The one in 1966 was the last win at a WCH which I and the FIVB were referring to. Otherwise, with all official international tournaments into account, the Netherlands beat Brazil last at the World League 2010, 3-0 away in Brazil. This must be the last time they beat Brazil, I believe.
Oh I see. So the last Dutch victory was not from such a distant past, compared with my memory 
I watched the game between the Netherlands and Brazil yesterday, though not with full attention. My impression is that the match didn't have many long rallies, compared with the other games later that day (USA vs RUS, ARG vs ITA). The Dutch used strong serves and powerful attacks to destroy the Brazilian opponent. Canada must have watched this game and may try to reproduce what the Dutch has done.
The game between Argentina and Italy is the most entertaining game to me. Both teams have good ball control and deliver a high-quality game filled with long rallies and momentum switch. To me, Argentina was simply robbed by the referee for Set 3 and even the entire match. Sole's quick spike delivered by Cavanna's underhand set is perfect and no one could keep calm when such a hard-earned point was lost. I'm surprised with the Argentine team's composure after the match (still shaking hands with the first referee).
On the other hand, it's good to see that Slovenia has improved as a team since 2015, the first year in which they shone at the elite stage. The improvement comes from a better-quality bench for the S, OH and OPP positions, and also a decent MB playing opposite Pajenk. I hope that they could go far in this tournament.
Fearless start for Netherland but it was not enough to seal the first set.
In the two matches against the powerhouses Brazil and France, the Netherlands has used all the 14 players. More importantly, each of them have got considerable court time, not just serving as serving or blocking substitutes. Kudos to this Dutch team for pulling this stunning performance with the effort from the entire team!
Wasnt Gijs Jorna a libero? It is weird to see him spiking and going to block.
Wasnt Gijs Jorna a libero? It is weird to see him spiking and going to block.
It's something Vermeulen apparently loves to do. Also when he was coach of Spain women NT he sometimes used a libero as OH...
Obviously you could tell whether the French blockers touched Parkinson's spike by reading their face.
Big congrats to the Dutch team.
What a thrilling finish in NED-FRA 
That last ball didn't look touched to me though, not even in the challenge replay 
Gotta love the dutch team
NETHERRLAAAAAAANNNNNDS 
That was spectacular, definitely a fan of Netherlands now. Although, last challenge still didn't look like a touch. Really liked the announcer as well!
I thought Toniutti, Grebennikov and Lyneel were great, Boyer and Le Goffe were pretty good too.
All of Netherlands was great even though they almost never set the middles.
France has put themselves in the bad position now. I have no idea why Tillie benched Rossard. No words.
With this loss, not only France is in a critic position, but also Brazil.
If tomorrow Canada beats Brazil and the southamericans doesnt get any single point, the situation would be even worse.
I know Canada already beat Brazil 3-0 in the VNL, but in that match, TJ Sander played an outstanding role as well as Schimtt. Without their main setter, I doubt Canada could do the same.
Congrats to Netherlands! Two great victories in two days. They didn't play well against Canada but they showed better performances..
Really disappointed by Mauricio and Wallace, I would never mix volley and politics especially if the ideas are so out of the world.
As one of the many volleyball fans who loves the French team because of their superb ball control and some magical plays from N'gapeth, I started rooting for the Dutch team in the latter part of Set 4. Their presence in this WCH made this edition so memorable and interesting.
France, on the contrary, IMO is overrated in terms of the entire team, their captain-setter Toniutti, and their ace spiker N'gapeth. While having excellent ball control has been a long tradition for the French team, this team lacks some offensive force when compared with the other strongest teams in the world. The team is always commended for their depth in the OH positions, but indeed it's been a headache for Laurent Tillie to find out the optimal duo alongside N'gapeth. The problem started getting amplified from 2016, after Kevin Tillie got injured in WCH 2016. Prior to that, he's been a "lubricant" on court who contributes to the team's reception, defense, and also the offensive end to a certain extent. At that time, there are no obvious weak links to the French starting squad, except for Rouzier who's a bomb on the court that may explode at critical moments.
After Kevin Tillie got injured and never returns to his prime, you can easily see that none of the OHs other than N'gapeth, namely, Kevin himself, Marashal, Clevenot, Lyneel and Rossard, are good enough to be stable starters for the team. That's tied with the second area where France is overrated: N'gapeth. N'gapeth is always the NT's go-to hitter at crunch time. He's undoubtedly a world-class OH, who's well-rounded overall and delivers entertaining monster spikes at times, but he's not in the same tier in the spiking category as Mikhaylov, Anderson, Lucarelli and Kliuka. N'gapeth is still limited by his height and gets blocked a lot; in addition, his performance is never stable. He's in the same league as those US OHs in my eyes. The French setters may be aware of this fact, but they keep overusing him because there are no better, more reliable options on the court. Rouzier and Boyer are both strong hitters but at the same time emotionally vulnerable. Therefore, whoever plays opposite N'gapeth cannot just be back-row specialists. He also has to offer ammunition to support N'gapeth and the OPP. Clevenot perhaps is already the closest option in this category, but he's injured now, so you may say that it leaves room for me to make fairy tales out of him.
Toniutti's setting skill is always considered the world's best. However, after several major tournaments, I've found his well-received recognition increasingly questionable. Is his setting really that precise? Is his performance stable throughout the match? The emotional vulnerability is the biggest hurdle for this French team to achieve the biggest successes in major tournaments, and Toniutti is also known for choking at big times. His lack of consistency and conservative setting style surfaces when it comes to the latter stage of an important game. Considering his overall quality by taking into account his height disadvantage, I'd rate him inferior to other setters like Bruno, De Cecco, Christenson, Giannelli and TJ Sanders.
The only underrated part of the French team is Le Goff. After following many matches from the French team, I've found him to be the only player who consistently delivers throughout the games. Four years ago, he's not as good as Le Roux, but he's improved a lot since then. The French team could have considered to establish him as the second most trustworthy link such that N'gapeth would not be so helpless when the team is in crisis. Currently, he's so underused comparing his quality of play and the relative performance of his teammates.
Wow!! Congrats to the Ned!! This time Abdel Aziz played as well, for the record 
About Italy, not a very exiting match, but I must say I expected less from Rep Dom: the difference I saw on curt seemed less than the results said.
I hope it's not a temporary thing, but Giannelli improved a lot his second-intention attack.
After following many matches from the French team, I've found him to be the only player who consistently delivers throughout the games.
What about Grebennikov?
With this loss, not only France is in a critic position, but also Brazil.
If tomorrow Canada beats Brazil and the southamericans doesnt get any single point, the situation would be even worse.
I know Canada already beat Brazil 3-0 in the VNL, but in that match, TJ Sander played an outstanding role as well as Schimtt. Without their main setter, I doubt Canada could do the same.
Actually, if what Brazil's all after is the top position of this pool, a Dutch victory could be in favor of them. If Brazil prevails in the last two games, they will top the pool. If France didn't lose to the Netherlands, Brazil may still not win the pool even if they collect victories in both of the last two games.
What about Grebennikov?
Grebennikov is definitely world-class, but I don't think he's underrated lol
I recall that there are few matches where Grebennikov didn't perform well in the past year. The VNL final is one where he could have played better.
Rossard spiked 63% today but he was benched when the team was down in the latter of set 3. He did nothing wrong. I guess it's the Laurent's fault at this point. Lyneel dug a lot of balls today but his reception was inconsistent. Setter didnt trust him when he was in front.
Toniutti's performance was mediocre. He had many bad choices at the beginning of set 3.
Grebennikov is the worst today. He couldn't dig,passed poorly.
As a fan of both Canada and France, I hope Canada beats Brazil to secure no.1 spot and France will beat Canada in the last match.
It's likely that France will face Poland, Russia and Argentina in the second round. They have to win all the matches to remain in the competition which I think it's really hard considering their performance in this tournament.