The French men’s handball team took the first step towards defending their Olympic title by winning the world championship on Sunday (1 February) and qualifying for the Rio 2016 Games. France beat hosts Qatar 25-22 in the final in Doha to secure their fifth world title and will now focus on winning a third consecutive Olympic gold medal next year, having topped the podium at the London 2012 and Beijing 2008 Games.

By finishing on top out of 24 teams from Europe, South America, Africa and Asia, France became the first men’s handball team to guarantee their place at the first Olympic Games in South America, as well as the first team from any sport to qualify for Rio 2016 this year. The Norway women’s team was the first handball side to qualify for Rio, having won last year’s European championship.

France took a 13-7 lead in front of 17,000 fans at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall, but Qatar fought back and trailed by only one point at 21-20. However, the reigning European champions pulled away to win 25-22, with Nikola Karabatic top scoring with five goals. For Qatar, Zarko Markovic scored seven and Rafael Capote netted six.

“We arrived here as favourites and we managed to deliver on that,” said Karabatic. “We faced huge pressure (playing the hosts in the final) and the victory demonstrated our strength.”

France finished the tournament unbeaten, with eight wins and one draw, and French goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer was elected player of the tournament. Omeyer said: “We have to enjoy this victory, which we worked so hard for. We came together in the difficult games and grew stronger at the decisive moments. I’m really happy to have qualified for the Rio Olympics.”

Earlier in the day, Poland had won the bronze medal match, beating Spain 29-28 after extra time. The teams who finished between second and seventh – Qatar, Poland, Spain, Croatia, Denmark and Germany – earned places in the three Olympic qualification tournaments in April 2016.

The men’s and women’s handball tournaments at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will each be contested by 12 teams. Brazil is already guaranteed a place in both tournaments and by the end of 2015, another five teams will have confirmed their places: the winners of the women’s world championship in December, plus the men’s and women’s winners from Pan-American Games in July and the Asian Olympic qualification tournaments in October and November.

Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.