France extended their winning run at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship to five matches, claiming a crucial win against Sweden, 28:22, with another well-rounded performance.

Eric Baradat’s side now secured the first place in Group III of the main round and will face Switzerland in the next phase, while Sweden ended up on the second place, setting up a clash with the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

MAIN ROUND
GROUP III
Sweden vs France 22:28 (11:14)

Two of the most consistent teams so far in the competition, Sweden and France, faced off in the last match of Group III of the main round at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, each riding four-match winning streaks. But as only one team could win the group, Sweden faced a must-win situation, having a lower goal difference than France.

The two teams matched quite equally before the match, with France scoring 131 goals, as opposed to Sweden’s 130, but the Scandinavian side is the team with the largest number of steals so far, 40, relying heavily on defence and causing turnovers to fuel their fast breaks. However, France fared better in that department, with 31 converted fast breaks, as opposed to Sweden’s 19.

And, as it was expected, the battle was tight throughout the whole match, as both coaches, France’s Eric Baradat and Sweden’s Jesper Ostlund, rotated their teams throughout the whole match, with all players getting a fair share of time on the court.

Backed by a superb performance from goalkeeper Alix Tignon, who saved four shots for a 50% saving efficiency, France got the upper hand early in the match, taking a 7:4 lead after 14 minutes, while the European powerhouse also used their fast break efficiency to fuel this lead, converting both chances they had, with captain Nina Dury scoring at free will.

Until the break, Sweden cut the gap to only one goal, but France bounced back and opened a three-goal lead, 14:11, with centre back Nina Perret delivering five goals and one assist in the first half.

It looked like France were favourites to take the win here, but Sweden delivered a better start of the second half, with a fantastic 6:1 run, powered by two goals from right back Thea Kylberg and two goals from centre back Elise Lönnegren, as the Scandinavian side took the lead, 17:16, after 38 minutes.

Deploying a seven-on-six attack was the weapon which Sweden used effectively in the start of the second half, but it backfired quickly, as France’s defence adapted, intercepted two balls and fueled a 4:0 run, to wrestle back the lead, to open a 20:17 lead.

Not even a team time-out called by Ostlund managed to help Sweden wake up, as failing to score for five minutes and 30 seconds played exactly into France’s hands, which took a commanding 23:18 lead with only 15 minutes to go, despite Sweden had 12 outfield players scoring at least one goal, with line player Stina Wiksfors being the only one which did not score.

In fact, both Wiksfors and the Alkaloid Player of the Match against Germany, goalkeeper Stina Littorin, did not feature against France, being rested by Ostlund, with the Scandinavian side eventually failing to mount a comeback, with France securing a 28:22 win.

With five wins in five matches, France are now heading to the quarter-finals as Group III winners, facing Switzerland in the first match of the knockout phase, the second-placed side in Group I.

On the other hand, Sweden will face the Netherlands, the Group I winners, in the quarter-finals, in a rematch of the bronze medal match at Slovenia 2022, the previous edition of the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship.

Alkaloid Player of the Match: Lilou Pintat (France)