France men's national handball team

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File:France men's national handball team Hand-ball bulletin federal 1992-6-1.jpg
The France men's national handball team in 1992
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Medal record
Olympic Games

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World Championship

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European Championship

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Mediterranean Games

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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 thirteen 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 January 2024, they are the defending European Champions.

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
EHF Euro Cup
  • Winners: 2026


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Olympic Games 3 1 1 5
World Championship 6 2 5 13
European Championship 4 0 2 6
Total 13 3 8 24

Competitive record

<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />  Champions  <templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />  Runners-up  <templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />  Third place  <templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />  Fourth place  

Olympic Games

Games Round Position <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />PldScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />WScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />DScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />LScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />GFScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />GAScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />GDScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Flagicon 1936 Berlin did not participate
Template:Flagicon 1972 Munich did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 1976 Montreal
Template:Flagicon 1980 Moscow
Template:Flagicon 1984 Los Angeles
Template:Flagicon 1988 Seoul
Template:Flagicon 1992 Barcelona Third place 3rd of 12 7 5 0 2 157 143 +14
Template:Flagicon 1996 Atlanta Fourth place 4th of 12 7 4 0 3 190 165 +25
Template:Flagicon 2000 Sydney Match for 5th place 6th of 12 8 4 1 3 192 177 +15
Template:Flagicon 2004 Athens 5th of 12 8 7 0 1 221 176 +45
Template:Flagicon 2008 Beijing Champions 1st of 12 8 7 1 0 228 185 +43
Template:Flagicon 2012 London 1st of 12 8 7 0 1 229 175 +54
Template:Flagicon 2016 Rio de Janeiro Runners-up 2nd of 12 8 6 0 2 241 209 +32
Template:Flagicon 2020 Tokyo Champions 1st of 12 8 7 0 1 256 222 +34
Template:Flagicon 2024 Paris Quarterfinals 8th of 12 6 2 1 3 163 166 −3
Template:Flagicon 2028 Los Angeles TBD
Template:Flagicon 2032 Brisbane
Total 9/15 3 Titles 68 49 3 16 1,877 1,618 +259

World Championship

Year Round Position <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />GPScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />WScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />DScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />LScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />GSScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />GAScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Flagicon 1938 did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 1954 Preliminary Round 6 3 0 1 2 26 61
Template:Flagicon 1958 Preliminary Round 9 3 1 0 2 66 57
Template:Flagicon 1961 Main Round 8 6 1 0 5 70 105
Template:Flagicon 1964 Preliminary Round 14 3 0 0 3 41 64
Template:Flagicon 1967 Preliminary Round 10 3 1 0 2 34 41
Template:Flagicon 1970 Preliminary Round 11 6 1 0 5 80 105
Template:Flagicon 1974 did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 1978 Preliminary Round 16 3 0 0 3 54 97
Template:Flagicon 1982 did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 1986 did not qualify
Template:Flagicon 1990 Second round 9 7 3 1 3 161 158
Template:Flagicon 1993 Runners-up File:Silver medal icon.svg 7 5 0 2 155 151
Template:Flagicon 1995 Champions File:Gold medal icon.svg 9 7 0 2 218 185
Template:Flagicon 1997 Third place File:Bronze medal icon.svg 9 7 0 2 223 206
Template:Flagicon 1999 Quarter-finals 6 9 6 0 3 241 210
Template:Flagicon 2001 Champions File:Gold medal icon.svg 9 9 0 0 233 172
Template:Flagicon 2003 Third place File:Bronze medal icon.svg 9 7 0 2 257 194
Template:Flagicon 2005 Third place File:Bronze medal icon.svg 10 6 2 2 301 240
Template:Flagicon 2007 Fourth place 4 10 6 0 4 300 243
Template:Flagicon 2009 Champions File:Gold medal icon.svg 10 9 0 1 296 211
Template:Flagicon 2011 Champions File:Gold medal icon.svg 10 9 1 0 327 245
Template:Flagicon 2013 Quarter-finals 6 7 5 0 2 207 182
Template:Flagicon 2015 Champions File:Gold medal icon.svg 9 8 1 0 259 215
Template:Flagicon 2017 Champions File:Gold medal icon.svg 9 9 0 0 282 218
Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon 2019 Third place File:Bronze medal icon.svg 10 7 1 2 278 251
Template:Flagicon 2021 Fourth place 4 9 7 0 2 267 250
Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon 2023 Runners-up File:Silver medal icon.svg 9 8 0 1 301 245
Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon 2025 Third place File:Bronze medal icon.svg 9 8 0 1 316 246
Template:Flagicon 2027 TBD
Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon 2029 Qualified as co-host
Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon/Template:Flagicon 2031 TBD
Total 25/32 6 titles 188 130 7 51 4993 4352

European Championship

Year Round Position <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />GPScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />WScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />DScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />LScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />GSScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />GAScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Template:Flagicon 1994 5th/6th place 6 6 2 1 3 148 148
Template:Flagicon 1996 7th/8th place 7 6 4 0 2 154 141
Template:Flagicon 1998 7th/8th place 7 6 2 1 3 140 153
Template:Flagicon 2000 Fourth place 4 7 4 1 2 173 164
Template:Flagicon 2002 5th/6th place 6 7 3 2 2 180 167
Template:Flagicon 2004 5th/6th place 6 7 3 1 3 189 182
Template:Flagicon 2006 Champions 1 File:Gold medal europe.svg 8 7 0 1 243 192
Template:Flagicon 2008 Third place 3 File:Bronze medal europe.svg 8 6 0 2 231 207
Template:Flagicon 2010 Champions 1 File:Gold medal europe.svg 8 6 2 0 225 196
Template:Flagicon 2012 Main round 11 6 2 1 3 156 163
Template:Flagicon 2014 Champions 1 File:Gold medal europe.svg 8 7 0 1 259 227
Template:Flagicon 2016 5th/6th place 5 7 5 0 2 210 182
Template:Flagicon 2018 Third place 3 File:Bronze medal europe.svg 8 7 0 1 244 212
Template:FlagiconTemplate:FlagiconTemplate:Flagicon 2020 Preliminary round 14 3 1 0 2 82 79
Template:FlagiconTemplate:Flagicon 2022 Fourth place 4 9 6 0 3 278 248
Template:Flagicon 2024 Champions 1 File:Gold medal europe.svg 9 8 1 0 306 270
Template:FlagiconTemplate:FlagiconTemplate:Flagicon 2026 qualified
Template:FlagiconTemplate:FlagiconTemplate:Flagicon 2028 TBD
Template:FlagiconTemplate:FlagiconTemplate:Flagicon 2030 TBD
Template:FlagiconTemplate:Flagicon 2032 qualified
Total 17/18 4 titles 113 73 10* 30 3218 2931
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided in a penalty shootout.

Current squad

Roster for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship.[1][2]

Head coach: Guillaume Gille

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club
1 GK Samir Bellahcene Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.91 m 13 1 GermanyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". TVB Stuttgart
4 CB Aymeric Minne Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.87 m 33 93 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". HBC Nantes
5 CB Nedim Remili Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.95 m 136 411 HungaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Telekom Veszprém
6 RB Julien Bos Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.88 m 6 12 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". HBC Nantes
7 LB Romain Lagarde Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.94 m 79 86 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Pays d'Aix Université Club
8 LB Elohim Prandi Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.93 m 48 124 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Paris Saint-Germain
9 RB Melvyn Richardson Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.90 m 97 230 SpainScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Barça
10 RB Dika Mem Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.94 m 126 441 SpainScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Barça
11 P Nicolas Tournat Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 2.00 m 103 233 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". HBC Nantes
12 GK Valentin Kieffer Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.90 m 0 0 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Chambéry Savoie Mont-Blanc Handball
15 LW Mathieu Grebille Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.98 m 93 140 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Paris Saint-Germain
16 GK Charles Bolzinger Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.98 m 15 1 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Montpellier Handball
22 P Luka Karabatic Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 2.02 m 162 176 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Paris Saint-Germain
23 P Ludovic Fabregas Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.98 m 151 375 HungaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Telekom Veszprém
29 RW Benoît Kounkoud Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.90 m 49 71 PolandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". KS Kielce
31 LW Dylan Nahi Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.92 m 64 169 PolandScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". KS Kielce
34 P Karl Konan Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.96 m 44 7 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Montpellier Handball
39 LB Thibaud Briet Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 2.05 m 28 46 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". HBC Nantes
92 GK Rémi Desbonnet Script error: No such module "age".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 1.82 m 50 4 FranceScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Montpellier Handball

Records

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Kit suppliers

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

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links

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  • Script error: No such module "Official website".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  • IHF profile

Template:Olympic Games Men's Handball winners Template:IHF World Men's Handball Championship winners Template:European Men's Handball Championship winners Template:Handball in France Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:National sports teams of France

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