France back to full strength as round 3 wraps up
The second day of Women’s EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers round 3 awaits on Thursday. Five clashes from three groups see two top pairings collide in contests for first place, while six teams are eager to collect their first points.
Compared to the World Championship squad, we’re missing five players. The situation isn’t ideal, but we have two matches against France, one of the best teams in the world. We need to give our best, especially since we only have four training sessions before the first match. But we’ll prepare as well as we can.
From my experience, it is always necessary to be cautious when traveling for a qualification match in Croatia. It is a great handball nation and a team that has often caused us difficulties on their home court. After a particularly busy start to the year with matches for the players in January and February, we will need to be able to regenerate the entire squad within a very short period of time. Our goal will be to make the team as competitive as possible during this period.
We will be facing a team that played a strong home match against Croatia. They have good shooting power in their backcourt and they are very effective on their fast breaks. Our defence must be fully focused at all times.
The atmosphere within the team is very positive. Although the roster has changed considerably, the new players are highly motivated, eager to prove themselves, and working with maximum dedication. The energy and unity we are building day by day give us additional confidence. We know that Finland is a serious and physically very strong opponent, but we believe in our strength as a collective.
Over the past months, we have learned a lot — at the World Championship and in the games against Bosnia and Italy. These experiences give us confidence. Against the Netherlands, we have to stand together as a team, fight for each other, and use our emotions in a positive way. If we play with speed and stay aggressive in defence, we can also make an impact against a top opponent.
After the World Championship in the Netherlands, it’s great to see almost everyone again. We also have some new players joining the team. Playing against Switzerland is a good test for us. They have been improving year after year, so it will be a nice challenge.
I think Bosnia will rely heavily on their home game, compared to the away game in Pescara. In any case, we expect a similar level of technique to ours, with quality players coming from major leagues, so I expect two evenly matched matches. We'll have to stay true to our playing principles, with a proactive defence and a high tempo, as intense as possible, as well as being efficient in attack and, therefore, in scoring.
We are focused only on winning. We are doing everything we can to play our best and be in good shape. We are watching their games, preparing for their tactics, and preparing for Lithuania carefully. They play well in attack, can shoot from a distance, and can dribble. But we will prepare for this, so everything will be fine.
