The Most Famous

HANDBALL PLAYERS from France

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This page contains a list of the greatest French Handball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 420 Handball Players, 45 of which were born in France. This makes France the birth place of the 4th most number of Handball Players behind Spain, and Denmark.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary French Handball Players of all time. This list of famous French Handball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of French Handball Players.

Photo of Thierry Omeyer

1. Thierry Omeyer (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 54.00, Thierry Omeyer is the most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages on wikipedia.

Thierry Omeyer (born 2 November 1976) is a retired French handball goalkeeper. A member of the French national team since 1999, he has won all major titles with the team: world champion (five times), European champion (three times) and Olympic champion twice. He is widely considered to be one of the best handball goalkeepers of all time, and was the third goalkeeper so far to have been elected best player of the world by the International Handball Federation (the two others being Henning Fritz, in 2004, and Árpád Sterbik, in 2005, since Niklas Landin in 2021), what he achieved in 2008. In his former club (THW Kiel), his nickname was Die Mauer (The Wall). He was included in the European Handball Federation Hall of Fame in 2023.

Photo of Luc Abalo

2. Luc Abalo (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 50.82, Luc Abalo is the 2nd most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Luc Kangny Abalo (born 6 September 1984) is a French retired handball player. He was inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame in 2024. Being a member of the national team from 2005, he won gold medals at the 2008, 2012 and 2020 Olympics, 2009, 2011 and 2017 World and 2006, 2010 and 2014 European championships. He was named the French Division 1 Player of the Year in 2007, and the league's Best Right Wing in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2008 he received the Legion of Honour. Abalo is an accomplished graphical artist. Upon a request from the French Olympic Committee he designed a wristband popularizing the Paris' bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Approximately 1.5 million copies were sold in September 2015. Abalo is an officer of the Ordre national du Mérite and of the French Legion of Honour.

Photo of Guillaume Gille

3. Guillaume Gille (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 50.21, Guillaume Gille is the 3rd most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Guillaume Alain Gille (born 12 July 1976) is a retired French handballer and current coach of the French national team. He was the winner of the gold medal at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics and is the older brother of Bertrand Gille.

Photo of Bertrand Gille

4. Bertrand Gille (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 48.44, Bertrand Gille is the 4th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Bertrand Fabien Gille (born 24 March 1978 in Valence, Drôme) is a retired handball player from France. Very strong physically (1.87m, 98 kg), and was honored with the title of World Player of the Year in 2002. Barachet has been made an Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite.

Photo of Jérôme Fernandez

5. Jérôme Fernandez (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 48.36, Jérôme Fernandez is the 5th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Jérôme Fernandez (born 7 March 1977) is a French handball coach and former handball player. He was a captain of the France men's national handball team and currently holds the record for the number of goals for France's national team (1,463 through 9 January 2020). He is in the French handball Hall of Fame. He is a knight of the Legion of Honour and an officer of the Ordre national du Mérite.

Photo of Luka Karabatic

6. Luka Karabatic (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 47.75, Luka Karabatic is the 6th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Luka Karabatic (born 19 April 1988) is a French professional handball player for Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team. He is the younger brother of Nikola Karabatić.

Photo of Denis Lathoud

7. Denis Lathoud (1966 - 2025)

With an HPI of 47.66, Denis Lathoud is the 7th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Denis Lathoud (13 January 1966 – 21 June 2025) was a French handball player and coach, who as a player won the 1995 World Championship; the first ever French gold medals at a major international tournament. He also competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics and in the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 1992, he was a member of the French handball team which won the bronze medal. He played all seven matches and scored 25 goals. Four years later, he finished fourth with the French team in the 1996 Olympic tournament. He played six matches and scored 15 goals. With USAM Nîmes, he won the French Championship twice. In December 2002, he became the player-coach at SMV Porte Normande. In the 2005-06 season, he coached CAPO Limoges. From 2006 to 2014, he was the coach at Dijon Bourgogne HB. Lathoud died of blood cancer on 21 June 2025, at the age of 59.

Photo of Michaël Guigou

8. Michaël Guigou (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 47.16, Michaël Guigou is the 8th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Michaël Guigou (born 28 January 1982) is a French former handball player and current coach. As a player he played the French national team. He was included in the European Handball Federation Hall of Fame in 2023. Regular member of the France national team, he was on the team that won the gold medal at three Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2020), four World championships (2009, 2011, 2015, and 2017) and three European championships (2006, 2010, and 2014). During the final at the 2009 world championship, he was the highest scorer in one match with 10 goals (including 7 penalties out of 7) and finished as highest scorer of the French team with 52 goals.

Photo of Dika Mem

9. Dika Mem (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 47.01, Dika Mem is the 9th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Dika Mem (born 31 August 1997) is a French professional handball player for FC Barcelona and the French national handball team. He is widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation.

Photo of Vincent Gérard

10. Vincent Gérard (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 46.32, Vincent Gérard is the 10th most famous French Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Vincent Gérard (born 16 December 1986) is a French professional handball player. With France, he won all the main competitions: 2014 European Championship, 2017 World Championship and 2020 Olympics. He has been elected best goalkeeper at the 2017 World Championship, at the 2018 European Championship and at the 2020 Olympics.

People

Pantheon has 51 people classified as French handball players born between 1964 and 2000. Of these 51, 50 (98.04%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living French handball players include Thierry Omeyer, Luc Abalo, and Guillaume Gille. The most famous deceased French handball players include Denis Lathoud. As of April 2024, 6 new French handball players have been added to Pantheon including Denis Lathoud, Philippe Gardent, and Olivier Nyokas.

Living French Handball Players

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Deceased French Handball Players

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Newly Added French Handball Players (2025)

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