Poland begin to dream of gold but France stand in their way

Poland are one win away from ending an agonising 48-year wait for gold in Olympic men's volleyball and will look to stamp their authority as the No 1 ranked side in the world, but beating reigning champions France will be no easy task.

Poland edged the United States in an epic five-set thriller to advance to their first final since they won gold at the 1976 Montreal Games.

Long criticised for their inability to cross the quarterfinal hurdle at every Olympics since 2004, some of Poland's players were in tears as the weight of expectations was lifted off their shoulders when a medal was guaranteed.

"There are only 12 players in Poland who know (what it is like to win gold). It is impossible to describe," Poland's Bartosz Kurek, 35, said.

"Even right now, we don't understand what we've achieved. It will take a lifetime to understand this achievement."

Poland's progress to the gold medal round is largely thanks to Cuban-born Wilfredo Leon, one of the greatest players of his era who picked up his flailing side and dragged them to the finish line when the United States staged a comeback.

Leon has won several accolades in volleyball but an Olympic medal has proved to be elusive - until now.

"I said to myself 'you need to focus and you need to start to play'. I tried to give more to the team in those two minutes and then I started to produce," Leon said of his fourth set performance.

"We had been waiting so many years, I was waiting so many years."

Poland's coach Nikola Grbic had taken a timeout at the right time to rally his troops and he said he had "never had a moment like this" in his career.

"At one point, I told the guys when we were struggling that we are a team, we have to play our best and believe that we can come back."

But just like they did in Tokyo three years ago, France seem to be peaking at the right time as they thrashed world champions Italy to move into the final.

With a vociferous home crowd ready to back them at the South Paris Arena 1, the contest promises fireworks.

"We have the same mindset as we did at Tokyo 2020, we did not believe it (then). We took 24 to 48 hours to realise it," France's Yacine Louati said.

"Poland are playing incredibly at the moment ... We have to respect them and hope to play the same again."