Paris 2024 threw off on Thursday with the women's competition, as some big shocks took place. The men's competition also throws off on Saturday, with a full card of six matches, as the best teams in the world take on the court.

All the participating teams will take the court at the South Paris Arena 6, with the first of the 10 days with six matches scheduled both in the women’s and in the men’s competition providing some exciting clashes.

What to expect on the first day at Paris 2024? Don’t worry, we got you covered, as every day, we will select 10 key facts and figures which tailor the narrative of the competition.

GROUP A

• 09:00 CEST Spain vs Slovenia
• 14:00 CEST Croatia vs Japan
• 19:00 CEST Germany vs Sweden

GROUP B

• 11:00 CEST Hungary vs Egypt
• 16:00 CEST Norway vs Argentina
• 21:00 CEST Denmark vs France

Karabatic eyes appearances record: At 40 years old, Nikola Karabatic is playing his last matches, as he announced his retirement from professional handball at the end of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The France left back will become the first player to appear at six editions of the Olympic Games and this will be the 33rd match of his career in the competition, only two shy of the record set by Andrey Lavrov, a record which Karabatic, provided he is fit, will break on 2 August, when France are due to meet Argentina in the South Paris Arena 6.

A great rivalry to watch: Denmark and France are the two dominating forces of men’s handball in the past years. The opener for the reigning world champions, Denmark, and the reigning Olympic and European champions, France, is a battle which has decided many titles in the past three years, starting from the final of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where France won, to the final of the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, won by Denmark, and finally back in January 2024, when France got the best of the Scandinavian side in the final of the EHF EURO 2024.

Can Hansen become the first player with 200 goals at the Olympics? Karabatic is not the only superstar to finish his career at Paris 2024, left back Mikkel Hansen will also follow suit, metting and end to his superstar career at the end of the Olympic Games. Hansen is by far the best scorer at the Olympic Games, with 165 goals scored in four editions, 38 more than Korea’s Shin-Yoon Kyung. Therefore, he needs only 35 goals to reach 200 goals, which would be a fantastic performance for any player in such a difficult competition at the Olympic Games.

Milestones in sight for Spain: Bronze medallists at the Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Spain are one of the teams with the largest number of matches played in the competition – 74. They won 42 of those matches and have scored 1863 goals, needing only 137 goals to hit the 2000-goal milestone. Their first step is the match against Slovenia, the opener of the men’s competition at Paris 2024, a rematch of the battle between the two sides at the Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament in Granollers, Spain, back in March, when the hosts took a clear 32:22 win.

A battle between Spanish coaches: From the 12 teams present at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the men’s competition, four are led by Spanish coaches – Spain, Japan, Hungary and Egypt. The last two sides will throw off the proceedings in Group B, where the battle for the four quarter-final spots is tough. Chema Rodriguez and Juan Carlos Pastor are each experienced coaches, having proven themselves at club level and are now battling on the biggest of stages, with two sides which know each other pretty well, as Egypt’s backs Yahia Omar and Yehia Elderaa played in the past seasons for Hungarian powerhouse Vespzrem HC.



Japan face former coach Dagur Sigurðsson: Between 2017 and 2024, Dagur Sigurðsson was the coach of Japan men’s senior national team, leading the side at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where they featured as hosts. The Icelandic coach also helped Japan secure a fantastic berth for Paris 2024, with a win at the 2023 AHF Asian Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament, but returned to Europe in March 2024, when Croatia came calling. Sigurðsson also led Croatia to a sweep against Germany, Austria and Algeria at the Olympic Qualification Tournament #2 in Hanover, and the draw of Paris 2024 meant that his first match in charge in the South Paris Arena 6 will be against his former side, undoubtedly a special moment for the Icelandic coach.

Will Egypt be the dark horses once again? Back at Tokyo 2020, Egypt secured their best finish at the Olympics, the fourth place, making the semi-final after a fantastic performance. Since then, coach Roberto Garcia Parrondo left, but the core of the African team remained more or less the same, with experienced players, ready to make waves once again. A win in the opener against Hungary is a must for a team which gets plenty of motivation from their results, therefore Egypt are due to be a fun team to watch once again, as many players have now gained invaluable experience in European club competitions.

Argentina gets ready for fourth consecutive Olympics edition: The South American powerhouse, which secured their ticket to Paris by winning the 2023 Pan American Games, will throw off against Norway, a team which they lost both matches against played in history. It is an outstanding performance for Argentina, a team which made their debut at London 2012, but have never finished better than 10th, while Norway have secured back-to-back appearances at the Olympic Games for the first time in history.  

Sweden and Germany face off yet again in 2024: Well-known rivals face off: Nine of the 17 players called up for Sweden’s team by coach Glenn Solberg are playing in the German Bundesliga, with four of them plying their trade at the reigning champions of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, SC Magdeburg. The two teams have also met at the EHF EURO 2024, in the bronze medal match, where Sweden took a 34:31 win over Germany, in Cologne, Germany. With four silver medals at the Olympic Games, the Scandinavian side, a four-time world champion and a five-time European champions, wants the final title missing in their cabinet.

Sweden to mark their 10th apperance at the Olympic Games: The Scandinavian side missed out only in five editions, at the inaugural one in Munich 1936, at Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1990 and then at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. They will become only the second team in history to appear at 10 Olympic Games editions, two editions shy of the record set by Spain, 12. A win against Germany would be Sweden’s 40th, in their 60th match of the competition, while the 16th goal scored by the Scandiavian side against Germany will be their 1500th in the history of the Olympics.