The French team qualified for the quarter-finals of the Water Polo World Championships on Sunday in Fukuoka (Japan), a first since 1986. After a close match, the Blues beat Australia 11 to 8 (4-0, 2-5, 4-2, 1-1) and will have a lot to do on Tuesday in the quarter against Spain, the reigning world champion.
With this qualification among the eight best nations in the world, they equal the best performance of a French men’s team in the World Championships, a result obtained 37 years ago in Madrid. “It’s a tough competition so for us it’s good to be in the top 8 in the world with teams that we will certainly find at the Olympic Games”, underlined coach Florian Bruzzo. For captain Ugo Crousillat, who said he was “very moved”, hanging on to the top 8 represents “something strong”. “But we don’t want to stop there. We are going to fall against the world champions but we are going to prepare well for this match and really go there to win it. We don’t set limits,” he said.
The Blues relied in particular on their point Thomas Vernoux, elected man of the match and considered one of the best players in the world. “We come here with a view to a medal,” he assumes. “It’s not going to be easy against the Spaniards who are playing very well but we are there too!” The French thus confirm their progress after an encouraging summer of 2022 punctuated by a semi-final in the World League and a quarter at the European Championships.
