Examining Group A: Three European sides and Angola vie for three main round berths

25 Oct. 2021

Examining Group A: Three European sides and Angola vie for three main round berths

The reigning Olympic champions will have their work cut out at the IHF Women’s World Championship, as France will face two other European teams, Montenegro and Slovenia, and African powerhouse Angola in the preliminary round.

Whether France will start slowly, as they usually do in tournaments, or Olivier Krumbholz’s side are finally due to show their mettle from the start, is going to define their future in the tournament, as the European powerhouse face three tournament-defining clashes.

The three European sides from Group A will rekindle their rivalry, as they already met in December 2020 in the preliminary round of the Women’s EHF EURO 2020. France won both games, 24:23 against Montenegro and 27:17 against Slovenia, underlining the positive balance against their European rivals.

In fact, France have won 12 of the 14 clashes played against Slovenia, including 10 of the last 11 matches in the last 24 years. However, in the last game played at the IHF Women’s World Championship, at Germany 2017, Slovenia clinched a superb 24:23 win against France.

Moreover, Slovenia’s most influential player, Ana Gros, knows France intimately, having played in the French league for Metz Handball and Brest Bretagne Handball between 2014 and 2021, before signing for Russian champions CSKA Moscow last summer.

France also hold the tiebreaker against Montenegro, winning eight out of 10 games, including the last eight matches, with the Montenegrin side last taking a win against the reigning Olympic champions at the Olympic Games London 2012, 23:22 in the quarter-finals.

The French side have also won three times against Montenegro at the IHF Women’s World Championship, with the highest-profile win coming at Germany 2017 in the quarter-finals phase, 25:22.

With plenty of experience of display at Spain 2021, France will boast a huge advantage over a Montenegrin side, which is due to continue their lengthy rebuild under coach Bojana Popovic’s watch. 

From the team that finished sixth at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Montenegro will miss left wing Majda Mehmedovic, the All-star left wing of the EHF EURO 2018 and of the DELO EHF Champions League 2021, who ended to her international career this autumn, after scoring 368 goals in 135 games.

This will also be the first-ever IHF Women’s World Championship as a coach for Popovic, who won the bronze medal as a player at Italy 2001 with the Yugoslavian national team.

And she will be buoyed by the head-to-head record of the Montenegrin side against Slovenia, which is immaculate. Montenegro won all five games against the Slovenian side in the last 13 years, yet this will be the first match between the two sides at the IHF Women’s World Championship.

In their quest to proceed from the preliminary round and continue their growth displayed in the last years, Angola will be in a tough situation, facing three European sides.

They have won 27 of the 90 games played at IHF Women’s World Championships, but their record against European sides is mediocre at best. The African side have a positive head-to-head record against only five European sides. However, in a boost for Angola, one of the five teams is Slovenia.

The two sides have met three times, with every match taking place at the IHF Women’s World Championship. At Russia 2005, Angola took a narrow 28:27 win in the preliminary round, but lost the game against Slovenia in the same phase of the competition at Germany 2017, 25:32.

Two years ago, at Japan 2019, Angola sealed a clear 33:24 win against Slovenia, a result that basically saw both teams out of contention, as they finished fourth and fifth, failing to proceed to the main round.

The African side have also won once in four games against Montenegro, but lost the two matches played at the IHF Women’s World Championship. 

Angola’s record against France is also in need of correction, as the reigning Olympic champions have won seven out of the eight games played against Angola in history. They have also met in the last two editions of the IHF Women’s World Championship, with France taking a 26:19 win at Germany 2017 and a 28:17 win at Japan 2019.

Angola’s only win against France came at France 2007, when they surprised the French hosts, 29:27.