By Paul Osborne

Puerto Rico record superb victory over Italy to keep hopes of progression alive at Volleyball World Championships ©Getty ImagesPuerto Rico provided the shock of the tournament at the Volleyball World Championship today as they fought from behind to defeat Italy and set up a thrilling final day of pool play action in Kraków, Poland.

The Puerto Ricans are sat bottom of Pool D following 3-0 defeats at the hands of France, Belgium and the United States in their opening three encounters.

An impressive 3-1 come-from-behind victory inside the Kraków Arena gave the side hope of progressing to round two of the competition, however, as they now sit just two points behind their Italian opponents and one behind Belgium coming into the final day of play in the round one pool phase of the World Championship.

France and Iran both recorded 3-1 wins in this pool to ensure their progression to round two, leaving the United States and Belgium to battle with Puerto Rico and Italy for the final two berths to the next stage.

In Pool B, Brazil were taken all the way by a resilient South Korean side as they dropped their first sets of the tournament in a 3-2 tiebreaker victory.

The single point for South Korea put them within a point of fourth-placed Finland after their 3-1 loss to Germany.

The wins for Germany and Brazil ensure their qualification to the second round, while South Korea, Finland and Cuba battle for the final two spaces in tomorrow's play.

Hosts Poland continued their 100 per cent record at the World Championship with a 3-1 victory over Cameroon ©Getty ImagesHosts Poland continued their 100 per cent record at the World Championship with a 3-1 victory over Cameroon ©Getty Images



Poland recovered from an early wobble to secure their fourth win in four in front of a noisy home crowd at the Hala Stulecia in Wrocław.

The Poles have been the dominant force in Pool A, winning their opening three fixtures 3-0, and, despite dropping the first set against a plucky Cameroon team, they continued their winning run with a 3-1 victory this evening.

Argentina and Serbia join them in round two after they secured 3-0 victories over Australia and Venezuela respectively to move onto nine points apiece.

The final qualification spot will be decided in a head-to-head battle between Venezuela and Australia tomorrow, with both teams currently sat on three points.

All four progression places have already been decided in Pool C after Egypt and Mexico fell to their fourth defeats in four to take an early exit from the Championship.

Mexico's loss came at the hands of Canada as they leapfrogged China into third place following back-to-back defeats for the Asian side.

Despite being eliminated, Egypt did manage to pick up their first point of the tournament as they pushed Bulgaria all the way to a tiebreaker before falling to a 3-2 loss inside Gdańsk's Ergo Arena.

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