No surprises: nine of the 12 men’s Olympic handball teams are European

Marathonized and increasingly thriving, European dominance in men’s handball did not miss its most recent invitation to demonstrate again. In the three pre-Olympic games that finished filling the Paris 2024 line-up, the six selected who fulfilled their mission belong to the continent that holds all the Olympic titles.

Granollers, in Spain, Hanover, in Germany, and Tatabanya, in Hungary, were the venues (all European, for that matter) and Spain, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany, Norway and Hungary signed the final tickets in the last qualifying round. Brazil, Bahrain, Austria, Algeria, Portugal and Tunisia fell by the wayside.

The new Olympic teams are added to a list of which France, by virtue of their hosting status, Denmark, as world champion, and Argentina, Japan, Egypt and Sweden, through the continental contests, were already part of.

Spain, Croatia and Norway performed excellently, winning their three matches and meeting the expectations derived from their status as Olympic or world medalists. The Croats, champions in Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004 and bronze in London 2012, and the Norwegians, runners-up in the 2017 and 2019 Cups, needed both initial wins to settle in Paris. For the Hispanics, who defended bronze in Tokyo, although thirteenth in the Euro, a hard-fought home victory against Brazil in the third match sentenced an Olympic destiny that seemed unalterable.

The most celebrated of the classifications were the work of the other two host teams in definitions with a final atmosphere. Hungary, a 30-27 comeback against Portugal through, and Germany, in a sacrificed mata-mata victory against its Austrian neighbors, by 33 to 30, transformed the public outcry into five-ring passages.

The next stop on the trip to Paris will be the drawing that will take place in the French capital, precisely, on Tuesday, April 16. The 12 qualified teams will be divided into six pots. Denmark and Spain will make up the first, Croatia and Norway the second, Hungary and Germany the third, Slovenia and France the fourth, Sweden and Egypt the fifth, and Argentina and Japan the last. France, Olympic champion, and Denmark, of the world, can be part of the same group. The dispute system comprises two groups of six teams, of which the first four will advance to the quarterfinals.

In line with the men’s, the women’s pre-Olympic Games will grant half a dozen vacant places in Germany, Spain and Hungary. The cities will be: Neu-Ulm, Torrevieja and Debrecen. Both Olympic events will start on July 25, the day before the opening ceremony, will conclude their action on July 11, the closing Sunday, and will face the preliminary phase in Paris and the finals in the city of Lille.