The second day of the men’s competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will bring six fantastic matches, with powerhouses colliding in the South Paris Arena 6 in the French capital.

Six teams are eyeing their second wins, but only five of them can secure back-to-back victories in the competition, as the highlight of the day will probably be the match between Egypt and Denmark, two teams which start the day with two points.

Hosts France will be looking to bounce back against Norway, while Sweden and Spain, which played the bronze medal match at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, are also facing off on Monday.

GROUP A

• 09:00 CEST Japan vs Germany
• 11:00 CEST Slovenia vs Croatia
• 16:00 CEST Sweden vs Spain

GROUP B

• 14:00 CEST Egypt vs Denmark
• 19:00 CEST France vs Norway
• 21:00 CEST Argentina vs Hungary

A classic replayed in Paris: Three years ago, at the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship, the match between Denmark and Egypt, played in the quarter-finals, became one of the most dramatic ones in the history of the competition. After 60 minutes, the two teams were tied, 28:28. They both scored six goals in the first extra-time, then one each in the second extra-time. The match went to penalties, where Denmark – which were without Mikkel Hansen, who conceded a red card – scored four times, opposed to Egypt’s three goals. It was the closest Denmark got to losing a match in their three-peat at the IHF Men’s World Championship. The two teams meet again now, in Paris, where they could provide yet another entertaining display, as both are coming after wins in the first round.

Gidsel vs Pytlick for the top goal scorer title? At Tokyo 2020, when Mathias Gidsel made his debut at the Olympic Games, he was selected as the MVP of the competition and was the second-best scorer, with 46 goals. Left back Simon Pytlick is making his debut at the Olympics, but at his first edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship, in 2023, he was the fourth best scorer, with 51 goals, and was selected as the All-Star left back of the competition. Gidsel is 25 years old, Pytlick is 23. Both are the future of Denmark men’s national team. And both scored 11 goals in the match against France, Denmark’s huge 37:29 win, and are on track to battle for the top goal scorer title at Paris 2024. Now, they will face Egypt, which conceded 32 goals against Hungary, so Denmark could be once again dictating the rhythm with their fast-paced play.

How will France bounce back? Losing at home by eight goals to your big rival, Denmark, is sure to leave a serious dent for the hosts at Paris 2024. But France cannot dwell on their mistakes and need to bounce back against a team which has already secured their first win in the competition, Norway. For sure, France will be better inclined to deliver a good performance, just like they did in the first 20 minutes against Denmark. But as a team which has never lost two matches to start an edition of the Olympics, France are facing a must-win situation already.

Are Norway back between the top-tier teams? Silver medallists at the 2017 and the 2019 IHF Men’s World Championship editions, Norway have taken a step back, while remaining in the top-8 at the last major competitions – the EHF EURO 2024 not included. The last four matches between Norway and France have been quite close, with Norway winning twice and France twice, but none of the wins came by five goals or more. Therefore, with Sander Sagosen at full strength, after he conceded a red card in the match against Argentina, the Scandinavian side can be challenging for France, as they aim to start an Olympics edition with back-to-back wins for the first time in their history.

Can Sweden become the third team with 40 wins at the Olympics? The Scandinavian side missed the chance to become the third team in history of the men’s competition at the Olympic Games to secure 40 wins, after France (47) and Spain (43), after their loss against Germany. Now, Sweden cannot afford another loss, which would create must-win situations in the next matches for Glenn Solberg’s side. The two teams met in the bronze medal match at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, where they combined for the largest number of goals in the battle for the last place of the podium, 75, with Spain edging out co-hosts Sweden, 39:36.

How will Germany cope without a right wing? Germany were the team which probably impressed the most in their 30:27 win over Sweden in the first match at Paris 2024, but the European powerhouse will have to make do without a right wing, as the only player in the extended 17-player roster which was a natural on that position, Tim Hornke, got injured. Hornke was already replaced by left wing Rune Dahmke, therefore coach Alfred Gislason will probably alternate his choices on that position, with right back Christoph Steinert alternating with Dahmke on that position. The first test will come on the first match of the day, against Japan, a plucky Asian side, which caused big issues to Croatia.

Have Japan more firepower in their arsenal? A 10-goal outing from centre back Kosuke Yashuhira was close enough to bring Japan to an inch of a win against Croatia, which would have been their third against an European side, after the one against Iceland at Munich 1972 and another at Tokyo 2020 against Portugal. Antonio Carlos Ortega’s side will have another stab at it on Monday, when the Asian vice-champions will face Germany, a team which Ortega knows well, having coached TSV Hannover-Burgdorf between 2017 and 2021. Sure, it looks like a big challenge and Germany will have been prepared for this match, yet the Asian side looks like a team that can spring a surprise or two at a competition such as the Olympic Games.
 
Will Hungary deliver their first win at the Olympic in 12 years? Hungary are back for the first time at the Olympic Games after London 2012, where they finished with a loss in the bronze medal match against Croatia. They lost against Egypt in the first match, and failed to weather the draught, but can bounce back against Argentina, in the last match of the day, a battle between two sides which have lost their first match, with a second loss already increasing the pressure on them.

Can Slovenia derail Croatia’s ambitions? When Dagur Sigurdsson was named as the first foreign coach of Croatia men’s national team, the European side were in freefall. Sigurdsson secured the Olympics ticket and proceeded to win the first match at Paris 2024, albeit in a hard-fought match against Japan. Now, Slovenia, another European team awaits, which delivered a good first half against Spain, limiting the powerhouse to eight goals scored, before collapsing in the second half. This seems to be a close match, probably the most balanced on paper,  which could bring even more drama to the table.

Should we expect more magic from the goalkeepers? Two goalkeepers – Niklas Landin (45% saving efficiency) and Gonzalo Perez de Vargas (44% saving efficiency) – have made 15 saves so far at Paris 2024, followed by Sweden’s Andreas Palicka and Germany’s Andreas Wolff, who have saved 13 shots. They are, arguably, between the top five goalkeepers in the world right now and are a clear reason for why their teams are some of the favourites to win a medal. They are expected to deliver excellent performances in the second matches of the preliminary round too, so keep a close eye on them.