France sweep Brazil 3-0 to reach London semifinals against China

France did not edge into the semifinals. It tore through Brazil 3-0 in the quarterfinals at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026, a result that sent the French into a last-four clash with China and made them look like more than a feel-good story.

Brazil had already survived a 3-2 round-of-16 battle with England, so the expectation was a tense quarterfinal. Instead, France controlled the tie from the first match at OVO Arena Wembley, one of the two London venues hosting the centenary edition of the championships, staged 100 years after the inaugural world championships in England in 1926.

Flavien Coton set the tone immediately by beating Hugo Calderano 12-10, 11-8, 11-9. That opening win mattered because it took away Brazil’s best chance to seize control and forced the rest of the tie to be played on France’s terms. Coton’s serving was disciplined, his first-ball pressure fearless, and the result was a clean statement from an 18-year-old ranked senior world No. 23 by World Table Tennis.

Félix Lebrun then widened the gap with a ruthless 11-4, 11-2, 11-4 win over Guilherme Teodoro. There was no wobble, no concession of momentum, and no sign that Brazil could drag the match into the kind of scramble that sometimes changes a knockout tie. France were simply quicker, sharper and more certain in the key rallies.

Alexis Lebrun completed the sweep with a 3-1 victory over Leonardo Iizuka, 11-13, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7. Even after losing the first game, France never looked rattled. The response was immediate and decisive, with the middle games played at a tempo and with a tactical clarity that separated a contender from a team merely enjoying a run.

That is what makes the semifinal against China so compelling. France have already shown they can survive pressure, as they did in the group stage against Japan when Coton saved four match points against Shunsuke Togami in a dramatic 3-2 comeback. Now they have shown they can impose themselves on a higher-ranked opponent without needing a rescue act. Against China, that blueprint will be tested properly, but France have earned the right to be taken seriously.