Guillaume Gille and France at the start of a new cycle

“It took me a while to be able to sleep well at night,” confesses France’s head coach Guillaume Gille. The reason for these sleeping problems? One would have guessed: the elimination in the quarter-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, after a crazy scenario. “We have all had to digest it, each of us in our own way. It has not been easy, but we had to get through it and bounce back, anyway.”

The contrast in the France camp after the Olympics, compared to the one in Cologne back in January, was easy to spot. While the French national team sometimes seemed to walk on water at the EHF EURO 2024, the Olympic competition was a tough one, with many key players playing well below what was expected from them.

“We took holidays and we talked as well. I think that the scar is still open, but that, somehow, it has been covered by a lot of things. Life goes on, players play every three days with their clubs and they have not had the time to think about it at length,” adds Gille.

The head coach faced many planned retirements in the aftermath of the Olympics. Legend Nikola Karabatic had already announced he would end his career after the summer competition, and so had goalkeeper Vincent Gérard. Former vice-captain Valentin Porte ended his international career, as well as left-back Timothey N’Guessan, leaving a lot of changes to be made. 

“This is definitely the start of a new cycle and we will need to find a new balance within the team. Players with a lot of experience left, now is the time for some others to step forward even more,” explains Gille. Of course, he expects players like Ludovic Fabregas, Dika Mem and Nedim Remili to be the new stalwarts for France.

But it will also be time for Aymeric Minne or Thibaud Briet, who have been looming around the national team for some time, to finally become regulars. “They both have been showing good things with their clubs, making progress every year. They are definitely part of the new cycle that will lead us to the next Olympics.”

The most visible change will perhaps be the change of captain. Luka Karabatic, aged 36, decided that it might be time for him to let go of the armband, which will now be worn by Ludovic Fabregas.

“We asked ourselves what could be the structure of the team that will lead us to the next Olympics,” explains Gille, whose players voted for Fabregas as the new captain.

“It is not very plausible that Luka will still be there in 2028, and it made sense for everyone to find a new captain. But I want to thank Luka for all he did, and state that he is still very much a part of the national team.”

There will also be a change on the bench. Érick Mathé, who arrived along Guillaume Gille in 2020 as assistant coach, has now moved full-time to Montpellier. And to replace him, Gille picked Johann Delattre, former head coach of the U21 national team.

“He has been around the team for a long time, he even stepped in at the EHF EURO 2022 when I had Covid-19, so he knows us very well,” says Gille. “As a U21 coach, he saw firsthand the development of players like Aymeric Minne and Thibaud Briet and I think having him by my side will be a definite advantage.”

The first signs against Sweden, for the first game of the EHF EURO Cup 2026 on Wednesday, were quite positive. In front of their fans, France took the victory (37:31) and maybe a little bit more than this.

“This was the first step in the rebuilding process and we made it in the right direction. The mindset and the energy were spot-on. And this game was far from being just anecdotic. It was important for us to bounce back and show that we are heading in the right direction again,” concluded Gille after the game.

Photos © Kolektiff Images