A strong display from France, which controlled the match from start to finish, delivered them the third win in as many matches in the preliminary round at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, 29:27, against Germany.

GROUP F
France vs Germany 29:27 (18:15)

France and Germany were the favourites before the start of the only group with a 100% European line-up at North Macedonia 2024, Group F, with the two powerhouses confirming their status in the first two matches, when they won against Spain and Serbia.

But with Germany boasting a better goal difference, +23, than France’s +16, the only chance for Eric Baradat’s side to top the standings was to win this match, which is exactly what they set up for in the first minutes of the match, taking the lead each time until the 11th minute.

That time around, Germany used a 4:1 run to open a 9:7 lead, as centre back Lotta Röpcke was unstoppable, scoring three of her seven goals in the first half. But France look like they have an on/off switch, pressing it immediately in defence, where the intensity was amped up and Germany started making mistakes in attack.

Goalkeeper Romane Lehuault Parc saved nine shots for a 37% efficiency, as France used a 5:0 run to take the game on its head and open up a four-goal lead, 14:10, their largest in the match until that point, with five different players scoring the powerhouse’s goals.

In fact, France had 10 different players score at least one goal in the first half, having no issues to use their excellent defence to deliver crucial fast breaks, scoring nine of their first 22 goals in the match via one-on-one situations with Germany’s goalkeeper, Marie Kristin Weiss.

Nevertheless, France were only boasting a 22:20 lead with 20 minutes to go, as Germany managed to keep their cool and never backed down, exerting the needed amount of pressure to keep France guessing throughout the match. And after France failed to score for 10 minutes and 20 seconds, Germany were tied, 22:22, with the last minutes of the match being on a knife’s edge.

As France focused on stopping Germany’s main weapon, Nieke Kühne, limiting the left back to only four goals, Germany struggled to keep the rhythm and could only score one goal between the 44th and the 56th minutes, their comeback being too little, too late. Three goals in the last three minutes could only limit the damage, as France secured a 29:27 win, their third in a row at North Macedonia 2024.

France and Germany will go into the main round hand in hand, but France will start the next phase with two points, tied with Sweden. Germany and the People’s Republic of China will have zero points and will need two wins in two matches to start dreaming about a quarter-finals berth.

Alkaloid Player of the Match: Lotta Röpcke (Germany)