Egypt slumped to their first defeat at the World Championship in Qatar after losing 28-24 to European heavyweights France on Sunday.

The Pharaohs were lively in the early stages, maintaing a narrow lead over France but the European champions benefited from Egypt's naive mistakes to lead 14-11 at halftime.

Eight Egyptian players were suspended for two minutes during the game, affecting the team's performance against a fresh French side.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Egypt remained brave with a bold approach  but the experienced French side managed to end the tie with a four-goal lead.

Egypt, who thrashed Algeria 34-20 in the group opener on Friday, will meet Czech Republic in their third match on Tuesday.