A new World Cup where the French team hopes to dethrone the Danes, winners of the last three Editions. The Blues are also the last (apart from Denmark) to have lifted the precious cup. It was in 2017, in Paris against Norway.
The competing nations
As established since 2021 in Egypt, it will be the third in the world with 32 teams.
Europe: Germany, Austria, Croatia, DenmarkSpain, France, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, North Macedonia, NorwayNetherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic
America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, United States
Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Guinea, Tunisia
Asia: Bahrain, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar
The format
The competition will take place in three parts. The first will consist of eight preliminary groups, from January 14 to 20, ranging from A to H and each composed of four teams. The first three qualify for the main round, while the eight eliminated teams are transferred to the President’s Cup, a consolation prize for grabbing the best possible place in the final ranking.
For the main round, from January 21 to 26, the 24 remaining teams are divided into four groups of six, where the first two advance to qualification for the final phase, playing in a classic quarter-final format (28- January 29), semi-final (January 30-31), 3rd place match and final (February 2).
The France group
The Blues find themselves in Group C, alongside Austria, Qatar and Kuwait. All group matches will take place at the Žatika Sports Center in Poreč, Croatia.
This is Austria’s seventh participation, returning for the first time since 2021. Apart from their defeat in the final against Germany in 1938, the Austrians have never done better than 11th place at the worlds (1958) .
The Qataris, for their part, still hope to regain their splendor of 2015, where at home they lost in the final against the French with a score of 25 to 22.
Kuwait returns to the competition. After 16 years of absence, the Kuwaitis qualified a year ago, beating Iraq in the Asian qualifiers.
Where to watch the match on TV?
BeIN Sports holds the rights to the competition. The broadcaster will offer on its broadcasts 14 matches from the preliminary round, including three from the French team, 12 matches from the main round, including three from the Blues if they were to qualify and all the matches in the final phases.
Exclusive free-to-air broadcaster, the TF1 group will broadcast three of the Blues’ six matches during the preliminary and main rounds, as well as the French semi-final and final in the event of qualification.
The complete competition schedule
Group stage:
Tuesday January 14 (5:30 p.m.): Italy – Tunisia
Tuesday January 14 (6 p.m.): France – Qatar
Tuesday January 14 (8:30 p.m.): Austria – Kuwait
Tuesday January 14 (8:30 p.m.): Denmark – Algeria
Wednesday January 15 (6 p.m.): Portugal – United States
Wednesday January 15 (6 p.m.): Czech Republic – Switzerland
Wednesday January 15 (6 p.m.): Netherlands – Guinea
Wednesday January 15 (6 p.m.): Egypt – Argentina
Wednesday January 15 (8:30 p.m.): Hungary – North Macedonia
Wednesday January 15 (8:30 p.m.): Germany – Poland
Wednesday January 15 (8:30 p.m.): Norway – Brazil
Wednesday January 15 (8:30 p.m.): Croatia – Bahrain
Thursday January 16 (6 p.m.): France – Kuwait
Thursday January 16 (6 p.m.): Spain – Chile
Thursday January 16 (6 p.m.): Slovenia – Cuba
Thursday January 16 (6 p.m.): Italy – Algeria
Thursday January 16 (8:30 p.m.): Austria – Qatar
Thursday January 16 (8:30 p.m.): Iceland – Cape Verde
Thursday January 16 (8:30 p.m.): Sweden – Japan
Thursday January 16 (8:30 p.m.): Tunisia – Denmark
Friday January 17 (6 p.m.): Czech Republic – Poland
Friday January 17 (6 p.m.): Netherlands – North Macedonia
Friday January 17 (6 p.m.): Portugal – Brazil
Friday January 17 (6 p.m.): Bahrain – Egypt
-Friday January 17 (8:30 p.m.): Switzerland – Germany
Friday January 17 (8:30 p.m.): Guinea – Hungary
Friday January 17 (8:30 p.m.): United States – Norway
Friday January 17 (8:30 p.m.): Croatia – Argentina
Saturday January 18 (6 p.m.): France – Austria
Saturday January 18 (6 p.m.): Cape Verde – Slovenia
Saturday January 18 (6 p.m.): Spain – Japan
Saturday January 18 (6 p.m.): Algeria – Tunisia
Saturday January 18 (8:30 p.m.): Qatar – Kuwait
Saturday January 18 (8:30 p.m.): Denmark – Italy
Saturday January 18 (8:30 p.m.): Iceland – Cuba
Saturday January 18 (8:30 p.m.): Chile – Sweden
Sunday January 19 (3:30 p.m.): Poland – Switzerland
Sunday January 19 (6 p.m.): Argentina – Bahrain
Sunday January 19 (6 p.m.): Brazil – United States
Sunday January 19 (6 p.m.): Germany – Czech Republic
Sunday January 19 (6 p.m.): North Macedonia – Guinea
Sunday January 19 (8:30 p.m.): Hungary – Netherlands
Sunday January 19 (8:30 p.m.): Egypt – Croatia
Sunday January 19 (8:30 p.m.): Norway – Portugal
Monday January 20 (6 p.m.): Cuba – Cape Verde
Monday January 20 (6 p.m.): Japan – Chile
Monday January 20 (8:30 p.m.): Sweden – Spain
Monday January 20 (8:30 p.m.): Slovenia – Iceland
Tour principal :
Tuesday January 21 (3:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m.): main round, including France so qualified
Wednesday January 22 (3:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m.): main round
Thursday January 23 (3:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m.): main round, including France so qualified
Friday January 24 (3:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m.): main round
Saturday January 25 (3:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m.): main round, including France so qualified
Sunday January 26 (3:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m.): main round
Phase finale :
Tuesday January 28 (5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.): quarter-finals
Wednesday January 29 (5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.): quarter-finals
Thursday January 30 (8:30 p.m.): semi-final
Friday January 31 (8:30 p.m.): semi-final
Sunday February 2 (3 p.m.): final for third place
