Just like the women’s final that came before it, the final of the men’s handball competition at the 2016 Olympic Games is a historic event for both teams. For France it represents an opportunity to claim their third straight title, while it is the first time the Denmark men’s team have made it to this stage – and it is therefore their first chance to win the gold medal. 

If France win the final, they will be the first nation to win three gold medals in men’s handball; an achievement that will be even more momentous based on the fact that it will be at three consecutive Games. The team have never lost an Olympic final before, as they defeated Iceland in 2008 and were responsible for sending Sweden home with their fourth silver medal at London 2012. 

Denmark have already achieved their best-ever ranking in the men’s handball competition at the Olympic Games, as their previous top-place finish was fourth in 1984, though the nation’s women’s team dominated the Olympic tournament for from 1996 to 2004, winning three straight gold medals. If Denmark are the team crowned champions on Sunday, they will be one of only four countries to have won gold medals in both the men’s and women’s events, after Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, and, since the female team claimed the title on Saturday, Russia.  both

“We can play completely freely in that final,” said Lasse Svan after Denmark won their semi-final against Poland in extra time. “I don't think that there's anyone else in the whole handball world apart from ourselves who thinks that we have a chance against France.”

The history between France and Denmark meeting to decide major titles is long, as they played each other in two finals before – the 2011 IHF World Championship and the EHF EURO 2014. On both of those occasions France were the victors. France also won the group phase encounter between these teams at Rio 2016, defeating Denmark by three goals at 33:30. 

The relatively narrow score line in that match promises an exciting final to decide the men’s gold medal, with some extra motivation for Luc Abalo, Michael Guigou, and former World Handball Players of the Year Daniel Narcisse (2012), Thierry Omeyer (2008), and Nikola Karabatic (2007, 2014), all of whom can win their third Olympic gold and therefore join Russian legend Andrey Lavrov on that tally. 

A long wait to fight for one medal

For both Poland and Germany, one must look back several decades to find their last Olympic medal win – and now both take to the court with the determination to secure bronze. Both teams lost their semi-finals in the final seconds, with Germany conceding defeat as France scored a last-second goal in regular playing time, while Poland lost to Denmark in extra time. 

For Poland the performance was somewhat stronger, as Germany were down by six goals as late as the 37th minute before they fought back to equalise in the last minutes, which will either mean Poland are more confident – or Germany are more determined to put on a better show. 

As the current European champions Germany have to be considered the favourite to win the bronze medal, but their success will depend on whether they can play better defensively than they did against France. 

“We didn't get in the game at all. We didn't have any answers. We didn't get many saves from our goalkeepers and not any fast break goals,” said Germany coach Dagur Sigurdsson following the game. 

“We are concentrating on winning the bronze final now. We've played a great tournament."

Match schedule for Sunday 21 August in Future Arena
Bronze-medal match: Germany vs Poland 10:30 local time
Final: France vs Denmark 14:00 local time