France have won so much in recent years, with their Tokyo Olympic title only the most recent example, it seems hard to believe the last of their three EHF EURO titles dates back to 2014.
After winning just one of their three games and going out after the preliminary round two years ago, France are eager to live up to their billing as one of the main gold favourites at the EHF EURO 2022 in Hungary and Slovakia.
Main facts:
- France surprisingly failed to beat Serbia in the qualifiers: 27:24 defeat away, 26:26 draw at home
- France were eliminated in the preliminary round at EHF EURO 2020, after losing to Norway and Portugal
- France have won the EHF EURO three times: in 2006, 2010 and 2014
- Nikola Karabatic could become the first non-Swedish player to win the EHF EURO for a fourth time
- France will face Croatia, Serbia and Ukraine in group C, scheduled in the new PICK Aréna in Szeged.
Main question: What has changed for France since the 2020 debacle?
EHF EURO 2020 was a disaster for France. Having won bronze in Croatia in 2018, the three-time champions went home after the preliminary round two years later after another loss to Portugal, who had been giving them trouble several times in recent years.
With coach Guillame Gille replacing Didier Dinart, France soon found the upward trend again, reaching the World Championship semi-final in January 2021 and going all the way at the Tokyo Olympics seven months later.
Gille has been trying to find the right balance between experienced players and young talents. Nikola Karabatic and new captain Valentin Porte are now in the driving seat of a car powered by the likes of Nédim Rémili and Dika Mem
Under the spotlight: Vincent Gerard
The 35-year-old goalkeeper is a late bloomer, especially in the national team. For a long time, Gerard has been in the shadow of Thierry Omeyer but he has stepped up to the occasion after his former colleague’s retirement in June 2019.
Gerard was instrumental for France’s gold rush at the Olympics last summer, where he was named the All-star goalkeeper, and has continued his superb form throughout the first part of the EHF Champions League season.
Did you know?
If France were to lift the trophy in Budapest on 30 January, Nikola Karabatic would become the first non-Swedish player to win the EHF EURO for a fourth time. The only five players who achieved this feat in the past were all part of that legendary Swedish generation: Magnus Andersson, Ola Lindgren, Stefan Lövgren, Staffan Olsson and Magnus Wislander, who won the European Championship in 1994, 1998, 2000 and 2002.
Other French players with three EHF EURO titles, like Luc Abalo and Michaël Guigou, have meanwhile retired from the national team.
What the numbers say
4. France used to win the EHF EURO every four years, winning the title in 2006, 2010 and 2014. The broke the chain with a bronze medal in 2018, but would be more than happy to get back to their four-year rhythm in Hungary and Slovakia in 2022.
Past achievements
Men’s EHF EURO participations (including 2022): 15
Winners (3): 2006, 2010, 2014
Bronze (2): 2008, 2018
Fourth (1): 2000
