France dominates Kuwait to edge closer to main round

16 Jan. 2025

France dominates Kuwait to edge closer to main round

France proved too strong for the second time in two days for an Asian team in Group C, as they secured another convincing win at the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship, beating Kuwait 43:19. Despite a strong start from the Asian side, France quickly stepped up a gear and ensured a comfortable win that solidified their top spot in the group.

GROUP C
Kuwait vs France 19:43 (8:21)

Kuwait were determined to deliver a good performance at the start of the game, as they were neck-to-neck with France for ten minutes. Abdulaziz Althafiri was amazing in goal, frustrating the French outfield players with his saves, while Rémi Desbonnet countered with equally impressive stops for France.

However, France soon found their rhythm and took full control of the game. Nine Kuwait turnovers paved the way for a ten-goal run that left Kuwait goalless for 13 minutes and decided the match. By the 21st minute, France's lead hit double digits at 15:5, with nine players netting at least once. France continued their strong pace, with Elohim Prandi adding his first two goals in his competition debut to secure a commanding 21:8 halftime lead. 

Kuwait's struggles were reflected in the numbers in the first half: centre back Abdulaziz Salmeen could not find a way to score, staying on zero goals out of six attempts, and the team had just 24% shooting efficiency while committing 14 turnovers. Meanwhile, France maintained a 65% attack efficiency despite dropping their focus in the final moments of the first 30 minutes.

With a good-looking lead, France gave just enough to keep the momentum, while again making good rotations to keep the energy. Thus, we saw Samir Bellahcene between the posts in the second half, who saved seven times at 39%, following the footsteps of Desbonnet who was at 50% in the first half with nine saves.

Kuwait tried to minimise their mistakes from the second half and managed to keep up, scoring the same amount of goals as their opponents until the 43rd minute. However, France's dominance in the final stages sealed the deal, with Kuwait being unable to narrow the gap.

Julien Bos' first goal in the 50th minute pushed the French lead to 20 and only built further on that. Guillaume Gille's team kept Kuwait below 20 goals while they marched on to 43, sealing the second-highest win at the Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.

France have virtually secured their main round spot and will aim to keep the top spot in the next game against Austria, while Kuwait's hopes after two straight defeats lie in the match against Qatar, assuming Qatar loses in their second game later on Thursday.

hummel Player of the Match: Thibaud Briet (France)