French handball players know their opponents

By Le Figaro with AFP

Published 1 minute ago, Updated now

French and Norwegian women faced each other in the final of the 2023 World Cup. Ane Frosaker / SPP / SPP / Panoramic

Following the draw carried out this Tuesday, April 16, Norway and France will not be pitted against each other in the same group group during the Paris 2024 Games.

The French handball players, world champions and in search of a second consecutive Olympic coronation, avoid Norway, their rival N.1, in their group for the Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11), according to the draw carried out Tuesday at Paris.

They find themselves in a pool made up of the Netherlands, Hungary, Spain, Brazil and Angola. The particular configuration, which allows the host country to choose between group A and group B once the first 10 nations have been drawn, allowed Olivier Krumbholz, the coach of the French team, to opt for group B and thus avoid Norway, with a single objective “finish first in the group”.

According to him, “pool A is made up of big teams” and would have given rise to many “difficult matches” he told AFP. He specifies that this choice of group will allow his team “to arrive with more freshness in the final phase” against “teams which will perhaps leave a lot of energy to avoid France in the quarter-final”.

Hungary to start

If the Bleues and the Norwegian European champions, who have shared all the international titles since the Tokyo Olympics, finish as expected in first place in their group, they could only potentially meet in the final on August 10 at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d’Ascq.

To reach the quarter-finals, Estelle Nze Minko’s band must rank among the four best teams in their group of six completed by the Netherlands, Hungary, Spain, Brazil and Angola. A formality a priori for a team at the top of its art during the last World Cup in December in Herning (Denmark) where it took the lead over Norway in the final (31-28).

Especially since the exclusion of Russia, finalist of the last two Olympic tournaments, each time against the French, opened the table by excluding a leading contender selection.

His players can offer a grand finale to coach Olivier Krumbholz: Messin, with all the international medals for the French women’s team in two mandates (1998-2013 and 2016-2024) announced that these Games would be his last. The start of the end is scheduled for July 25 against Hungary at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center for Les Bleues’ entry into the running.

Group A : Norway, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Denmark, Republic of Korea

Group B : France, Hungary, Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, Angola