p”Any of these 12 teams have the potential to make it to the semis,” France’s men’s coach Guillaume Gille said in an interview following the draw. “With this draw, we’re laying the foundations for our journey. Finally, we can put teams in front of each other in these first matches, which mark the start of our Olympic adventure.
“The draw, which defines the opponents and the order of play, is likely to make the Olympic Games even closer than they were before. I’m also delighted that we can look forward to these epic clashes in 100 days.”
In the women’s tournament, Group A features a trio of Scandinavian powerhouses after Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Norway and fellow Scandinavian nations Sweden and Denmark were all drawn together. They will, however, avoid the considerable challenge of Olympic gold medallists France, who will face up against the likes of Spain and the Netherlands in Group B.
Spain’s women’s coach Ambros Martin expressed that she is looking forward to coming up against the reigning Olympic champions in their own backyard. “It is going to be spectacular to play in France against the host country,” she told the Spanish handball federation.
Olivier Krumbholz, the coach of France’s women’s team was also excited about the prospect of playing in a home tournament.
“We might have a bit of pressure in the first game to get into the swing of competition but then we’ll surf on the excitement of the competition,” he said.
A total of 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams will compete at Paris 2024, with two groups of six in the preliminary round of each of the tournaments. The top four nations in each group qualify for the quarter-finals, followed by a traditional knockout format until the gold medal match.
In the preliminary round, the 1st place nation in each group will face the 4th place nation in the second group, with the 2nd place nation facing the 3rd in the other.
Discover which teams have been drawn in each group below.
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