It seems that every time a tournament comes around for France, we are either talking about a legend retiring and/or and a new generation coming through.

Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 is no different, with France now living in a post-Nikola Karabatic era, following the retirement of the legendary French captain and centre back after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, joined in international retirement by Vincent Gérard, Valentin Porte and Timothey N'Guessan.

“Shock”, “disappointment”, “failure” – these were some of the words the world’s media (and French Handball Federation itself) would use after an extra time, quarter-final Paris 2024 Olympic Games loss on home soil against Germany.

Despite it ultimately being the final game for the multiple Olympic, World and European and IHF Men’s World Player of the Year award-winning Karabatic, sport waits for no-one and their home Olympic experience had to be moved on from as France coach Guillaume Gille looks to newly-installed captain Ludovic Fabregas and his side to overcome the might of Denmark on the world stage, winners of the last three world championships (2019, 2021, 2023) – and last Olympic Games (2024).

“Despite everything, when they came back here and we talked about the subject, we realised that the impact of this competition (Olympic Games) is still very much present,” revealed Gille to ffhandball.fr about working with his squad for the first time since that home Olympic Games disappointment in their EHF EURO Cup week in early November.

“This energy is transforming with the desire to project ourselves and bounce back. Our wish is to find a quality of play and performances more in line with our status and our desire above all to experience major competitions.”

With this in mind, a psychological element has been added by Guille to his squad with the addition of a mental trainer, Pierre Arthapignet.

“The first days allowed us to talk, to take stock of the Games and also to look ahead to what is to come. This was done well by the whole group, players and staff,” added Fabregas about the camp which saw two wins, at home against Sweden (37:31) and away against Norway (31:27) a few days later.

“We played a great match against Sweden with 40 minutes of very high level. We were also able to find communion with the public, it is very important for us because we had left with a very negative result given our objectives.

“We have very few preparation matches for the world championship, so in a corner of our mind, these two matches were part of it. It is important to have accumulated confidence,” added the player, who replaced Luka Karabatic who had been captain since October 2022.

“Even if everything was not perfect, it allows us to lay good foundations. There is still a lot of work and things to perfect, but I think we have started this world preparation in the best possible way given the situation we were in before this recovery training camp. We will also take the time to breathe and quickly project ourselves on this first training camp in December which will be crucial in view of the world championship.”

Five goalkeepers - Samir Bellahcene (THW Kiel), Charles Bolzinger (Montpellier), Rémi Desbonnet (Montpellier Hb), Valentin Kieffer (Chambéry Savoie Mont Blanc) and Wesley Pardin (USAM Nîmes Gard) – were selected by Gille for the EHF EURO Cup squad, suggesting that he is torn between who to use, but of more concern are injuries picked up by key players Elohim Prandi and Dika Mem, plus Kylian Villeminot, who are now set to miss the world championship.

Despite this, Gille has a galaxy of choice to choose from as France look to continue their close relationship with IHF Men’s World Championship medals, one which has been almost inseparable since 1993, when they won their first medal in the competition. 

Since then, they have failed to reach the podium only four times, collecting 11 medals in the process and becoming the most decorated team in the competition’s history with six titles double that of the Danes – one silver medal and four bronze medals.

Last time out, France and Denmark played an epic final, the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship gold won by the Danes in a 34:29 victory, with the two sides also playing the 2019 semi-final, which saw the Scandinavians win 38:30.

Denmark took both the Olympic and World titles from France, so could now be the time for France to take them back?

They have made a good start, winning the 2024 EHF EURO by beating Denmark in the final (33:31) after extra time last January, in Germany.

In terms of their 2025 preliminary group opponents – Qatar, Kuwait and Austria – at the 2021 and 2023 world championships France met 2025 Austria on both occasions, winning both clearly and also seeing them off in the main round of the EHF EURO 2024 (33:28), while they locked horns with Kuwait in the 2001 preliminary group stage, dispatching them 30:14. Most memorably, France met Qatar in the 2015 final, held in Doha, with the visitors winning 25:22.

Croatia holds fond memories for the French, with their world title won in the Balkan country in 2009, coming after games in Split and Zagreb, for the final, a game in which coach Gille played, while their first host city in 2025, Porec, was where they were based in the preliminary round of EHF EURO 2018.

Their final preparation period will take place at home, starting with a training camp at the home of French handball – the ‘Maison du Handball’ – from 1 to 7 January. This is followed by a friendly tournament in Strasbourg which will see the host nation play Czechia (8 January) and Portugal (10 January).

Key players: Ludovic Fabregas (line player), Nedim Remili (right back), Hugo Descat (left wing)

Qualification for Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025: Men’s EHF EURO 2024 – 1st place

History in tournament: 1954: 6th, 1958: 9th, 1961: 8th, 1964: 14th, 1967: 10th, 1970: 11th, 1978: 16th, 1990: 6th, 1993: 2nd, 1995: 1st, 1997: 3rd, 1999: 6th, 2001: 1st, 2003: 3rd, 2005: 3rd, 2007: 4th, 2009: 1st, 2011: 1st, 2013: 6th, 2015: 1st, 2017: 1st, 2019: 3rd, 2021: 4th, 2023: 2nd

Group at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025: Group C (Austria, France, Kuwait, Qatar)