The French triumphed 25-21, 25-20, 17-25, 18-25, 15-11 at the Arena da Baixada, securing first spot in Pool K1 and eliminating their opponents in the process.

Stephen Boyer amassed an impressive 21 points for the victors, while team-mate Earvin N'Gapeth chipped in with 14.

Serbia need a straight-sets win to advance through to the penultimate round, but their hopes of achieving that were soon ended with France storming into a 2-0 lead.

France topped the Pool K1 standings by virtue of a one-set margin over the United States, who qualified for the semi-finals as the runners-up.

Both nations finished on four points with Serbia at the foot of the table on one.

Awaiting France in the last four are Canada, the runners-up in Pool J1 behind hosts Brazil who beat Russia 25-18, 18-25, 25-19, 22-25, 16-14 today.

Ricardo Lucarelli topped the home nation’s scoring chart with 25 points, followed by Mauricio Silva with 14 and Wallace De Souza with 13.

A single set was enough for Brazil to secure their place in the semi-finals, but they did not let up and went onto win the match to ensure top spot.

They will meet the US in the semi-finals, while winless Russia are out of the competition.

Both semi-finals are scheduled for tomorrow with the final and third-place play-off set for Sunday (July 9).