Thanks to its forceps victory against Hungary (35-32), the France team has reached the stage of the semi-finals in the Egyptian World Cup. The contract is already fulfilled but it would be a shame to stop there … Against Sweden (5.30 p.m. on BeIN Sports and TMC), the Blues will have only one goal: to play the final on Sunday (against Spain or the Denmark) to obtain a 7th world championship title. In front of them, the Swedes will have nothing to lose. “Two years and three years ago, we made the last four and each time, we took a volley in the semi-finals”, distrusts Valentin Porte.
Objective: final … and medal
Before the competition, few were those who thought that France would manage to distinguish itself in this World Cup. Seven victories later and no defeat, the Blues make you dream again. Even without Nikola Karabatic injured, the group is strong and united.
The old ones show the way, the youngest assure, and the coach Guillaume Gille will perhaps find himself on the roof of the world for his first competition on the bench. The France team displays an insolent baraka which allowed it to get out of previous traps, including the last against Hungary (35-32). Even without Thimotey N’Guessan and Luka Karabatic, both injured, she has the assets to reach the final and the assured medal that goes with it.
Sweden and its triumphant youth in reconquest
We may have forgotten it, but Sweden has been a great country of handball. In the 1990s and at the start of the next decade, she won two Worlds, four Euros, and finished 2nd in four Olympics! It is above all a team with a very Scandinavian style of play, sturdy, applied, effective in particular thanks to Montpellier’s Lucas Pellas, 25 years old.
The selection of European vice-champion in 2018 has few flaws if not his possible youth with Lucas Pellas (25 years), Alfred Jönsson (22 years) or Valter Chrintz (20 years). “Sweden has good shooters from afar and everything is led by its playing master, Jim Gottfridsson, always impactful and determining, advance Erick Mathé, Guillaume Gille’s assistant. With the absence of goalkeeper Mikael Appelgreen, Andreas Palicka is the undisputed number one and he takes his responsibilities well. “
For thirty years, France has regularly attended the semi-finals of the World Championships. With two exceptions, 1999 and 2013 when his adventure ended in the quarterfinals. The only selection of the last non-seeded square at the start of the competition, France was able to thwart the predictions after a failed Euro a year ago (14th).
The last world title of the Blues dates back to 2017. During the golden decade of the hand tricolor (2006-2017), they had won almost everything (4 Worlds, 3 Euros and 2 Olympic Games).
