Thriller teams on their way to the final
With the remaining matches now only being served up at Budapest’s MVM Dome, it’s down to the wire at the European Handball Championships. The top four teams in the tournament are battling it out for the medals and it’s no surprise that those four teams are world champions Denmark, Olympic champions France, European champions Spain and runners-up Sweden.
The Big Four are now also fighting over the colour of the medals in Hungary. At this point, we look at the semi-final between France and Sweden. If the final group matches of these two teams were only minimally shorter than the stipulated 60 minutes, then both teams would have had to make do with the match for fifth place.
The French and the Swedes had already been written off in principle, but both in Bratislava and in Budapest Guillaume Gille’s and Glen Solberg’s teams were able to pull their heads out of the noose with a show of strength. Only when the game is over will a winner be determined. This means that in this semifinal between France and Sweden, prediction is really complicated.
In this final phase of the tournament, however, anyone can win against anyone. The last duels in the main round made that abundantly clear. In our opinion, however, you are slightly better off betting on a French victory in the semi-final between France and Sweden.
France – Statistics & current form
Les Bleus are certainly playing a very decent European Championship. The numbers speak for the Olympic champions. The Equipe Tricolore have won six out of seven games at the European Championships and are in the semi-finals of the title fights as winners of the main round. However, not everything went smoothly for the French either. The matches have shown that they have big problems against the top teams at this tournament.
A feat of strength to win the group
Wins against decimated Croats, against Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine or Holland should not be overrated. In the clear 21:29 defeat against Iceland, however, Guillaume Gille’s team was clearly shown the limits. Nevertheless, the bookmakers’ odds for the semi-final between France and Sweden show that the Olympic champions should rather be expected to reach the final.
But the French were practically already out. In their last main round match against world champions Denmark, who were without three top stars, France needed a win but were five goals behind until midway through the second half. Les Bleus won 30-29 in the end and not only advanced to the semi-finals, but also secured the group victory.
For long stretches, however, things did not go smoothly at all against the Danes. A clear improvement will be necessary in the semi-finals. The Equipe Tricolore will be hoping for the return of Kentin Mahe and coach Guillaume Gille, who were both in isolation during the last main round match. On the other hand, it should certainly not be enough for circle runner Nicolas Tournat, who just tested positive before the Denmark game.
The France squad:
Goal: Gerard, Pardin, Desbonnet
Backs: Minne, Lagarde, Karabatic, Mahe, Konan, Briet, Richardson, Mem
Left wing: Descat, Nahi
Right wing: Lenne, Porte, Kounkoud
Circle: Tournat, Fabregas, Monar
Coach: Gille
Last matches played by France:
European Championships Main Round Grp. 1
01/26 2022 – Denmark 29 – 30 France
01/24 2022 – Montenegro 27 – 36 France
01/22 2022 – France 21 – 29 Iceland
01/20 2022 – France 34 – 24 Netherlands
European Championships Preliminary Round Grp. C
01/17 2022 – France 29 – 25 Serbia
Sweden – Statistics & current form
Sweden had major problems finding their way into the tournament in the preliminary round, and were a hair away from going home early after losing to Spain and drawing with the Czech Republic. To be successful at a European Championship, however, you have to improve, and Glen Solberg’s team did that brilliantly
The Thriller of Bratislava
Sweden may have entered the semi-finals as runners-up in Main Round Group II, but they were the best and most successful team at this stage of the tournament. The Swedes are the only team to have won all four of their main round matches and thus deserve to be in the semi-finals. It is possible to deduce from this that a prediction of the Swedes advancing is also conceivable between France and Sweden.
The last main round match between Norway and Sweden was a thriller in Bratislava. The Elks led by six goals at one point and the Swedes needed a win. Little by little, the vice world champions reduced the deficit and after a final 5:0 run, they scored the winning goal 24:23 almost in the last second. Jim Gottfridsson once again proved himself to be a thinker and driver who can lead his teammates to victory in big matches.
After such a success, they can now go into the semifinals with a broad chest. Of course, there are also some question marks with the Swedes. Daniel Pettersson, Niclas Ekberg, Andreas Palicka and Felix Claar all tested positive. Whether one or the other player will possibly come back or whether there will be further absences will probably only be decided in the short term.
The squad of Sweden:
Goal: Johannesson, Palicka, Thulin
Back: Gottfridsson, Claar, Carlsbogard, Johansson, Wallinius, Lagergren, Sandell
Left wing: Mellegard, Wanne
Right wing: Ekberg, D. Pettersson
Circle: Darj, Möller, F. Pettersson, Bergendahl
Coach: Solberg
Last games of Sweden:
European Championships Main Round Grp. 2
01/25 2022 – Sweden 24 – 23 Norway
01/23 2022 – Germany 21 – 25 Sweden
01/21 2022 – Poland 18 – 28 Sweden
01/20 2022 – Russia 23 – 29 Sweden
European Championships Preliminary Round Grp. E
01/17 2022 – Czech Republic 27 – 27 Sweden
France – Sweden Direct Comparison / H2H Record
The French and Swedish national teams have only crossed paths 14 times since 1998, but there have been plenty of big matches on the agenda. For example, the two clubs faced each other in the 2001 World Cup final and the 2012 Olympic final. The direct comparison in this period is in favour of the Equipe Tricolore with 10:4 victories.
The big matches in particular often went to the French, but not always. The last encounter was almost exactly a year ago in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Egypt. At that time, the Swedes prevailed safely and won 32:26 in the end. On Friday in Budapest, however, a somewhat closer match can be expected.
France – Sweden tip
The spectators in the MVM Dome in Budapest can expect an even match. Both teams have performed well at this European Championship, but have also shown their weaknesses. Another parallel is that Sweden and France were hopelessly behind in the last group game and then turned the tables. The morale of both teams should be enormously high.
The French have won six out of seven games at this European Championship.
