Rwanda finished sixth at the 2026 Africa Men’s Nations Volleyball Championship after falling to Egypt in straight sets (16-25, 21-25, 24-26) in the 5th-6th place classification playoff held on Thursday.

It was only the second meeting between Rwanda and Egypt at the continental championship at senior national team level. Their first encounter came in 2017, when Egypt defeated Rwanda and ended their hopes of reaching the semifinals.

French coach Frederic Guerin was hoping to lead Rwanda past Egypt and secure fifth place, an improvement on the team’s sixth-place finish at their previous appearance.

He kept the same starting six from the previous match, with outside hitter Yves Mutabazi and captain Wicklif Dusenge helping Rwanda compete early on. However, their combined contribution of five points was not enough to prevent Egypt from taking the opening set 25-16.

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In the second set, Guerin made a change in an attempt to strengthen Rwanda’s defence, bringing middle blocker Prince Kanamugire on for Emmy Twagirayezu. Despite the adjustment, Rwanda continued to struggle to maintain a consistent collective scoring effort, allowing Egypt to control the set and win it 25-21.

Rwanda pushed harder in the decisive third set, with Samuel Niyonshima, Twagirayezu, Mutabazi and Dusenge working to keep the team in contention and avoid a straight-set defeat.

However, Egypt held their nerve in the closing stages to win 26-24, securing fifth place while Rwanda settled for sixth.