With their sixth win in a row, France dispatched Norway to finish top of Main Round, Group II.

It was the first loss for the Norwegians, one of the three co-hosts of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, but with both teams already through to the quarter-finals the result had no implications other than who finished first and second.

Main Round, Group II
France vs Norway 24:23 (12:12)

Back in the final of the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, France led Norway 16:12 at the half-time break in Granollers, Spain.

Olivier Krumbholz and his side had sensed yet another gold medal in the competition, but in an inexplicable capitulation, his side scored just six goals in the second period, losing by seven in an 11-goal turnaround (29:22).

Here and now, in 2023, France have not shown their best face yet – a one-goal win over Angola in their opener and a lack of fluidity in their other games.

Norway, meanwhile, have been impressive, steamrolling teams with a fast-paced form of handball and rotation of their squad.

But tonight was all about defence. As the saying goes, ‘defence wins championships’ and France will be believing that 2023 could be their year again – finding themselves just 180 minutes from potential gold.

The reigning Olympic champions – and next Olympic hosts – did not help themselves early on against the reigning European champions though, 3:0 down after three minutes, but once they got back level (7:7) with 16 minutes on the clock, the game was nip and tuck all the way.

Maybe France could have pulled ahead further after threatening at 11:10 ahead to put further breathing room between them and Norway, but a technical issue inside the Trondheim Spektrum caused an eight-minute stoppage and quite possibly put the brakes on a French run with the teams going in even at the break (12:12).

Both Krumbholz and Norway’s Thorir Hergeirsson had rested key players for the opening period, including Grace Zaadi (nine minutes) and Kari Brattset Dale (zero minutes), but, just like the first half, the second was a wonderful advert for the sport.

Tactical switching, assists, cheeky strikes, physical power and pace – it was all abundant, but it was the saves and defence which caught the eye, with France goalkeeper Laura Glauser, along with Katrine Lunde and Silje Solberg in the Norwegian goal, impressing.

Even sportsmanship shone through too, with Norway’s Nora Mork accepting opponent Estelle Nze Minko’s request to get her hands used to the sticky glue on the ball for grip following a time out late on.

France rose to every challenge they faced, even those caused by themselves – Laura Flippes being shown red for her third two-minute with just three minutes remaining – and with time outs from both sides in the last 60 seconds, it was truly a blockbuster ending.

After France took a 24:23 lead with less than 30 seconds remaining, Hergeirsson called a time out. Led by Nora Mork, Norway went through their plan meticulously, with the right back directing her troops, backed up by her coach.

But whatever was agreed, it appeared to not go to plan on court and despite a 7v6 attack, the ball went to Stine Skogrand on the wing to cut in, but the angle was too tight and Glauser easily stopped the ball dead to confirm the win.

The spectacle continued after the final buzzer when, following the players' dispersal from their post-match line up, nearly all the Norwegian players hugged and congratulated Glauser, with Stine Oftedal and then Mork and Hergeirsson conducting their own post-mortem on the court about what did not go quite right.

Despite the loss, Norway are still one of the favourites for gold here and they could yet meet France again.

hummel Player of the Match: Katrine Lunde (Norway)