?Barthelemy Chinenyeze (top) of France spikes the ball during the FIVB Volleyball Nations League match between Iran and France in Ardabil, Iran, June 23, 2019. France won 3-0. (Xinhua/Ahmad Halabisaz)
TEHRAN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Iran suffered their second defeat at the 2019 Volleyball Nations League on Sunday.
Team Melli lost to France in straight sets 25-18, 26-24, 25-21 in Iran's Ardabil Rezazadeh Hall.
Iran have won 10 matches at the men's 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League so far and suffered two losses.
Iran sit top of the table with 30 points, followed by Brazil with 27 points and one game in hands.
Igor Kolakovic's team will travel to Bulgaria to play Bulgaria, Serbia and the U.S. in the week 5.
The competition is being held between May and July 2019 and the final round will take place in the Credit Union 1 Arena, Chicago, United States.
This is the first edition of the World League or the Nations League to have the Final Round hosted in North America.
The 16 teams compete in a round-robin format with every core team hosting a pool at least once. The teams are divided into four pools of four teams at each week and compete five weeks long, for 120 matches. The top five teams after the preliminary round join the hosts of the final round to compete in the final round.
