The French had won five from five ahead of the Ningbo Beilun Stadium clash in China and appeared in cruise control when they took a 2-0 lead.

But Bulgaria pulled off a terrific comeback to win 18-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-11.

"We played pretty badly," France captain Antoine Brizard said.

"We served so badly and made a lot of mistakes. 

"It was really hard to stop them after that."

Coach Laurent Tillie was not amused by his side's complacency after they fell to third in the table.

"Bulgaria showed us how to play with fighting spirit," he said.

"After winning the first two sets, we just waited for the victory.

"It was a good lesson for us."

Poland secured a 25-22, 25-13, 25-15 win against hosts China.

At Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Tokyo, Brazil were made to work hard for a sixth successive victory against Pool 7 rivals Argentina.

Argentina took a 2-1 lead by edging a tight third set but the Brazilians were in no mood to roll over and took the next two sets to win 25-20, 21-25, 26-28, 25-23, 15-12.

Iran, whose only loss of the season to date had come in Friday's 3-2 reverse against Brazil, climbed to second with a 25-22, 25-21, 25-19 victory.

Ben Patch top-scored for the United States as they recorded a second Nations League win of the campaign against Portugal.

Patch racked up 20 points for the US as they sealed a 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17 win in Pool 6.

The final Pool 8 matches will see hosts Canada meet Serbia at TD Place Arena in Ottawa, with Australia taking on Germany.

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