Olympics-Handball-Denmark beat defending champions France in group-stage clash

PARIS - Denmark prevailed over defending Olympic champions France in a group stage clash between the two nations that dominate international men's handball on Saturday to leave a boisterous home crowd feeling deflated.

French fans turned out in force, hoping for a repeat of the Tokyo Olympics final that saw the Danes' gold medal hopes dashed - but Denmark secured a convincing 37-29 win.

Denmark were battling a deafening home crowd that delivered raucous renditions of the national anthem and chants of "Allez les Bleus" in a stadium packed to the rafters.

The French-Danish rivalry runs deep: the teams battled each other in both the last Olympic finals, and in the European championship final in January.

"We've lost so many finals to France," said Denmark's Mathias Gidsel, who was joint top scorer with 11 goals along with teammate Simon Pytlick.

"There is so much history between these two teams, so in the last four weeks when we've been preparing we have trained to play against France."

The French men's handball team won gold at the 2008, 2012, and 2021 Games, while Denmark beat France to become Olympic champions in 2016. France are keen to repeat their Tokyo double, where both the men's and women's sides won gold.

"It's a shame that we lost but they still did a great job, they fought until the end," said France fan Camille Sarrazin, 23, who came from Toulouse to watch the match with her family. "I'm just so happy to be here for the Olympics, the atmosphere is incredible."

The smattering of Danes in the stadium were drowned out for the first half, but gained in confidence after Denmark took the lead at the end of the first half. With Denmark six goals ahead with six minutes to go, France could not mount a quick enough response.

"The French were very good in the beginning and we were the underdogs, but in the end we were the best," said Kirsten Nikolajsen, another Denmark supporter.

France tackle Norway next, on Monday, with Denmark set to play against Egypt, while the French women's side, who won their first group stage match against Hungary, will play the Netherlands on Sunday.

The four top teams in each group will progress to the quarter-finals.