In 1948, the World Championships were held in France, much to the joy of the French Handball Federation, as this was the first major handball sporting event to be held in France. In its history, France has held three World Championship events, winning only once on home soil in 2001, this monumental event coincided with the appointment of Claude Onesta.

France started making headway on the international handball scene in the early 1990´s when they won their first ever medal (bronze) at the summer Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, followed by a silver medal in the World Championships of 1993 in Sweden. It was in 1995 at the 14th edition of the World Championships held in Iceland that French sporting history was made as the team defeated Croatia (23:19) and took their very first gold medal; the first championship title for France in any sport.

Everyone will be keeping a close eye on the performance of the French national team as they return to the European Championship as reigning Olympic and World handball champions. The desire of team France is to recapture their momentum of 2006 and once again take the title of European champions.