The men's handball France team has inherited a complicated group for the first round of Euro 2024, with host Germany, North Macedonia and Switzerland, according to the draw held on Wednesday in Dusseldorf.
Les Bleus, 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.
The organizers intend to break the record attendance for a handball match, previously 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 Switzerland four days later and will finish against Germany on January 16, for the poster of this first round.
Guillaume Gille's players will have to finish in one of the first two places in their group to reach the main round in Cologne, where they will meet with Group B, where Spain will play finalist of the last four Euros (crowned in 2018 and 2020), and Group C with Iceland and Hungary.
The top two finishers from each group in the main round will advance to the semi-finals in Cologne.
The winner of this Euro-2024 will validate his ticket for the Olympic Games in Paris, for which the France team has already qualified as the host country.
Preliminary round 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): Czech Republic, Denmark, Portugal, Greece
