France power over Slovenia to advance to main round with four points

For the fourth time in a row at the IHF Men’s World Championship, France started the tournament with a three-match winning streak, as they totally outplayed Slovenia in the second half of their last match in the preliminary round in Katowice, clinching a 35:31 win. Both teams are going to the main round, but France, the group’s winner, will start with four points, while Slovenia will move to Krakow with two points.

Group B

Slovenia vs France 31:35 (14:16)

The winner takes it all. Or this is how the saying goes. This evening in Katowice, though, the winner was not going to take it all, but rather only two crucial points that were instrumental in creating the best possible position in the main round at Poland/Sweden 2023.

With stakes so high, it was clear that both Slovenia and France were going to give their all to create their three-match winning streak at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, with the winner of the match also being crowned as the winner of Group B in the preliminary round.

While being favoured, France saw themselves without key right back Dika Mem, one of the team’s best scorers, who was hampered by a muscular strain that saw his miss out on the 16-player line-up presented by France hours before the start of the match.

But could France’s weaknesses be exploited? Well, if the first half was to be taken, the answer would be a mix between yes and no. The latter was because Slovenia did not take the lead for a single second in the match. The former? France were only boasting a two-goal lead at the break.

It was an excellent first half from right back Nedim Remili, who scored five goals and dished four assists. In comparison, Nikola Karabatić scored three goals himself after putting only one goal past Poland and Saudi Arabia in the first two matches.

However, Slovenia were still in the game, thanks to a mix of grit and better attacking efficiency, with their 61% conversion rate in front of the goal trumping France’s meagre 54%. However, France did score 16 goals in those first 30 minutes; therefore, Slovenia’s defence was an issue.

Indeed, it was for coach Uroš Zorman, who was pacing up and down in front of his bench, constantly trying to help his team improve, beef up their defence and avoid any unnecessary turnovers in attack.

With France starting the second half better, with a 6:2 run that underlined the improvement in their shots, Zorman threw everything he had into the game. When France conceded a suspension, line player Blaž Blagotinšek stayed in his half, leaving his teammates in attack to prevent any France fast break.

At times Slovenia also used a seven-on-six attack, only to find themselves in a difficult position as their number of turnovers ballooned to 14, as opposed to France’s four. While Aleks Vlah scored nine times for Slovenia to become their top scorer in the tournament, his performance was not echoed by other teammates, with Slovenia eventually crumbling under pressure.

With Remili, the hummel Player of the Match, finished the match with seven goals and seven assists, France cruised to a 35:31 win, finishing the preliminary round in the Spodek Arena in Katowice on a high and winning the first three matches at the IHF Men’s World Championship for the fourth time in a row, a streak that started when they hosted the tournament in 2017.

“Les Experts” have also come close to beating their own record for the number of goals scored in the first three matches at the IHF Men’s World Championship, which they set at Croatia 2009 when they had 106 goals, finishing the preliminary round with 102 goals.

The win against Slovenia means that France will start the main round in Krakow with four points, while Uroš Zorman’s side will start with two points after securing a crucial win against Poland in the second round of the group.

hummel Player of the Match: Nedim Remili (France)