Sweden vs France Prediction & Betting Tips - Handball World Championship

Prediction published on 28/01/2021, 13:28  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 28/01/2021 at 14:28 in Handball World Championship Predictions

We are guaranteed an all-European final in the 2021 Men's World Handball Championships. Sweden face France and take on the victors of the other semi-final between Spain and Denmark. France are the favourites in this semi-final as they bid to make it five wins in seven world championships. The last World Cup in 2019 saw them finish in third place, after winning the previous two tournaments. They had a poor European Championships last year, losing in the preliminary round. However, they have bounced back well in these championships. No problems in the preliminary round with three straight wins, though they had to fight hard to beat Switzerland 25-24. In the main round, they recorded another three wins. Life was a bit tougher in the last eight as they had to go to overtime to defeat Hungary 35-32.

To reach the final, they have to get past Sweden who obviously enjoy playing in Egypt. They last won this title in 1999, a tournament also hosted in Egypt. Since then, they haven't had the greatest of records with a runners-up spot in 2001 and fourth place in 2011. They topped their group with three wins, though only beat Egypt by a single goal. While the Swedes finished top of their main round group, it was a struggle to do so. They drew with both Belarus and Slovenia before beating the Russian National Handball Federation. Better form was shown in the quarter final with a 35-22 win over Qatar. This is much tougher and the French side can be backed to get a narrow victory here.