Are the French celebrating a successful European Championship kick-off?
The tournament opener in Group C of the 2022 European Handball Championship couldn’t get any more dangerous. After all, Croatia and France are the two group favourites. On the one hand, the representatives from the Balkan peninsula, who only narrowly missed out on their first European Championship title at the last European Championship.
On the other hand, France, the second strongest handball nation in Europe with three gold medals. The latter are favoured in the group opener in Szeged, Hungary. The bookmakers offer odds of 1.20 on Croatia vs. France for tip 2. Surprising, because the Croatians are by no means to be underestimated.
The last time the two nations met in Olympic qualifying, the French national team came away with a hard-fought victory. At one stage France were three goals down at half-time, but it was only after the change of ends that the three-time European champions turned up the heat and claimed a comeback victory over Croatia.
This was France’s revenge for their defeat at the 2019 World Cup. Nevertheless, a match of equals cannot be ruled out this time either, given the Balkan handballers’ recent record.
Croatia – statistics & current form
Croatia will start the 2022 European Championship with a broad chest. After all, the Croatian national handball team has caused a sensation at the European Championship in recent years. Only once in the last nine European Championships did Croatia miss out on reaching the semi-finals.
At the last pan-European European Championship in 2020, Croatia even reached the final as a major underdog. It was only against the Spanish national team that the Balkan handballers failed to win the first European Championship title in the association’s history. Nevertheless, Croatia is once again listed as a big underdog by the best betting providers at the 2022 European Championship.
The matches against France, Serbia and Ukraine in the group phase are already difficult hurdles. The group opener against France in particular is a test of maturity in which even a minimal point win would be pleasing for the Croatian national team.
Cindric and Duvnjak have to rest
For the difficult hurdle against France, head coach Hrvoje Horvat will have to do without two key players. Neither Domagoj Duvnjak from THW Kiel nor Luka Cindric from FC Barcelona will be able to take part in the tournament opener of the 2022 European Handball Championship after positive tests.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that Horvat has already sorted out a number of players with international experience, such as Karacic, Maric and Sego, in the run-up to the European Championship. Instead, numerous up-and-coming youngsters were called up to the national squad for the 2022 European Championship. As the preparation for the European Championship showed, Croatia nevertheless remains a surprise package.
Betting fans who want to make a prediction on the Balkan handballers in the tournament opener between Croatia and France can pick up odds of up to 7.00 if they are successful. The most recent record against the upcoming opponents is encouraging. Croatia have won two of their last four international matches against France.
Last matches of Croatia:
Friendlies
01/08 2022 – Croatia 26 – 28 Russia
01/07 2022 – Croatia 30 – 24 Russia
EHF EURO Cup 2022
06/27 2021 – Spain 34 – 22 Croatia
05/01 2021 – Hungary 26 – 22 Croatia
04/29 2021 – Croatia 26 – 23 Slovakia
France – Statistics & current form
Last year, France still made a splash at the Olympics, even taking the gold medal in the final against the tournament favourites Denmark. Since then, the French have played three international matches – two as part of the Golden League in Norway and one as part of their preparations for the European Championship.
In the dress rehearsal before the transnational European Championship 2022, France suffered a narrow defeat in the test match against the German national team. Although the result of the preparation match should not be overestimated, the offensive of the recent Olympic champions left a positive impression.
After all, France last scored 34 goals against the German handball players. If they can build on this, the next offensive spectacle against Croatia cannot be ruled out. Just like Croatia, however, the French national team will also have to deal with some serious losses at the European Handball Championship 2022.
Can France overcome the personnel worries?
The main problems are the absence of key players such as Nedim Remili and Luka Karabatic. The latter almost single-handedly led the French to the gold medal at the 2021 Olympics and was undoubtedly the “MVP” of the tournament. Elohim Prandi is another player who is missing from the starting line-up.
Because Valentin Porte recently tested positive, the options for head coach Guillaume Gille are clearly limited. Nevertheless, France still have enough quality across the board to overcome their personnel problems. The role of favourites in the group opener against Croatia is therefore not at all surprising.
The last time the two nations met in a European Championship was almost four years ago, when the French won. If a bet on Croatia vs. France pays off again, this time the odds are only 1.20.
Last matches of France:
Friendlies
01/09 2022 – Germany 35 – 34 France
Golden League, Norway
11/07 2021 – Norway 25 – 31 France
11/06 2021 – France 26 – 31 Denmark
Summer Olympics Final Stage
08/07 2021 – France 25 – 23 Denmark
08/05 2021 – France 27 – 23 Egypt
Croatia – France Direct comparison / H2H balance
This is the 26th time the two nations have met. France lead the head-to-head comparison against the Croatian handballers with a record of 15-1-9. On average, 49.84 goals per game have been scored in the 25 international matches between the two teams. It is therefore by no means far-fetched to predict a low-scoring encounter in Croatia vs. France this time around as well.
Last year, France and Croatia met at the Olympic Games. The French won 30:26 and thus celebrated their first international victory against Croatia since January 2018.
Croatia – France Tip
Croatia will have to do without key players in their national squad for the crucial group opener against France. Neither star player Domagoj Duvnjak nor playmaker Luka Cindric will be able to take part in the match against the French. The Balkan handballers will therefore start the match against the reigning Olympic champions as clear outsiders.
The French, however, will also have to deal with serious absences, including Luka Karabatic, the MVP of the 2021 Olympics.
In the dress rehearsal before the start of the European Championship, the French handball players already underlined their offensive qualities even in the absence of Karabatic. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the Olympic champion will also flex his muscles in the attacking department in the group match against Croatia.
We tend to expect a match that is clearly dominated by the French already in the first half. Our betting odds for Croatia vs. France are 1.42 on HT/FT: 2/2. We are betting six units for this match.
