Italy, the London 2012 bronze medallists, were expected to get their campaign for a fourth world title off to a winning start against the opponents whose best ever finish at a World Championships was 19th.

They did not reckon with a determined Iran, however, who opened up by clinching the first set 25-19 to immediately put the Italians on the back foot.

A close second set went the way of the European side as they appeared to recover from their initial setback but led by superb displays from Seyed Mousavi and Amir Ghafour, who scored 16 points each, the Iranians stormed to 25-12 and 25-22 set wins to secure a famous 3-1 victory.

Belgium's first appearance at a World Championships in 36 years ended in a 3-2 loss to the United States, who are chasing a second world title following victory in 1986.

The current World League champions took the first set before Belgium hit back to take the second 25-17.

The US took the advantage once more as they powered to a 25-16 win in the third with star man Taylor Sander to the fore.

The Belgians were not going down without a fight though and regrouped to send the match into a deciding set as Sam Deroo and Gert Van Walle helped them to clinch a close fourth, 25-21.

But the US took an early lead in the fifth and victory was achieved after a wayward Belgian serve handed them the set 15-11.

The third match in Kraków saw 2002 bronze medallists France claim a 3-0 win but it was not as comfortable as the scoreline suggests after being pushed all the way in every set by Puerto Rico.

Antonin Rouzier and Kevin Le Roux were the scorers-in-chief for the French, with 12 and 11 points respectively, as they inflicted a fourth consecutive World Championship defeat on the Puerto Ricans who lost their last three matches four years ago.

Facundo Conte was one of the stars for Argentina as they defeated Venezuela in an all-South American clash ©Getty Images



South American rivals Argentina and Venezuela met at the Halla Stulecia in Wrocław.

The opening set was a close affair but two strong spikes and an ace from Facundo Conte eventually saw Argentina take it 25-23.

The Argentines took an early 3-0 lead in the second and never surrendered their advantage, while some uncharacteristically poor serving from Venezuela's Maximo Antonio Montoya Martinez saw them go down 25-17 and trail by two sets to nil.

The Venezuelans competed well in the third and trailed 10-7 before the introduction of Rodrigo Quiroga who quickly got into the action and helped the Argentines into a 21-15 lead.

Venezuela could not get any closer and a superb spike from Jose Luis Gonzales sealed the set 25-19 and the match 3-0.

"We are very happy because of this victory," said Argentina coach Julio Velasco.

"The most important thing is that we have three points at the beginning of this event.

"The first and the second sets were quite difficult for us.

"We made some mistakes because we have very young players in our team and they were a bit stressed.

"They were getting more confidence during the match and played better and better.

"For sure, we need to improve our serves."

In the second match at the Halla Stulecia, Edgar Thomas was the star man for Australia as he registered 18 points on their way to an opening day 3-0 victory over Cameroon, who had defeated the Aussies at the 2010 World Championship in Italy.

Nehemiah Mote and Adam White chipped in with 10 points apiece as Australia gained revenge over the African side.

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