France national handball team

Last updated

France
France national handball team logo.png
Information
Nickname1992: les Bronzés
1993–1996: les Barjots
2001–2008: les Costauds
2008–: les Experts
Association French Handball Federation
Coach Guillaume Gille
Captain Cédric Sorhaindo
Most caps Jackson Richardson (417)
Most goals Jérôme Fernandez (1452)
Colours
Kit left arm ffhb14h.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body ffhb14h.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm ffhb14h.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts ffhb14h.png
Kit shorts.svg
Home
Kit left arm ffhb14a.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body ffhb14a.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm ffhb14a.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts ffhb14a.png
Kit shorts.svg
Away
Results
Summer Olympics
Appearances7 (First in 1992 )
Best result1st (2008, 2012)
World Championship
Appearances22 (First in 1954 )
Best result1st (1995, 2001, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017)
European Championship
Appearances14 (First in 1994 )
Best result1st (2006, 2010, 2014)
Last updated on Unknown.
France national handball team
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2008 Beijing Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2012 London Team
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1992 Barcelona Team
World Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1995 Iceland
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2001 France
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2009 Croatia
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2011 Sweden
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2015 Qatar
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2017 France
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1993 Sweden
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1997 Japan
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2003 Portugal
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2005 Tunisia
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2019 Germany/Denmark
European Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2006 Switzerland
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2010 Austria
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2014 Denmark
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Norway
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2018 Croatia

The France national handball team is supervised by the French Handball Federation, and represents France in international matches. It is the first handball team to have held all three titles twice (the Danish women's team also held all three in 1997), and the only national team in its sport to hold six world titles and a total of eleven medals at the World Men's Handball Championship. With a total of four medals, including two gold in 2008 and 2012, France is also the most successful Handball team at the Summer Olympics. France's men handball team is widely regarded as the finest national team in the history of the sport.

Contents

Results at international tournaments

Since the 1990s, France has emerged as a major handball team. France won the bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics, giving birth to their first nickname: les Bronzés (meaning tanned in French, a reference both to bronze and to cult French film Les Bronzés). This led to an increased popularity of the sport in France, which was already one of the most popular in primary and secondary schools.

One year after their Olympic medal, les Bronzés reached the final of the 1993 World Championship, which they lost against Russia.

In 1995, France won the World Championship in Iceland, defeating Croatia in the final. The team became known as les Barjots because the players played the final with an extravagant haircut (barjot is a slang word for crazy in French).

The team finished 4th in the 1996 Summer Olympics (France lost the bronze medal game to Spain, whom they had beaten in the first round). France finished third a year later in the 1997 World Championship. The team finished 6th in the 1999 World Championship and in the 2000 Summer Olympics.

France won the world title again in the 2001 World Championship organised in France. During both their quarterfinal and final, against Germany and Sweden respectively, they were one goal behind until a few seconds before the end of the game, but scored a late goal and finally win in overtime with a three-goal margin. This great strength of character was cause for their new nickname: les Costauds (the strong, or the tough). Five members of les Costauds had already been world champions in 1995 with les Barjots: Jackson Richardson, Grégory Anquetil, Patrick Cazal, and the goalkeepers Bruno Martini and Christian Gaudin.

The team finished third in the 2003 World Championship. In the 2004 Olympics, the teamed finished 5th. Although they won their five games of the preliminary round, the team went down to an ageing Russian team led by 42-year-old goalkeeper Andrey Lavrov in the quarterfinals (24–26).

In the 2005 World Championship, France finished third again. This was the last international competition played by Jackson Richardson, a veteran from the first team les Bronzés. The retirement of their star meant for the French team the final transition between the early successes and the new generation of players.

In 2006 France won for the first time the European Championship, a competition in which they had never won a medal until then. In the final, they overwhelmed Spain, the reigning world champions (31–23), against whom they had lost the opening match in the preliminary round.

In 2008, France finished third in the European Championship. They were undefeated until the semi-final, which they lost to Croatia.

France won the gold medal in the Beijing Olympics. The French players elected to call themselves Les Experts, which is the French title for the TV show CSI in France. The team won the gold medal in the 2008 handball tournament in Beijing, defeating underdogs Iceland in the final (28–23). Thierry Omeyer, Daniel Narcisse and Bertrand Gille were voted into the tournament's All Star team.

France won the world title again in 2009 at the 2009 World Championship, hosted by Croatia, against the organizing country, and the European title in 2010 in Austria, once more against Croatia. As a result, they became the first men's team to hold the three major titles in the sport (olympic title, world title and European title) simultaneously (Denmark women's national handball team held all three titles in 1997). It also became the third team to have won all three titles ever, the other two being Germany and Russia.

In the 2011 World Championship, France held its title, winning against Denmark (37–35 after extra time). This victory, in addition to granting an automatic participation to the 2012 Olympics, marked several achievements:

The 2012 and 2013 years were a mixed bag for the team; after an unexpected setback at the 2012 European championship where the team ended up in 11th place, it went on to be the first national handball team to retain the Olympic title at the London Olympic games. In 2013, they ended up being defeated by Croatia in this year's world championship.

2014 saw France regain its European title after losing it in 2012. Of note is that just like in 2009, the team ended up winning the final against the host country.

In 2015, they won their 5th World Champion title against host country Qatar. Thierry Omeyer was elected Most Valuable Player of the tournament; this was the first time in the IHF history that a goalkeeper was elected as an MVP. By doing so, they became the first team in the history of the sport to hold the three major titles for the second time.

In 2016, Les Experts lost their Olympic title in Rio, finishing second after a defeat in final against Denmark.

In 2017, they won their 6th World Champion title at home against Norway (33–26). Nikola Karabatic was elected Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Thierry Omeyer and Daniel Narcisse retired after the tournament, with two Olympic gold medals, three European titles, and respectively five and four world championship titles.

Honours

Olympic Games
World Championship
European Championship


CompetitionGold medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svgTotal
Olympic Games 2114
World Championship 61411
European Championship 3025
Total112720

Competitive record

    Champions      Runners-up       Third place       Fourth place  

Olympic Games

GamesRoundPositionPldWDLGFGAGD
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg 1936 Berlin Did not participate
Flag of Germany.svg 1972 Munich Did not qualify
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg 1976 Montreal
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg 1980 Moscow
Flag of the United States.svg 1984 Los Angeles
Flag of South Korea.svg 1988 Seoul
Flag of Spain.svg 1992 Barcelona Third place3rd of 127502157143+14
Flag of the United States.svg 1996 Atlanta Fourth place4th of 127403190165+25
Flag of Australia (converted).svg 2000 Sydney Match for 5th place6th of 128413192182+10
Flag of Greece.svg 2004 Athens Match for 5th place5th of 128701221176+45
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg 2008 Beijing Champions1st of 128710228185+43
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg 2012 London Champions1st of 128701229175+54
Flag of Brazil.svg 2016 Rio de Janeiro Runners-up2nd of 128602241201+40
Flag of Japan.svg 2020 Tokyo TBD
Total7/142 Titles54402121,4581,227+231

World Championship

YearRoundPositionGPWDLGSGA
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg 1938 Did not qualify
Flag of Sweden.svg 1954 Preliminary Round630122661
Flag of East Germany.svg 1958 Preliminary Round931026657
Flag of Germany.svg 1961 Main Round861054273
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg 1964 Preliminary Round1430034164
Flag of Sweden.svg 1967 Preliminary Round1031023441
Flag of France.svg 1970 Preliminary Round11610580105
Flag of East Germany.svg 1974 Did not qualify
Flag of Denmark.svg 1978 Preliminary Round1630035497
Flag of Germany.svg 1982 Did not qualify
Flag of Switzerland.svg 1986 Did not qualify
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg 1990 Second round96213138138
Flag of Sweden.svg 1993 Runners-up Silver medal icon.svg 6402134131
Flag of Iceland.svg 1995 Champions Gold medal icon.svg 9702218185
Flag of Japan.svg 1997 Third place Bronze medal icon.svg 9702223206
Flag of Egypt.svg 1999 Quarter-finals69603242211
Flag of France.svg 2001 Champions Gold medal icon.svg 9900233172
Flag of Portugal.svg 2003 Third place Bronze medal icon.svg 10802286218
Flag of Tunisia.svg 2005 Third place Bronze medal icon.svg 10622301240
Flag of Germany.svg 2007 Fourth place410604300243
Flag of Croatia.svg 2009 Champions Gold medal icon.svg 10901296211
Flag of Sweden.svg 2011 Champions Gold medal icon.svg 10910327245
Flag of Spain.svg 2013 Quarter-finals67502207182
Flag of Qatar.svg 2015 Champions Gold medal icon.svg 9810259215
Flag of France.svg 2017 Champions Gold medal icon.svg 9900282218
Flag of Denmark.svg / Flag of Germany.svg 2019 Third place Bronze medal icon.svg 10712278251
Flag of Egypt.svg 2021 Qualified
Flag of Poland.svg / Flag of Sweden.svg 2023 TBD
Flag of Croatia.svg / Flag of Denmark.svg / Flag of Norway.svg 2025
Flag of Germany.svg 2027
Total25/286 titles1601066*4840673564

European Championship

YearRoundPositionGPWDLGSGA
Flag of Portugal.svg 1994 5th/6th place65212123120
Flag of Spain.svg 1996 7th/8th place75302130120
Flag of Italy.svg 1998 7th/8th place75113110125
Flag of Croatia.svg 2000 Fourth place47412173164
Flag of Sweden.svg 2002 5th/6th place66321152136
Flag of Slovenia.svg 2004 5th/6th place66303163154
Flag of Switzerland.svg 2006 Champions1 Gold medal europe.svg 8701243192
Flag of Norway.svg 2008 Third place3 Bronze medal europe.svg 8602231207
Flag of Austria.svg 2010 Champions1 Gold medal europe.svg 8620225196
Flag of Serbia.svg 2012 Main round116213156163
Flag of Denmark.svg 2014 Champions1 Gold medal europe.svg 8701259227
Flag of Poland.svg 2016 5th/6th place57502210182
Flag of Croatia.svg 2018 Third place3 Bronze medal europe.svg 8701244212
Flag of Austria.svg Flag of Norway.svg Flag of Sweden.svg 2020 Preliminary round1431028279
Flag of Hungary.svg Flag of Slovakia.svg 2022 To be determined
Flag of Germany.svg 2024
Total14/163 titles90578*2525012277
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided in a penalty shootout.

Current squad

Squad for the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship. [1] [2]

Head coach: Didier Dinart

No.Pos.NameDate of birth (age)HeightApp.GoalsClub
5RB Nedim Remili (1995-07-18) 18 July 1995 (age 24)1.95 m69216 Flag of France.svg Paris Saint-Germain
7CB Romain Lagarde (1997-03-05) 5 March 1997 (age 23)1.94 m3952 Flag of Germany.svg Rhein-Neckar Löwen
8LB Elohim Prandi (1998-08-24) 24 August 1998 (age 21)1.93 m717 Flag of France.svg USAM Nîmes Gard
9CB Melvyn Richardson (1997-01-30) 30 January 1997 (age 23)1.90 m2261 Flag of France.svg Montpellier Handball
10RB Dika Mem (1997-08-31) 31 August 1997 (age 22)1.94 m49136 Flag of Spain.svg Barça
11P Nicolas Tournat (1994-04-05) 5 April 1994 (age 26)2.00 m3129 Flag of France.svg HBC Nantes
12GK Vincent Gérard (1986-12-16) 16 December 1986 (age 33)1.89 m9714 Flag of France.svg Paris Saint-Germain
13CB Nikola Karabatić (1984-04-11) 11 April 1984 (age 36)1.96 m3131210 Flag of France.svg Paris Saint-Germain
15LW Mathieu Grébille (1991-10-06) 6 October 1991 (age 28)1.98 m77119 Flag of France.svg Montpellier Handball
16GK Yann Genty (1981-12-26) 26 December 1981 (age 38)1.85 m60 Flag of France.svg Chambéry Savoie Mont-Blanc HB
19RW Luc Abalo (1984-09-06) 6 September 1984 (age 35)1.82 m262805 Flag of France.svg Paris Saint-Germain
20P Cédric Sorhaindo (1984-06-07) 7 June 1984 (age 36)1.92 m220425 Flag of Spain.svg Barça
21LW Michaël Guigou (1982-01-28) 28 January 1982 (age 38)1.80 m283970 Flag of France.svg USAM Nîmes Gard
23P Ludovic Fabregas (1996-07-01) 1 July 1996 (age 23)1.98 m72131 Flag of Spain.svg Barça
24GK Wesley Pardin (1990-01-01) 1 January 1990 (age 30)1.95 m150 Flag of France.svg Pays d'Aix UC
26CB Nicolas Claire (1987-07-10) 10 July 1987 (age 32)1.90 m4345 Flag of France.svg Pays d’Aix UC
27RB Adrien Dipanda (1988-05-03) 3 May 1988 (age 32)2.02 m7791 Flag of France.svg Saint-Raphaël Var Handball
28RW Valentin Porte (1990-09-07) 7 September 1990 (age 29)1.90 m124313 Flag of France.svg Montpellier Handball

Kit suppliers

Since 2002, France's kit is supplied by Adidas.

Media Coverage

France's matches are currently televised by beIN Sports since 2015.

Related Research Articles

The European Men's Handball Championship is the official competition for senior men's national handball teams of Europe and takes place every two years since 1994, in the even-numbered year between the World Championship. In addition to crowning the European champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games and World Championship. The most successful team is Sweden who have won four titles. Spain, however, have won most medals.

Didier Dinart French handball player

Didier Dinart is a French retired handball player and current coach.

Croatia national handball team Olympic handball team

The Croatia national handball team represents Croatia in international men's team handball competitions and friendly matches. The handball team is controlled by the Croatian Handball Federation.

Ivano Balić Croatian handball player

Ivano Balić is a Croatian former professional handballer, World and Olympic champion. He was voted 5 times in a row as the most valuable player in major international competitions, and is one of only four male handball players who received the IHF World Player of the Year award on two occasions. He was voted the best handball player in history in an online poll organised by the International Handball Federation.

Denmark national handball team

The Denmark men’s national handball team is controlled by the Danish Handball Association and represents Denmark in international matches. They are the team with the second most medals won in European Championship history on the men's side behind only Spain, with a total of six medals, those being two gold medals, one silver (2014) and three bronze medals. As of January 2019, they are the reigning Olympic and World Champions.

Sport in Spain overview of sports activities within Spain

Sport in Spain in the second half of the 20th century has always been dominated by football. Other popular sport activities include basketball, tennis, cycling, Cricket handball, motorcycling, Judo, Formula One, water sports, rhythmic gymnastics, golf, bullfighting and skiing. Spain has also hosted a number of international events such as the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 1982 FIFA World Cup. With Rafael Nadal's Wimbledon championships in 2008 and 2010, the tennis team winning the Davis Cup five times, basketball team winning the 2006 World Basketball Championship, the 2009 EuroBasket, and the 2011 EuroBasket, Fernando Alonso's back-to-back Formula One championships, the football team bringing home Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 trophies and Óscar Pereiro, Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre's 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 triumphs in Tour de France more recently, several papers have looked beyond Sastre's win to claim that Spain is enjoying something of a sporting "Golden Age"-similar to the Spanish 17th century achievements in painting and literature.

Mirza Džomba Croatian handball player

Mirza Džomba is a Croatian former professional handball player, World champion in 2003 and Olympic champion in 2004.

Montenegro womens national handball team

The Montenegro women's national handball team is the national team of Montenegro. It is governed by the Handball Federation of Montenegro and takes part in international handball competitions.

Mirko Bašić is a former Croatian handball player who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics and in the 1988 Summer Olympics. He has also played six EHF Champions League finals winning two in 1984-85 and 1985-86 as part of the famous RK Metaloplastika which dominated European handball in the 1980s.

Zlatko Saračević Croatian handball player

Zlatan "Zlatko" Saračević is a Croatian former professional handball player who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics for SFR Yugoslavia and in the 1996 Summer Olympics for Croatia. He is currently the head coach of RK Podravka.

Bojana Radulović Hungarian handball player

Bojana Radulović is a retired Yugoslav and Hungarian handball player who currently leads the handball academy of Dunaújváros.

Claude Onesta French handball player

Claude Onesta,, is a French handball coach, responsible of France's Men's handball team from 2001 to 2016.

Igor Vori Croatian handball player

Igor Vori is a Croatian handball coach and former professional player who currently manages RK Zagreb. Vori competed for Croatia in the 2004, 2008 and the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Thierry Omeyer French handball player

Thierry Omeyer is a retired French handball goalkeeper.

Ágnes Farkas Hungarian handball player

Ágnes Farkas is a retired Hungarian team handball player. She has been a European champion, and Olympic Games and World Championship silver medalist.

Patrik Ćavar is a retired Croatian handball player. The legendary left wing played in Croatia for Mehanika Metković, Badel 1862 Zagreb and Agram Medveščak, in Bosnia and Herzegovina for Borac Banja Luka, in Spain for FC Barcelona, BM Granollers, and in France for Saint-Marcel Vernon.

2011 World Mens Handball Championship 2011 edition of the IIHF World Mens Handball Championship

The 2011 World Men's Handball Championship, the 22nd event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Sweden from 13–30 January, 2011. All matches were played in Malmö, Lund, Kristianstad, Gothenburg, Skövde, Jönköping, Linköping and Norrköping.

The French Handball Federation (FFHB) is the national handball association in France. Founded on 1 September 1941, FFHB organizes handball and beach handball within France and represents France internationally. It sorts under the French Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The federation is a member of the European Handball Federation (EHF), Mediterranean Handball Confederation and the International Handball Federation (IHF). The current president of FFHB is Joël Delplanque since 2008.

2011 World Womens Handball Championship 2011 edition of the World Womens Handball Championship

The 2011 World Women's Handball Championship, the 20th event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Brazil from 2 to 18 December 2011.

Sead Hasanefendić Croatian handball coach

Sead Hasanefendić is a Croatian professional handball coach who is the head coach of ThSV Eisenach.

References

  1. "EHF EURO 2020 – une liste de dix-huit". ff-handball.org. 6 January 2020.
  2. 2020 European Men's Handball Championship squad