In January 2015 France won the 24th Men's World Handball Championship in Qatar, and on August 1 the junior team added another trophy to the French Handball Federation's cabinet with a victory in the Brazil 2015 final.
France defeated Denmark in the 2015 IHF Men's Junior World Championship group phase, and were happy to repeat this success in the final match in Uberlandia Sabiazinho.
"Our strong mentality was the difference. No one can beat us because we are a big family," said captain Alexandre Saidani after the win.
Final: Denmark vs France 24:26 (11:14)
It was all about France from start to finish. After 15 minutes of play Florian Billant took them to a two-goal lead (7:9) – an advantage that reflected their outstanding play through the opening period.
Denmark’s Jacob Arewth Lassen (eight goals) started the match well for the Scandinavian team, scoring four goals by midway through the half, but his side were letting themselves down in defence. Goalkeeper Kristian Pedersen, who played such a strong semi-final and was a key part of Denmark’s win against Germany in that match, was not as on point as he had been. As a result he was substituted out just after 10 minutes with Mike Jensen coming in temporarily.
Right back Florian Delecroix (eight goals), who was voted the Most Valuable Player of the championship, put France ahead by four in the 20th minute (7:11), and it looked like Denmark were in trouble. Pedersen saved a penalty with three minutes left in the half to keep France within reach (9:13), but at the other end his teammates were having trouble finding their way past French keeper Julien Meyer.
At the half-time break France were in front by three, and they maintained that score line through the second period – until the 22nd minute, when Denmark suddenly turned the tables with a goal from Kristian Bach Bonefeld putting them just one goal behind (20:21).
A goal from Delecroix as the match entered its final five minutes took France two ahead once more (21:23), before Magnus Landin Jacobsen scored a penalty to close the score line once more (22:23, 27th minute).
Youenn Cardinal scored a penalty inside last two minutes, but Denmark answered with an outside shot from Sebastian Henneberg (23:24). Billant scored from right wing then Bonefeld found the back of the net with a nine-metre ground shot (24:25). France had possession with 30 seconds left on the clock, when another outstanding wing shot from Billant sealed the victory.