France restored a bit of morale on the back of their disappointment of not qualifying for the World Cup final when they beat Portugal in a tight bronze match 35-34.
Guillaume Gille´s men got a bit of consolation for their failure to qualify for the World Cup final when they won the bronze by beating Portugal 35-34 is Oslo to celebrate their 13th World Cup medal in the first tournament after the era of superstar Nikola Karabatic – no other nation has won more.
Aymeric Minne was leading scorer for France on Sunday in the Unity Arena with ten goals for the record World Cup winners, who had been beaten in the semifinals by co-hosts Croatia (28-31) three days earlier.
As had been the case throughout the tournament, Portugal proved to be a highly unpleasant opponent, but even eight goals from Portugal’s leading scorer Francisco Costa wasn´t enough to give Portual their first World Cup medal ever in a thrilling match.
Match centre: France vs. Portugal
The Portuguese underdogs missed the chance of extra time in the final moment of the game when French keeper Charles Bolzinger saved a free-throw with his head.
Portugal ended Germany’s World Cup journey in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, but had no chance against Denmark in the semifinals two days later (27-40). But still it was an impressive performance for a team who never reached the last four at a World Cup before.
Denmark, world champions in 2019, 2021 and 2023, and Croatia will take part in the final of the 29th World Cup in the evening. Germany finished the tournament in sixth place after losing to Portugal.
