| France | |||
| Information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Bronzés, Barjots, Costauds, Euros, Experts | ||
| Association | French Handball Federation | ||
| Coach | Claude Onesta | ||
| Most caps | Jackson Richardson: 417 | ||
| Most goals | Jérôme Fernandez: 1254 | ||
| Ranking | #1 (448 points) | ||
| Colours | |||
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| Results | |||
| Summer Olympics | |||
| Appearances | 5 (First in 1992) | ||
| Best result | 1st, 2008 | ||
| World Championship | |||
| Appearances | 18 (First in 1954) | ||
| Best result | 1st, 1995, 2001, 2009 & 2011 | ||
| European Championship | |||
| Appearances | 9 (First in 1994) | ||
| Best result | 1st, 2006, 2010 | ||
| Infobox last updated on: Unknown. | |||
France national handball team is the handball team, supervised by the French Handball Federation, that represents France in the international matches.
They are the current reigning European Champions and Olympic Champions as well as double defending World Champions. The French men's team, is the first team, on the men's side to have held all three titles (The Olympics, The World Championship and the Euro Championship) simultaneously with a double defending title.
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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 (meaning tanned in French, a reference both to bronze and to cult French film 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 (barjot is a slang word for crazy in French).
The team finished 4th in the 1996 Summer Olympics (France lost the bronze medal game to Spain, whom they had beat in the first round). 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 managed to score 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 (the strong, or the tough). 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 went down to an ageing Russian team led by 42 year-old goalkeeper Andrey Lavrov in the quarterfinals (24-26).
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 managed to win a medal until then. In the final they overwhelmed Spain, the reigning world champions (31-23), 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 semifinal, 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 (28-23). 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. They became the first men's team to hold the Olympic title, the World title and a continental title simultaneously. (Denmark women's national handball team held all three titles in 1997). They are also the third team to have won all three titles ever, the other two being Germany and Russia.
Finally, it has successfully held its title at the 2011 World Championship against Denmark, winning 37-35 after extra time. This victory means they are automatically qualified for the 2012 Olympics in London. This victory also marks several achievements:
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