EHF EURO 2022 – Match Analysis: France Vs. Ukraine

by Mário Cesar Navarro Handball Analysis, Men's EHF Euro 2022

On the third day of the competition, the 2nd round started with France and Ukraine. France enters the field as medal and title contenders, while Ukraine returns to an EHF Euro after a ten-year absence.

Stay with another detailed analysis of the game between France and Ukraine.

France started the game as expected, presenting an extremely aggressive 6:0 defence to try to solve the game early through offensive transitions. While Ukraine also presented themselves with a 6:0 that was not very mobile and close to the 6-meter line, offensively, they bet on disciplined and prolonged attacks.

In this way, the French defence solved their defensive problems with their system, and when they couldn’t solve them, Vicent Gerard would set off for another excellent display. As a result, the Ukrainian team only managed to make four successful attacks in fifteen attempts in the first half.

As far as transitions are concerned, France failed to exploit the opportunities they managed to create, ending the first half with an efficiency rate of 57%.

When it came to finishing, France ended the first half with 65% efficiency, scoring 17 goals from 26 shots, while Ukraine ended the first half with a shooting efficiency of 52% with 11 goals from 21 attempts.

Thus, France would reach halftime, naturally winning 17:11 over Ukraine.

In the second half, France took the opportunity to continue their rotation and apply a deep 5:1 that continued to give many headaches to the Ukrainian team. However, the French powerhouse didn’t give a chance and didn’t take their foot off the gas.

This way, the French team would reach the end of the match-winning by a clear 36:23 against the Ukrainian team.
In statistical terms, the differences are evident and can be confirmed in the graphs that represent the Offensive Profile of each team.

However, we must highlight the eight ball steals by the French team, the goalkeepers’ performance that ended with a 38% effectiveness with fourteen saves in thirty-seven shots by the Ukrainian team. On the Ukrainian side, we must highlight the low effectiveness in positional attack, the 83% effectiveness in numerical superiority, and their goalkeepers’ performance with 23% that prevented the advantage from increasing.

Stay with some data about this match.

Author Profile

Mário Cesar Navarro
Portuguese handball coach with over 15 years of experience coaching both male and female youth and senior teams. Passionate about game analysis and coaching.