France men's national handball team
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, 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 [Handball at the Handball at the 2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Summer Olympics|2008], [Handball at the Handball at the 2012 Summer Olympics|2012 Summer Olympics|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. 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.
The team finished 4th in the 1996 Summer Olympics. 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. 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.
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, 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. 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 simultaneously. 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. This victory, in addition to granting an automatic participation to the 2012 Olympics, marked several achievements:
- it became, with Romania and Sweden, one of the few handball teams to have successfully defended a world champion status;
- it became the first national handball team in history to have won four major titles in a row;
- three players on the team achieved three world champions titles – putting them on par with Cornel Oţelea from Romania in the 60s.
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. 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
| Competition | Total | |||
| 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
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth placeCurrent squad
Roster for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship.Head coach: Guillaume Gille
Records
Most capped players
| # | Name | Career | Caps | Goals |
| 1 | Jackson Richardson | 1990–2005 | 417 | 787 |
| 2 | Jérôme Fernandez | 1997–2015 | 390 | 1,463 |
| 3 | Didier Dinart | 1996–2013 | 379 | 162 |
| 4 | Thierry Omeyer | 1999–2017 | 358 | 4 |
| 5 | Nikola Karabatić | 2002–2024 | 356 | 1,293 |
| 6 | Daniel Narcisse | 2000–2017 | 311 | 943 |
| 7 | Guillaume Gille | 1996–2012 | 308 | 678 |
| 8 | Michaël Guigou | 2002–2021 | 307 | 1021 |
| 9 | Philippe Gardent | 1983–1995 | 298 | 635 |
| 10 | Pascal Mahé | 1984–1996 | 297 | 739 |
Top goalscorers
| # | Player | Career | Goals | Caps | Average |
| 1 | Jérôme Fernandez | 1997–2015 | 1,463 | 390 | |
| 2 | Nikola Karabatić | 2002–2024 | 1,293 | 356 | |
| 3 | Michaël Guigou | 2002–2021 | 1,021 | 307 | |
| 4 | Frédéric Volle | 1987–1996 | 1,016 | 241 | |
| 5 | Daniel Narcisse | 2000–2017 | 943 | 311 | |
| 6 | Stéphane Stoecklin | 1990–1999 | 898 | 238 | |
| 7 | Luc Abalo | 2005–2021 | 859 | 289 | |
| 8 | Bertrand Gille | 1997–2013 | 806 | 268 | |
| 9 | Jackson Richardson | 1990–2005 | 787 | 417 | |
| 10 | Pascal Mahé | 1984–1996 | 739 | 297 |