4 lead at the first technical time-out.
Everything Brazil did seemed to have a devastating effect on France, whose next four points came from Brazilian errors.
Andre Nascimento was smoking on the right side of attack for Brazil while Dante Amaral and the popular Gilberto "Giba" Godoy was also troubling France.
Even reliable French spiker Frantz Granvarko was unable to make an impact, deprived of scoring opportunities or simply banging in vain against a solid Brazilian defence.
Brazil were fully worth their 16-10 second TTO lead but suddenly lost their way. Granvorka finally came to life with two thundering right-wing efforts and Brazil mistakes allowed France to pull to 17-15 before Brazilian coach Bernardo Rezende called time out.
Gerald Hardy, replacing the injured Oliver Kieffer, gave Brazil five set points with a spike that hit the net. Though he saved one himself, Brazil took the set when Guillaume Samica fired wide.
Romain Vadeleux stepped up for France with his team's first two points of the second set while Hardy was also trying to lift his team, helping them to a narrow 8-7 lead.
Though they were up against it, France were not about to let Brazil be as dominant as they were in the first set.
Samica, Valedeux and Granvorka nailed specatuclar winners to edge ahead 16-15, with Brazil having Nascimento and Giba to earn their points on a regular basis.
France gained a two-point lead at 18-16 and then stretched it to three, 23-20, before Brazil called time out. It was then four set points for France on a Brazilian error, and another Brazil time out.
Brazil saved two, prompting a French time out. But captain Stephane Antiga calmed French nerves with the spike that gave them the set and levelled the scores.
Nascimento pounded winners for Brazil but France doggedly matched their opponents through Granvorka, Vadeleux and Samica to go 8-7 ahead at the start of the third set.
A rare Nascimento miss put France 14-12 ahead but Gustavo Endres brought Brazil level with a stomping block on Samica.
But it was Endres' error that put France 16-14 in front at the second TTO.
The gangly Dante Amaral, who played a central role in Brazil's two previous matches, was drifting left against France to support Giba. France, though, kept their attacks to the opposite wing through Granvorka and Antiga.
France, with setter Pierre Pujols controlling play, moved up a gear to take a 20-17 lead though Giba and Rodrigo Santana tried to keep Brazil within striking distance.
Nascimento reduced it to 21-20 and Granvorka's wild swing helped Brazil tie it at 21-21.
A master substitution by France saw Xavier Kapfer send down a sizzling serve that Vadeleux put away to give France two set points. Vadeleux then won the set for France as they took a crucial 2-1 lead.
With their confidence up, France hit back from 4-1 down in the fourth set to take an 8-7 lead into the first TTO after Giba slapped wide.
The French maintained their momentum, causing panic in the Brazilian ranks, as they surged 18-13 in front and then 21-16.
World and Olympic champions, though, don't roll over and die with Brazil coming back to 21-21, and then take the lead, as the French started to become nervous.
Endres' long serve gave France match point but an error made it deuce. Brazil then took set point but Garcia's serve weakly nestled in the net.
Granvorka gave France their second match point after great work by libero Jean-Francois Exiga but, as so often is the case, a serving error, this time by Pierre Pujols, deuced it again.
A Brazilian foul, on the third match point, finally gave France one of their most famous victories.
