France men's national handball team

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 five medals, including three gold in 2008, 2012 and 2021, France is also the most successful Handball team at the Summer Olympics. As of August 2021, they are the defending Olympic Champions.

France
Shirt badge/Association crest
Information
Nickname1992: les Bronzés
1993–1996: les Barjots
2001–2008: les Costauds
2008–2017: les Experts
AssociationFrench Handball Federation
CoachGuillaume Gille
Assistant coachÉrick Mathé
Olivier Maurelli
CaptainLuka Karabatic
Most capsJackson Richardson (417)
Most goalsJérôme Fernandez (1,463)
Colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
1st
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
2nd
Results
Summer Olympics
Appearances7 (First in 1992)
Best resultGold 1st (2008, 2012, 2020)
World Championship
Appearances24 (First in 1954)
Best resultGold 1st (1995, 2001, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017)
European Championship
Appearances15 (First in 1994)
Best resultGold 1st (2006, 2010, 2014)
Last updated on Unknown.
France men's national handball team
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2008 BeijingTeam
Gold medal – first place2012 LondonTeam
Gold medal – first place2020 TokyoTeam
Silver medal – second place2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam
Bronze medal – third place1992 BarcelonaTeam
World Championship
Gold medal – first place1995 Iceland
Gold medal – first place2001 France
Gold medal – first place2009 Croatia
Gold medal – first place2011 Sweden
Gold medal – first place2015 Qatar
Gold medal – first place2017 France
Silver medal – second place1993 Sweden
Silver medal – second place2023 Poland/Sweden
Bronze medal – third place1997 Japan
Bronze medal – third place2003 Portugal
Bronze medal – third place2005 Tunisia
Bronze medal – third place2019 Germany/Denmark
European Championship
Gold medal – first place2006 Switzerland
Gold medal – first place2010 Austria
Gold medal – first place2014 Denmark
Bronze medal – third place2008 Norway
Bronze medal – third place2018 Croatia
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place1987 Latakia
Silver medal – second place1993 Languedoc-Roussillon
Bronze medal – third place2001 Tunis
Silver medal – second place2009 Pescara

France's men handball team is widely regarded as the finest national team in the history of the sport.

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 lost 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:

  • it became, with Romania (1964, 1974) and Sweden (1958), one of the few handball teams (on the men's side) to have successfully defended a world champion status;
  • it became (and is the only, so far) the first national handball team in history to have won four major titles in a row;
  • three players on the team (Jérôme Fernandez, Thierry Omeyer and Didier Dinart) achieved three world champions titles – putting them on par with Cornel Oţelea from Romania in the 60s (had he been present in 2009, Bertrand Gille would also have been one of them, but he missed 2009 due to injuries).

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


Competition1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)Total
Olympic Games 3115
World Championship 62412
European Championship 3025
Total123722

Competitive record

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

Olympic Games

Games Round Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
Germany 1936 Berlin did not participate
West Germany 1972 Munich did not qualify
Canada 1976 Montreal
Soviet Union 1980 Moscow
United States 1984 Los Angeles
South Korea 1988 Seoul
Spain 1992 Barcelona Third place 3rd of 12 7 5 0 2 157 143 +14
United States 1996 Atlanta Fourth place 4th of 12 7 4 0 3 190 165 +25
Australia 2000 Sydney Match for 5th place 6th of 12 8 4 1 3 192 182 +10
Greece 2004 Athens Match for 5th place 5th of 12 8 7 0 1 221 176 +45
China 2008 Beijing Champions 1st of 12 8 7 1 0 228 185 +43
United Kingdom 2012 London Champions 1st of 12 8 7 0 1 229 175 +54
Brazil 2016 Rio de Janeiro Runners-up 2nd of 12 8 6 0 2 241 201 +40
Japan 2020 Tokyo Champions 1st of 12 8 7 0 1 256 222 +34
France 2024 Paris Qualified (host country)
United States 2028 Los Angeles Future events
Australia 2032 Brisbane
Total 9/15 3 Titles 62 47 2 13 1,614 1,449 +265

World Championship

Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Germany 1938did not qualify
Sweden 1954Preliminary Round630122661
East Germany 1958Preliminary Round931026657
West Germany 1961Main Round861054273
Czech Republic 1964Preliminary Round1430034164
Sweden 1967Preliminary Round1031023441
France 1970Preliminary Round11610580105
East Germany 1974did not qualify
Denmark 1978Preliminary Round1630035497
West Germany 1982did not qualify
Switzerland 1986did not qualify
Czech Republic 1990Second round96213138138
Sweden 1993Runners-up7502134131
Iceland 1995Champions9702218185
Japan 1997Third place9702223206
Egypt 1999Quarter-finals69603242211
France 2001Champions9900233172
Portugal 2003Third place10802286218
Tunisia 2005Third place10622301240
Germany 2007Fourth place410604300243
Croatia 2009Champions10901296211
Sweden 2011Champions10910327245
Spain 2013Quarter-finals67502207182
Qatar 2015Champions9810259215
France 2017Champions9900282218
Denmark/Germany 2019Third place10712278251
Egypt 2021Fourth place49702267250
Poland/Sweden 2023Runners-up9801301245
Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025qualified
Germany 2027Future event
Total25/286 titles1781216*5146354059

European Championship

Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Portugal 19945th/6th place65212123120
Spain 19967th/8th place75302130120
Italy 19987th/8th place75113110125
Croatia 2000Fourth place47412173164
Sweden 20025th/6th place66321152136
Slovenia 20045th/6th place66303163154
Switzerland 2006Champions1 8701243192
Norway 2008Third place3 8602231207
Austria 2010Champions1 8620225196
Serbia 2012Main round116213156163
Denmark 2014Champions1 8701259227
Poland 20165th/6th place57502210182
Croatia 2018Third place3 8701244212
AustriaNorwaySweden 2020Preliminary round1431028279
HungarySlovakia 2022Fourth place49603278248
Germany 2024Qualified
DenmarkNorwaySweden 2026Future events
PortugalSpainSwitzerland 2028
Total16/183 titles99638*2827792525
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided in a penalty shootout.

Current squad

Squad for the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship.[1][2]

Head coach: Guillaume Gille

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club
2 RW Yanis Lenne (1996-06-29) 29 June 1996 1.88 m 34 54 France Montpellier Handball
5 CB Nedim Remili (1995-07-18) 18 July 1995 1.95 m 99 299 Poland Łomża Industria Kielce
7 LB Romain Lagarde (1997-03-05) 5 March 1997 1.94 m 68 82 France Pays d’Aix UC
8 LB Elohim Prandi (1998-08-24) 24 August 1998 1.93 m 10 24 France Paris Saint-Germain
9 RB Melvyn Richardson (1997-01-31) 31 January 1997 1.90 m 58 126 Spain Barcelona
10 RB Dika Mem (1997-08-31) 31 August 1997 1.94 m 94 293 Spain Barcelona
11 P Nicolas Tournat (1994-04-05) 5 April 1994 2.00 m 68 133 Poland Łomża Industria Kielce
12 GK Vincent Gérard (1986-12-16) 16 December 1986 1.89 m 137 18 France Saint-Raphaël Var Handball
13 LB Nikola Karabatić (1984-04-11) 11 April 1984 1.96 m 337 1259 France Paris Saint-Germain
14 CB Kentin Mahé (1991-05-22) 22 May 1991 1.86 m 147 479 Hungary Telekom Veszprém
15 LW Mathieu Grébille (1991-10-06) 6 October 1991 1.98 m 79 121 France Paris Saint-Germain
16 GK Charles Bolzinger (2000-12-14) 14 December 2000 1.98 m 0 0 France Montpellier Handball
22 P Luka Karabatic (1988-04-19) 19 April 1988 2.02 m 130 155 France Paris Saint-Germain
23 P Ludovic Fabregas (1996-07-01) 1 July 1996 1.98 m 113 241 Spain Barcelona
28 RW Valentin Porte (1990-09-07) 7 September 1990 1.90 m 167 391 France Montpellier Handball
31 LW Dylan Nahi (1999-11-30) 30 November 1999 1.92 m 27 66 Poland Łomża Industria Kielce
39 LB Thibaud Briet (1999-12-14) 14 December 1999 2.05 m 13 12 France HBC Nantes
92 GK Rémi Desbonnet (1992-02-28) 28 February 1992 1.82 m 12 1 France Montpellier Handball

Records

Kit suppliers

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

References

  1. "#HandMag+198 #EDFM – Présentation de France – Pologne" (in French). ffhandball.fr. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  2. "Team Roster France" (PDF). ihf.info. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
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