Les Bleues won the world championship in Scandinavia, taking their revenge in the final on Norway who had deprived them of the title in 2021. The summary of the World Cup.
A revenge and a promise: by beating Norway in the final of the world championship (31-28), the French handball players have broken their glass ceiling and established themselves as favorites for the Olympic title in Paris. Beaten by these Norwegians in the final of Euro 2020 (22-20) and the 2021 World Cup (29-22), as well as in the semi-final of Euro 2022 (28-20), the Bleues of Olivier Krumbholz have this time emerged victorious and are preparing in the best possible way to defend their Olympic title.
The final lived up to all expectations. After turning back and suffering in defense at the start of the match, the Blue took the advantage at the end of the first period to return to the locker room with the advantage in the score (20-17). Then they held on, thanks to an iron defense embodied by Pauletta Foppa, and with a young Léna Grandveau (20 years old) in a state of grace, scoring the last four French goals. The French women won with composure, and adorned themselves with gold seven months before the Olympic Games, of which they were the defending champions.
Chloé Valentini, left winger of the French team and great architect of the Bleues attack, confided after the final: “It’s so cool, I don’t realize, we’re doing a complete competition from A to Z . We have risen to a crescendo and we have gained stability. I am so happy, we work hard, we make sacrifices, and this victory is the greatest reward. We are going to savor this title and return to work. We want to to go get that Olympic medal!” The appointment is made.
However, the French World Cup had started badly, with a close victory that was not really reassuring against Angola in the opening (30-29). Jostled, clumsy and saved from the equalizer by their post at the last second, the Blue came close to a big poor performance. Then they gained momentum against Iceland (31-22) and Slovenia (31-27) in the preliminary round, before earning their ticket to the quarter-finals by beating Austria (41-27) and Korea of the South (32-22) in the main round. In a match without stakes, the Blue had already beaten Norway at the end of a very close match in this main round (24-23), giving a glimpse of good reasons for hope for the rest of the competition.
Hopes which were quickly fulfilled, with a quiet victory against the Czech Republic in the quarter-final (33-22). The Czechs were the surprise guest of this knockout phase, after beating Spain (4th in 2021 and 2nd in 2019) in the main round. The French team then arrived in an expected final four, with the three organizing countries of the competition: Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The Blue qualified brilliantly for the final by eliminating Sweden in the semi-final (37-28), without trembling despite the quality of the opponent. With Norway’s victory over the Danes, a rematch of the 2021 World Cup was looming: this time, the French team won, and coach Olivier Krumbholz may have found the right mechanisms to set in motion a machine which must no longer stop before the final of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
