France is world champion! The French team beat Norway (31-28) in the World Cup final in Herning, Denmark. Twenty years almost to the day after the first coronation, France is on the roof of the world for the third time in its history after another triumph in 2017. The blue jersey now has a third star. Olivier Krumbholz’s Bleues took their revenge on their Norwegian rivals who won the last final in 2021 and sent France back to its doubts in the semi-final of the last Euro. It’s awesome.
With this final between the two best teams on the planet, we had the match we expected: intense, magnificent. In a Danish room won over to the Norwegian cause, the two nations returned blows for blows. Faced with the power and precision of the shots, the defenses and goalkeepers were not always celebrating. In the first half, we believed after 10 minutes of play that Norway had taken a dangerous advantage (5-8, 12th). We also thought that France had done the hard part by taking a 3-goal lead (17-14, 24th; 18-15, 25th) to reach the break with the same lead (20-17, 30th).
Against Norway, 2021 world champion and European champion a year ago, there is never a match won before the final whistle. Ask the Danes, who had a 5-goal lead at half-time in the semi-final and lost in overtime, what they think. Three goals ahead is obviously good but against these Scandinavian devils, it’s not enough. Maintain the pressure without putting the opponent back in the match: this is the mission imposed on the Bleues in the second half. The goals continued to pile up. The Blue preserved their lead (24-21, 37th).
Each attack and all defensive phases have become crucial. A quarter of an hour from the end, there were still these three goals in advance (26-23, 45th). And then the goalkeepers started to find the solution and the match became more defensive. The lead faded (26-25, 50th) at the start of money time then it rose again (28-25, 52nd) in a hell of a mano-a-mano. It became tense as expected. But the Norwegians did not return. The Blue won (31-28). France is world champion.
In six months, the two teams will meet again at the Olympic Games. It’s going to be big. We’re already looking forward to it.
