France were the surprise of the tournament at the men’s World Polo Championship in Doha, beating defending champions Hungary 11-10 in the quarter-finals.

>> CM Polo: Romania defeated China – the “tricolor” team will play for 9-10 places

Hungary knocked out by France in WC Polo quarter-finals

Hungary led 7-3 at half-time, but France staged an impressive comeback to beat the heavy favorites after Thomas Vernou scored the decisive goal with three seconds remaining.

The French’s best result before this edition was 6th in Fukuoka last year.

France will fight for a place in the grand final with Croatia.

CM Polo, quarter final results

Spain – Montenegro 15-12

Italy – Greece 11-10

Croatia – Serbia 15-13

France – Hungary 11-10.

The medal matches will take place on February 17.

The 2024 World Cup also offered the last four spots at the Paris Olympics, for which France, Hungary, Greece, Japan, USA, South Africa, Spain and Australia have already qualified. They were joined by Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Italy.

Romania at the Men’s World Polo Championship

• Romania will face the USA for the 9-10 spots after defeating China (9-7) in the first match for the 9-12 spots.
• The tricolor missed qualification for the Olympics in Paris (they needed a presence in the quarterfinals, but were eliminated in the round of 16 after 9-12 against Montenegro).

• Romania qualified for the World Cup in Doha by reaching the quarter-final stage at last month’s European Championship, where they finished in 8th place.

• Romania returned to the World Cup after 11 years in 2013, finishing 13th.