Three days, six games, two berths for Tokyo 2020. It cannot get any better for the fans and any harder for the teams to fulfil their Olympic dream.

With three European sides and one plucky African team, the Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020 tournament hosted by France, and only two sides will proceed to Tokyo. 

It will also be a fiery first tournament for Croatia’s coach Hrvoje Horvat, who will make his anticipated debut against hosts France.

Tunisia vs Portugal 18:30 CET

For a team that always plays with their hearts on their sleeves, Portugal will feel a mix of emotions before the game against Tunisia, which will throw off Tournament 2.

Two weeks ago, Portugal goalkeeper Alfredo Quintana, who was supposed to start between the posts against Tunisia, suffered a cardiac arrest during a training session and passed away.

It came as a huge shock for both his club team FC Porto and the ‘Heroes of the Sea’, where he was a constant presence since 2014, when he was first selected for the national team.

Therefore, Portugal will try to keep the flame going for both their Olympic dream, but also for Quintana, in a crucial match against a spirited African side.

“Tunisia are tough opponents, but believe me, we will do everything in our power to win the game. Both for us and for Alfredo,” said Portugal’s head coach, Paulo Pereira on the Portuguese Handball Federation website.

While Portugal are embarking on their journey to clinch their  first-ever Olympic berth, which would confirm their upward trend, Tunisia have already qualified four times for the Olympic Games, including the last two editions – London 2012 and Rio 2016.

The African side finished 25th at Egypt 2021 in January, winning the President’s Cup against Austria in an intense final (37:33), proving that they can beat European sides.

However, Portugal will be a bigger, tougher challenge for a side that will definitely prove troublesome for Tunisia, as coach Sami Saidi will miss several key players of the team who won four games at Egypt 2021.

Top scorer Mosbah Sanai decided to retire from the national team, line player Jihed Jaballah is absent due to injury and centre back Mohamed Soussi, one of the most experienced players in the side, declined the call-up for the Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020.

Saidi decided to call up right back Amine Bannour, another strong shooter, who plays for Dinamo Bucharest in Romania, while all eyes are once again on creative centre back Mohamed Darmoul, who was the seventh best goal scorer at Egypt 2021, with 40 goals in seven games.

France vs Croatia 21:00 CET

After their worst-ever finish at an IHF Men’s World Championship in January (15th place), which resulted in legendary coach Lino Cervar stepping down, Croatia needed a serious makeover.

On such a short notice, the best solution was to promote Cervar’s assistant Hrvoje Horvat as the head coach, with less than two months to fix what went wrong.

It is a baptism by fire for Horvat, facing one of the few teams that the Croatian side do not have a positive balance against.

Yet, Croatia are upbeat, despite missing right back Luka Stepancic, a key player who went down with another injury last month.

“I think everyone’s dream is to progress to the Olympic Games and we are going to France with that goal in mind. It is a really tough tournament, with very good teams, but if everything goes to plan and we improve our defence, we can really think about qualifying,” said Croatian centre back Luka Cindric on the Croatian Handball Federation website.

It was, in fact, Cindric and Domagoj Duvnjak nursing injuries and missing games at Egypt 2021 that really hampered Croatia’s effort and with them back in the squad, Horvat will surely have his hopes up ahead of one of the toughest tests this weekend.

France have won eight of the 12 mutual matches played by the two sides, yet Croatia were better in their last match two years ago at the IHF Men’s World Championship, sealing a 23:20 win.

However, France look poised to start the tournament they host in Montpellier with a win. They have the home advantage, look to be in better shape and bring back the core of players that finished fourth at Egypt 2021, losing their last two games after securing seven wins in a row in the group phase and the main round.

“The objective is only one and that is to plant the blue-white-red flag on the top of Mount Fuji. But, up until that point, we still have to be humble and qualify in what is a tough tournament,” said France’s coach, Guillaume Gille to French TV station FranceTV.