The 24 qualified teams for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have learnt their fate at the official draw of the preliminary round of the competition, which took place on Tuesday, 16 April, in Creteil, at the Maison du Handball – The House of Handball – in Créteil, France.

The 12 teams in the men’s competition and the 12 teams in the women’s competition were previously divided into six pots, with the draw procedure seeing the teams in Pot 6 drawn first, followed by teams in Pot 5, Pot 3, Pot 2 and Pot 1.

France, the hosts, had the prerogative to select their group, as the reigning Olympic champions were in Pot 4, with the other side in both the men's and the women's competition heading into the other group.

For the men’s competition, the draw was carried out by former France left wing Siraba Dembélé, the second most capped player in France’s history, with 291 matches and the second best scorer, with 848 goals, who is also a world and European champion, plus a silver medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 

Group A looks already like a very well-balanced one, with five European teams, including former Olympic champions Croatia and Germany, as well as perennial contenders Spain and Sweden, with the latter two sides meeting in the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship bronze medal match.

Slovenia and Japan completed Group A, as the coach which qualified the Asian side, Dagur Sigurdsson, will now face his former side, after taking over Croatia men’s national team last February.

With Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Egypt and Argentina waiting in Group B, France chose this option, as the last two Olympic finals, at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, between the hosts and Denmark will now be re-enacted in the preliminary round.

"It is always very difficult to choose, because these are the toughest matches and the best teams in the world. Joking, it was a coin toss. We are expecting an amazing competition and when you see the overall quality, it will be an incredible fight," said France's coach, Guillaume Gille.

In fact, three of the top four placed sides at Tokyo 2020 – France, Denmark and Egypt – will be in this group, which already looks very balanced.

Paris 2024 Olympic Games – men’s competition

Group A: Spain, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Japan
Group B: Denmark, Norway, Hungary, France, Egypt, Argentina

For the women’s competition, Jerome Fernandez, a two-time Olympic champion, and the all-time top goal scorer of the France men’s national team, with 1463 goals scored in 390 matches, decided the fate of the 12 teams. 

In Group A, the three most decorated teams in the history of the Olympic Games – Denmark, Norway and the Republic of Korea – were drawn together, as the group was completed by Slovenia, Germany and Sweden, as all three Scandinavian sides were drawn in the same group.

“You have Norway and Denmark in Group A, and we hope to win Group B and I think if France were in Group A, it would have been a very unbalanced preliminary round. Therefore, we chose Group B,” said Olivier Krumbholz, France women’s national team coach.

In total, Group A boasts teams which won eight of the 12 Olympic titles in the history of the competition, with the women’s competition being introduced at Montreal 1976.

In Group B, France will face three teams which secured their tickets to Paris 2024 via the Olympic Qualification Tournaments – winners Netherlands and Hungary, plus the second-placed side in the Olympic Qualification Tournament #2, Spain.

The 2023 Pan American Games winners, Brazil, and the current African champions, Angola, which qualified via the African Handball Olympic Qualification Tournament, also headed to Group B. 

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will start on 25 July, with the women’s competition, as the men’s competition is due to start two days later, on 27 July. The groups will be played in the South Paris Arena 6, while the knockout phase is hosted by the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille.

The women’s gold medal match will take place on Saturday, 10 August, at 15:00 CEST, while the men’s gold medal match is scheduled one day later, Sunday, 11 August, at 13:30 CEST.

Paris 2024 Olympic Games – women’s competition

Group A: Norway, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Denmark, Republic of Korea
Group B: Hungary, Netherlands, Spain, France, Brazil, Angola