Home side France earned a commanding victory against Spain and became the fourth team in history to win all five matches of the group stage since the current format of the handball tournament at the Olympics was introduced at Beijing 2008. Besides, it was the 30th win of the French team at the Olympics, the third team to reach that milestone after Norway and the Republic of Korea. 

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP В
Spain vs France 24:32 (9:17)

In stark contrast to France, Spain had lost all four previous matches at Paris 2024 and lost a chance of reaching the playoffs. So the hosts were the clear favourites of the encounter, and they stared to live up to expectations since the opening minute.

High shooting efficiency combined with solid defence helped Olivier Krumbholz's team to pull clear 6:2 after 10 minutes, and while Spain somewhat improved their attack as the game progressed, their defence could not hold the opponents back, so the gap continued to increase slowly but steadily.

An eight-goal lead at the break was a clear illustration of France's superiority in the first half, and as Krumbholz rotated his squad, his team continued to dominate after the restart. However, Spain should be credited for trying to fight back, as some good play from Alexandrina Cabral and Kaba Gassama helped them to cut the deficit to five goals, 14:19, eight minutes into the second half.

Still, France were back on track soon, as two goals from Pauletta Foppa and a fast break by Laura Flippes saw them restoring an eight-goal lead at 22:14. And as the home side continued to clearly have the upper hand and push for more goals, they created a double-digit advantage, 29:19, with seven minutes to play.

In the last minutes, the French team somewhat slowed down, yet they cruised to a commanding win with a 73% shooting efficiency and six fast breaks, as Alicia Toublanc became their leading scorer with six goals.

France became the third team in history after Norway (twice) and Korea to end the preliminary round with five wins in five matches and finished top of Group B and will now be waiting for their opponent in the quarter-final, while Spain suffered their fifth consecutive defeat and ended their frustrating campaign at Paris 2024.