The Poles shocked Iran 26-24, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20 whose performance was done a disservice by the scoreline.

Earlier in the Iranian capital's Azadi Hall, Bulgaria had stunned Russia 3-2 to gain the first ticket to the final.

It was the second meeting between Poland and Iran in the competition, with the European side taking down the hosts 3-0 in the pool stage.

Iran will now fight for third place against Russia in the bronze medal match on the final day of the competition.

Iran's capture of the third set was the first time that Poland had lost a set in the entire tournament.

Bulgaria began terribly against the Russians but regained their composure to win the match 14-25, 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 15-13.

This guarantees the Bulgarians at least a silver medal, which is the first time in 32 years that they have achieved this feat in the championship.

Georgi Tatarov's performance was key in Bulgaria's win as he produced five vital blocks and he ended the match as his team's highest scorer on 23 points.

In the classification round for positions five to eight, Argentina beat Germany 3-0, to set up a fifth-place match against Italy which beat Brazil 3-0.

Czech Republic and India will meet tomorrow to decide ninth place following their respective victories over Belgium and Egypt.

Elsewhere, Thailand beat Colombia 3-2 and Nigeria defeated Cuba with the same score line to advance to the 13^th place match.

The tournament is scheduled to reach its climax tomorrow when Poland and Bulgaria meet at the Azadi Indoor Stadium.

Bulgaria looks for its maiden title while Poland will hope to double its tally following its 2015 triumph.