The French men’s handball team has inherited a complicated group for the first round of Euro 2024, with the host country, Germany, North Macedonia and Switzerland, according to the draw made Wednesday in Düsseldorf. The Blues, European champions in 2006, 2010 and 2014, will start their Euro on Wednesday January 10 in Düsseldorf against North Macedonia, in the Fortuna Düsseldorf stadium where more than 50,000 spectators are expected for this first day of the Euro , and an opening match between Germany and Switzerland.
Composition of groups
Group A (in Düsseldorf/Berlin): France, Germany, North Macedonia, Switzerland
Group B (in Mannheim): Spain, Austria, Croatia, Romania
Group C (in Munich): Iceland, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro
Group D (in Berlin): Norway, Slovenia, Poland, Faroe Islands
Group E (in Mannheim): Sweden, Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia
Group F (in Munich): Denmark, Portugal, Czech Republic, Greece
The organizers thus intend to beat the record number of spectators for a handball match, until then at 44,189 at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt between Rhein-Neckar Löwen and Hamburg in the Bundesliga in 2014. The French will then head to Berlin to face four days more Switzerland late and will finish against Germany on January 16, for the poster of this first round.
Place for the Paris 2024 Olympics
Guillaume Gille’s players will have to finish in one of the first two places in their group to climb to the main round in Cologne, where they will cross with group B, where Spain will play in particular, finalist of the last four Euros (consecrated in 2018 and 2020), and Group C with Iceland and Hungary. The top two from each main round group will advance to the semi-finals in Cologne. The winner of this Euro 2024 will validate his ticket for the Paris Olympic Games, for which the France team is already qualified as host country.