Kevin Decaux has been announced as the new coach of the Guinea men’s team on a long-term contract.

Guinea are set to make their IHF Men’s World Championship debut in January with Decaux returning to the role he left 18 months ago when he took charge of Tunisia’s women’s side. In that role, he guided them to continental bronze at the 2024 CAHB Women’s African Championship held in Kinshasa, DR Congo in December, and with it, 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship qualification.

Decaux replaces Brahim Lagha as head coach for Guinea, with Lagha and all the technical staff involved in his absence being retained for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship in January.

“First of all, I want to thank Brahim Lagha and that he agreed to continue with me in the staff,” said Decaux to ihf.info on his appointment, which saw Lagha move to assistant coach.

“I want to thank all the technical and medical staff who worked well during my absence, especially for all of their great work of continuity – I’m happy to return amongst them as a family. Brahim fulfilled the role wonderfully and, of course, he continues the adventure with me. I am loyal to my staff because they are good guys and they deserve to live this beautiful adventure.

“I said yes straight away,” added Decaux about receiving the offer to guide Guinea’s men in their debut global event. “I didn't even discuss it. I'm going home, it's like I never left. I love Guinea and its people because they gave me everything and I gave everything for them. It's like a child who comes home to see his father.”

An amicable departure

After the Tunisian Handball Federation (FTHB) and Decaux agreed an amicable separation, the FTHB released a statement thanking him for his services to the North African country.

“The Tunisian Handball Federation extends its sincere thanks to Kevin Decaux for his professionalism and all the effort he made to raise the technical level of the senior team,” said the FTHB statement.

“This resulted in winning the bronze medal in the last African Championship and qualifying for the upcoming IHF Women’s World Championship, the previous edition of which we were unable to qualify for.

“This decision comes after evaluating the work of the national team's technical staff during the previous period and identifying the requirements of the next stage, which requires the presence of a Tunisian technical staff permanently residing in Tunisia to prepare the team for upcoming international events, most notably the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship and the CAHB Women’s African Championship, which our country will host in November 2026.”

And Decaux himself was quick to praise his former employer and playing staff.

“I would like to thank all the girls from Tunisia with whom I have lived wonderful and very happy moments,” he said. “May they return to the international scene. They are true patriots and have a great love for their flag: thank you for everything girls”.

‘A dream come true’

With his new role, Decaux returns to a country and handball culture he is extremely familiar with.

In addition to his existing role as coordinator for the various Guinea national teams, Frenchman Decaux is entwined with the recent history of the west African nation and handball, having helped oversee the entire development of the nation on the global stage in his role as Guinea National Teams Manager earlier this decade and before. https://www.ihf.info/media-center/news/debutants-guinea

“It is a logical continuation, we have been working on the project for 12 years and this world championship will be the end of a cycle for some,” explained Decaux. “We are just going to get a fair recognition of the work over all these years.

“Qualifying for the world championship and playing in Croatia is more than just a step in our career, it is a major achievement for our team, a dream come true for each of us and testament to the hard work, determination and passion that we have put into Guinean handball.

“This is a culmination of years of hard work – 10 years of effort – but a real source of pride. I didn't have the opportunity to play in it as a player, so this will be my first time as head coach.

“There has been remarkable progress, both for the women’s and men’s teams with most of the athletes being players I know personally or have integrated into the national team, whether local or expatriates.”

A senior men’s world championship debut for coach and team

After knee injuries spurred him into coaching and the technical side of the game as a teenager, Decaux worked at a variety of men’s and women’s clubs on the coaching staff in France before coaching the Moroccan women’s team.

He arrived in Guinea in 2012, going on to coach the Guinea national women’s and men’s teams and has also worked as a technical director for the Jamaican Handball Federation.

And now, after participating in 10 African Championships in various roles, Decaux will finally lead a team at an IHF Men’s World Championship as head coach for the first time.

“So why a dream?” says Decaux. “For several reasons. With this group of players, we set the goal of participating in a world championship six years ago, and now, that is a reality. Most of the players played at youth level for me, so you can say we ‘grew up’ together with the national team.

“Captain Omar Baradji and Omar Diallo were the pioneers of handball in Guinea, the ones who believed in this project from the very beginning and supported me in building this team.

“This is more than just a handball story; it’s a human journey that goes beyond sport. Together, we achieved a shared dream: to take Guinean handball to the top. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank them for everything they’ve given, for their commitment, and for their friendship.

Ready for Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025

Guinea have a mixture of talent based across the globe, with a number of key players playing their club handball in France and, together, they will aim to take on initial preliminary group opponents – the European trio of North Macedonia, Netherlands and Hungary.

“Qualifying is the culmination of a long journey – for any top-level athlete, the culmination is the world championship, but we are in a tough group with European nations that are used to major global competitions,” explained Decaux.

“North Macedonia is a nation with a strong handball culture, with top clubs like Vardar competing in the Champions League, and, as for the Netherlands, they have quality players like Luc Steins who plays for Paris Saint-Germain. Hungary will be the favourite of the group, a team that always finishes in the top eight globally, combined with a very competitive domestic league and players based in top clubs – however, we will play without any complex and have a mindset of ‘everything to gain, nothing to lose’.

“We are proud to wear the colours of our country and represent Africa on this world stage,” he added. 

“The world championship, with its history and level of play, will be an incredible challenge, but also an opportunity to prove that we have our place among the best. For us, it is an honour, and we will give our all to make Guinea and west Africa shine.”