The opening day of the men's tournament at Paris 2024 finished with a clash of two European powerhouses. Home team France were a better side early in the game, but then Denmark took the initiative and were superior for the rest of the encounter, taking a commanding 37:29 win. 

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP B
Denmark vs France 37:29 (18:17)

The two teams have been dominating the world handball in recent years, as Denmark are the reigning world champions, and France are the reigning Olympic and European champions. They have often met in the final matches of the major competitions - at Tokyo 2020, the 2023 IHF Men's World Championship and the EHF EURO 2024, and it will be hardly surprising if they face off again in the gold-medal match at Paris 2024. But now, the two heavyweights met at the start of the competition, and Denmark had the upper hand, boasting a 79% shot efficiency. 

Their leaders did a great job in this encounter — Mathias Gidsel and Simon Pytlick scored 11 goals each, while Niklas Landin recorded 15 saves for a 45% save efficiency. Besides, veteran Mikkel Hansen scored six times, including five 7m shots, and increased his overall tally at the Olympics to 171 goals. The French legend Nikola Karabatic, who became the first handball player to participate in six Olympic tournaments, netted three times. 

In a quite high-scoring first half, it was actually France who took an early control of the match. Cheered by their home crowd, the team coached by Guillaume Gille defended well and puzzled the Danes with their attacking moves, scoring time after time. By minute 12, they already led 9:4, making the raucous local fans at the South Paris Arena 6 go in raptures.

Yet following a timeout, Denmark woke up and started to play more aggressively, which helped them to catch up. While the Nordic team's goalkeeping left much to be desired early in the game, Niklas Landin, who replaced Emil Nielsen, quickly found his rhythm. He boasted a 46% save rate in the first half and also scored from his own half into an empty net, drawing level at 12:12 in the 21st minute.

Gidsel fired from all cylinders, netting six times in the first half, while the Olympic debutant Pytlick put his team in front for the first time in the match, 15:14. Denmark led by two goals a few times late in the first half, but Hugo Descat's penalty shot in the last second helped France to slash the gap.

The hosts hoped to recharge their batteries during the break, but after the restart, they struggled against the superb Danish defence again. Nikolaj Jacobsen's team continued to dominate and often scored from fast counterattacks, extending the gap to three goals (25:22) in the 42nd minute.

As Pytlick was unstoppable in the second half, his team already led by six, 31:25, with seven minutes to go, and the Danes showed no sign of slowing down, as both Gidsel and Pytlick finished the match with 11 goals, sharing the first place in the top goal scorer standings. France made too many mistakes and looked tired in the closing minutes, so now the hosts will try to bounce back in their next encounter, against Norway on Monday.