The co-hosts, playing in the Belgrade Arena, went up by two sets early on before being beaten 25-16 in the third and narrowly losing the fourth set 26-24 as Russia had all the momentum.

The Serbs managed to compose themselves and take the final set 15-10 to advance to the knockout rounds.

The two sets that were lost in the game was the first time that Serbia had conceded a set in the competition.

Hungary, unlike Serbia, did manage to blow a two-set lead.

The team was cruising against Belarus before a third-set blowout signified a change in momentum with the Belarusians going on to steal the victory 15-12 in the fifth.

The result puts Hungary in a perilous position as it occupies the last qualification spot in Pool C with Slovakia and Switzerland having a game in hand.

Bulgaria won on home soil against Poland in Plovdiv to pip the country to top spot in Pool B.

Spain was powerless against a ruthless German side as it lost by three sets to zero to confirm its elimination from the competition.

Romania was condemned to a miserable fate at the bottom of Pool D with zero points in Cluj-Napoca.

The co-hosts put in one of the least competitive performances of the competition, losing 25-15, 25-17, 25-11 in a 3-0 whitewash against Ukraine.

Despite losing 3-0 to the Netherlands, Sweden joined the Dutch in the qualification zone of Pool D.

France confirmed Azerbaijan's 100 per cent loss record for the tournament after beating the team 3-1.

Another team to win all of its games so far is Italy, who comfortably beat co-hosts Croatia 3-0.

However, the Italians still have one more fixture remaining against Switzerland.

The remaining fixtures tomorrow see Slovakia face Belarus, Russia take on Bosnia and Herzegovina and a local derby between France and Belgium.