Never two without three.
This old saying, the France team especially does not want to hear about it when challenging Sweden for the third time in a row in the semi-finals of a major international competition.
Two precedents which, each time, left a bitter memory to the Blues.
In 2021, during the World Cup organized in Egypt, Guillaume Gille's men had never really existed.
Led throughout the match, they had exhausted themselves in a vain chase during the second act to finally bow down sharply (26-32).
A year later, the semi-final of the Euros was to prove to be much more contested, with an end to the match at loggerheads marked in particular by the expulsion of Valentin Porte and the parade of Andreas Palicka on a shot from Ludovic Fabregas seven seconds from the end, which could have meant extra time (33-34).
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Revanchard, Gottfridsson… 5 things to know about the France-Sweden semi-final