Olympic champion France was the third team after world champion Denmark and defending champion Sweden to qualify early for the semi-finals of the European Handball Championships and provided the hoped-for support for the German team.
The record world champion beat Austria 33:28 (15:16) in Cologne and has secured one of the first two places in Group I with 8:0 points before the final main round matchday.
Austria has 4:4 points and can no longer reach the semi-finals on its own. As in the 22:22 draw against Germany, the tournament outsider delivered a strong performance and stood up to the favorites for a long time. Only when their strength dwindled a little in the final phase were the French able to pull away.
The best thrower at last year’s World Cup runner-up was Dika Mem with seven goals. For Austria, the two Bundesliga professionals Mykola Bilyk (THW Kiel) and Lukas Hutecek (TBV Lemgo Lippe) were the most accurate with six goals each.
Croatia eliminated
Croatia had previously lost their minimal chance of reaching the semi-finals by losing 30:35 (18:16) against Iceland. The best thrower for the winner, who had already said goodbye to the medal fight, was long-time Bundesliga professional Bjarki Már Elísson with eight goals.
The Icelanders had to deal with two personnel setbacks in the early stages. First, circle runner Ýmir Gíslason from German cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen was shown a red card after a blow to the head of Croatian Zvonimir Srna.
Shortly afterwards, Gisli Kristjansson from Bundesliga leaders and Champions League winners SC Magdeburg also sustained a foot injury and was no longer able to take part. The backcourt player only made his comeback shortly before the European Championships after a long injury break.
