Following two defeats in as many previous matches, France were looking for a win to stay in fight for a quarter-final spot. However, the hosts narrowly escaped another loss, as Ludovic Fabregas scored in the last second to draw level, 26:26, giving a big mental boost to the reigning Olympic champions. 

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP В
France vs Egypt 26:26 (11:15)

Supported by their home crowd, France started the game well, making the best of their attacks. Seven minutes into the match, they opened up a 4:2 lead and hoped to continue in the same way, trying to avoid their first three-match losing streak at the Olympics since Atlanta 1996.

However, Egypt, who had already beaten Hungary in their opening match at Paris 2024, felt enough confidence and did not give up, bouncing back immediately. Their goalkeeper, Mohamed Aly, made a string of saves, and Yahia Omar got in the groove with three goals, as 'the Pharaohs" started to put pressure on the home side.

In the 12th minute, a goal from Ali Zein saw the Africans establish their first lead, 6:5. The teams went on to trade goals for a while, and they were tied at 9:9 in the 18th minute, but Aly stood like a wall, boasting nine saves for a 45% saving efficiency before the break, and his heroics helped his team to pull clear, as they led by four goals after 30 minutes. 

After the restart, the Egyptians led by five goals several times, which was their biggest advantage throughout this encounter. However, France finally seemed to find their rhythm, as two goals from Dylan Nahi and just as many from Ludovic Fabregas resulted in a 4:0 run, which helped Guillaume Gille's team to cut the gap to 17:18.

Vincent Gerard was substituted by Remy Desbonnet in the second half, and it had a positive effect of the French goalkeeping. Nedim Remili's goal helped France to draw level at 19:19 midway through the second half, and the match went to the buzzer, with a very close fight in the remaining time. 

While France tried to come back, they did not take the lead at any point in the second part. Yahia Omar finally became the top scorer of the game with eight goals, and his impact contributed a lot to Egypt's 26:24 lead with three and a half minutes to go.
But Dika Mem slashed the gap soon, and in the remaining time, both sides missed their chances before Fabregas scored just before the final buzzer, when France had eight seconds to save a point and used a seven-on-six attack, which could not be stopped by Egypt.

The reigning Olympic champions claimed their maiden point in the competition - but now they need positive results in the two remaining group matches to progress to the quarter-final, yet they cannot finish higher than the third place in the group. On the other hand, Egypt have three points and continue the race for a place in the quarter-finals, with a tie against Norway next.