Injured during Friday afternoon's training session, Samir Bellahcene is forced to leave the World Cup and his partners. Guillaume Gille called on Valentin Kieffer to support Rémi Desbonnet and Charles Bolzinger.
Hit in the right thigh on Friday during training, Samir Ballahcene was taken care of by the Blues medical staff. “This muscle injury prevents him from continuing the competition and will require additional examinations in order to determine more precisely the duration of his unavailability,” declares Doctor Emmanuel Bidet. The European champion goalkeeper therefore sees his World Cup shortened after only 2 matches.
Called up for the first time during last November's training camp, Valentin Kieffer (25 years old, 0 selection) will discover a major competition with the A. The Chambéry Savoie Mont-Blanc HB goalkeeper will join the French team on Sunday in Varazdin (Croatia ) where the Blues will begin the main round on Tuesday. Guillaume Gille will then make the first change in the list of 18 players registered since the start of the World Cup.
The equation for the preliminary round is simple: four teams will compete in each of the eight groups (32 teams) with three qualified for the main round which will bring together 24 teams divided into four groups. The Blues will obviously aim for one of the three tickets for the main round and, if possible, with the maximum points, before crossing with the three qualified nations from Pool D. The skimming will then be more important because only two teams will reach the final table, at the quarter-final stage against the qualifiers from groups G and H.
It is Tuesday January 14 at 9:00 a.m., at the time of the technical meeting of group C which will be played in Porec, that the list of 18 players will be made official. Then, the coach will choose 16 players for each match. In addition, 5 changes will be possible throughout the competition (among the list of 35 players announced on 11/15).
IHF WORLD 2025 (Croatia, Denmark and Norway) – FULL RESULTS
Preliminary round in Porec: January 14 to 18
Tuesday January 14: France – Qatar : 37-19 (18-10) / Austria – Kuwait : 37-26 (18-16)
Thursday January 16: Kuwait – France : 19-43 (8-21) / Austria – Qatar : 28-26 (16-14)
Saturday January 18 at 6:00 p.m.: France – Austria – LIVE ON beINSPORTS 1 AND TMC / at 8:30 p.m.: Qatar – Kuwait
The Eight Groups:
Groupe A – Herning: Germany – Czech Republic – Poland – Switzerland
Groupe B – Herning: Denmark – Italy – Algeria – Tunisia
Group C – Porec: France – Austria – Qatar – Kuwait
Group D – Varazdin: Hungary – Netherlands – North Macedonia – Guinea
Group E – Baerum: Norway – Portugal – Brazil – Usa
Group F – Baerum: Sweden – Spain – Japan – Chile
Groupe G – Zagreb: Slovenia – Iceland – Cuba – Cape Verde
Groupe H – Zagreb: Egypt – Croatia – Argentina – Bahrain
the main round
January 21 to 25 – Herning: Group I (3 qualified from groups A & B)
January 21 to 25 – Varazdin: Group II (3 qualified from groups C & D): matches on January 21, 23 and 25
January 22 to 26 – Baerum: Group III (3 qualified from groups E & F)
January 22 to 26 – Zagreb: Group IV (3 qualified from groups G & H)
QUARTER FINALS
January 28 – Zagreb: 1st group II – 2nd in group IV
January 28 – Zagreb: 1st group IV – 2nd in group II
January 29 – Baerum: 1st group I – 2nd in group III
-January 29 – Baerum: 1st group III – 2nd in group I
SEMI-FINALS
January 30 – To Zagreb
January 31 – At Baerum
FINALES
February 2 – At Baerum
THE SELECTION OF 18 PLAYERS
Guardians: Samir BELLAHCENE (TVB Stuttgart) – Charles BOLZINGER (Montpellier HB) – Rémi DESBONNET (Montpellier HB)
Left wingers: Mathieu GREBILLE (Paris Saint Germain HB) – Dylan NAHI (Industria Kielce)
Left backs: Thibaud BRIET (HBC Nantes) – Romain LAGARDE (PAUC Handball) – Élohim PRANDI (Paris Saint Germain HB)
Center halves: Aymeric MINNE (HBC Nantes) – Nedim REMILI (Telekom Veszprém)
Pivots : Ludovic FABREGAS (Cap, Telekom Veszprém) – Luka KARABATIC (Paris Saint Germain HB) – Karl KONAN (Montpellier HB) – Nicolas TOURNAT (HBC Nantes)
Right backs: Dika MEM (FC Barcelona) – Melvyn RICHARDSON (FC Barcelona)
Right wingers: Julien BOS (HBC Nantes) – Benoît KOUNKOUD (Industria Kielce)
THE STAFF
Coach : Guillaume GILLE / Assistant coach: Yohan DELATTRE / Goalkeeper coaches: Jean-Luc KIEFFER / Physical trainer: Olivier MAURELLI / Video analyst: Vincent GRIVEAU / Doctor : Emmanuel BIDET / Physiotherapists: Sébastien GAUTIER, Jean-Christophe MABIRE and Florian PATALAGOÏTY / Manager of French teams: Emmanuelle MOUSSET / Communication
and media relations: Hubert GUÉRIAU / Steward: Alexandre MASSINON / Mental trainer: Pierre ARTHAPIGNET / National Technical Director: Pascal BOURGEAIS / Head of delegation: Bertrand GILLE / Videoman : Mathis BORONAT / Photographer: Baptiste FERNANDEZ
EHF EURO CUP 2026
November 4 and 5: internship at the Maison du handball
1st day – Wednesday November 6 in Orléans: France – Sweden : 37 to 31 (21-11) / Denmark – Norway : 32-27 (15-13)
2nd day – Saturday November 9 in Stavanger: Norway – France : 27-31 (14-17) / In Linköping: Sunday November 10: Sweden – Denmark: 29-33 (16-17)
PREPARING FOR THE 2025 IHF WORLD
End of December: internship at the Maison du handball
FRANCE TOURNAMENT IN Strasbourg
January 1 to 7: internship at the Maison du handball
January 8 to 10: French tournament at Rhénus Sport in Strasbourg
Wednesday January 8: France – Czech Republic : 37-28 (22-12)
Thursday January 9: Portugal – Czech Republic : 32-31 (16-15)
Friday January 10: France – Portugal : 44-38 (23-19)
EHF EURO CUP 2024-2025
Internship from March 10 to 16, 2025
3rd day – Wednesday March 12 at 8:45 p.m., in Lyon – LDLC Arena: France – Denmark
4th day – Saturday March 15 in Kolding, at 6 p.m.: Denmark – France
EHF EURO CUP 2024-2025
Internship from May 5 to 11, 2025
5e day: Wednesday May 7 in Gothenburg: Sweden – France
6e day – Sunday May 11, at 6 p.m., in Rouen – Kindarena: France – Norway
