France’s handball team has discovered who their opponents will be at the Olympic Games in Tokyo after the draw of the tournament on Thursday.
France’s men’s team – which finished fourth at the 2021 World Cup in Egypt – will face European champions Spain and Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Norway in Group A.
“We played Spain and Norway at the World Cup so there will be no easy games,” said French coach Guillaume Gille after the draw at the headquarters of the International Handball Federation in the Swiss city of Basel.
“And we must not forget Germany, which also has a very strong group.”
The French women’s team will face Brazil, Hungary, the Russian Olympic Committee, Spain and Sweden in Group B.
Quality
In the men’s competition, the hosts Japan were placed in group B with the world champions Denmark, as well as Sweden, the team that the Danes beat in the final
Japan will also play Egypt, Portugal and competition debutants Bahrain in the competition round.
Dagur Sigurdsson, Japan’s head coach, said: “It will obviously be a very tough group for us … both groups are extremely difficult. These are the twelve best countries more or less in the world.”
The top four from the two groups advance to the final eight where the event enters the knockout stage.
The handball tournament starts on July 24 at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo.
All matches – including the men’s final on August 7 and the women’s competition the next day – will be played on site.
Source: sn.dk