France clinched a maiden Tournoi de France title with a 31-29 victory over Iceland in the final at Paris La Defense Arena, the Bleus shaking off a porous opening period to secure a confidence-laden send-off into EHF EURO 2026.
In his last home outing before the squad flew to Norway for the championship, captain Ludovic Fabregas opened the scoring from the pivot position. The 1997-born Mike Nahi, recovered from the season-ending injury that wiped out his 2024-25 campaign, was singled out by the French broadcast as the team's most experienced anchor in attack and defence.
"On est prêts, pas total, c'est une bonne chose sur laquelle s'appuyer" the broadcast summed up afterwards: France are ready, not totally there yet, but with enough on which to build. "Et ça montre aussi la victoire donc et le trophée pour l'équipe de France dans ce tournoi de France. Pour la première fois de son histoire, le handball français pose ses valises ici à La Défense."
That opening-round porousness was the central concern. The Icelanders, with Vespur Hugo Descat and the much-discussed left-wing finisher Ellidi pulling defenders out of shape, frequently broke France's high defensive line. "Ça navigue de loin pour les Islandais," the broadcaster noted, the Vikings' shooting from distance pulling the Bleus apart in the early going.
The shift came when France's defensive chain reformed in the second half. Goalkeeper Charles Bolzinger, sketched on commentary as the spiritual heir to the legendary Vincent Gerard, started reading the Icelandic distance shooters and turning them into transition opportunities. France's response, the broadcast noted, was "un énorme courage, un immense état d'esprit, une défense retrouvée dans l'agressivité notamment en seconde période" - immense courage, the right mindset and an aggressive, regained defence.
Transition handball was the lever. Aymeric Minne, Hugo Descat and the relentlessly clean Dylan Nahi punished Iceland's slow tracking back. The decisive late breakaway came from Nahi, with the broadcast seizing on the moment: "Parlé Dylan le premier. Et bien voilà, c'est gagné." Dylan made the call, and that was the win sealed.
Key to keeping the Icelanders below 30 goals, the broadcast underscored, was France's ability to apply pressure on Iceland's pivots without losing shape on the ailerons. The block-and-counter pattern was textbook.
The Bleus' senior leadership group, which lost Olivier Krumbholz earlier in the cycle, will travel to Norway under Guillaume Gille with the 31-29 win as their fresh reference point. France open their EHF EURO 2026 group on Thursday before facing Austria on Friday, and Iceland, even in defeat, leave Paris as one of the championship's more dangerous wild-card contenders.
For Gille, the message is balanced. The attack flowed when Fabregas and Nahi connected, the defence finally bedded down once Bolzinger settled, and the bench, including Minne, Descat and Hugo Lehman, looked deep enough to weather a long tournament. France lift their first Tournoi de France trophy, and the timing could not be better.