France (FRA)

A brand-new French team will be going for the title again at the EHF EURO 2022. Their last attempt ended on a historical low with France failing to make it to the main round, after being eliminated by Norway and a surprising Portugal side.

Since 2020, a lot of changes have taken place in the French camp. Coach Didier Dinart was replaced by Guillaume Gille while two captains came and went: Cédric Sorhaindo and Michaël Guigou.

To imagine the extent of the turnover of the past few years, just one statistic is enough. Of the 16 players that stepped on the court at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning in 2014, when France last won the European title, only three are still active with the national team: the Karabatic brothers, Nikola and Luka, as well as new captain Valentin Porte.

With a new generation made of Nedim Remili, Dika Mem, Hugo Descat and Ludovic Fabregas, well-known in the EHF Champions League, France have become ambitious again. Just take a look at their results from the latest competition: they finished fourth at the IHF Men’s World Championship 2021 before snatching gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games last summer.

And they are hungry for more, as most of the players that compose the French side right now have never won gold at an EHF EURO before.

France will face some tough opponents right from the preliminary round, having to deal with Croatia and Serbia, two sides that will be backed up by their fans in Szeged. But taking points against these opponents will be mandatory for Guillaume Gille and his boys if they want to play a role in the competition.