HANDBALL PLAYERS from France

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.

1. Thierry Omeyer (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 45.54, 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 is 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), what he achieved in 2008. In his former club (THW Kiel), his nickname was Die Mauer (The Wall).

2. Luka Karabatic (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 42.86, Luka Karabatic is the 2nd most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 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.

3. Guillaume Gille (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 41.75, Guillaume Gille is the 3rd most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 22 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.

4. Luc Abalo (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 41.64, Luc Abalo is the 4th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Luc Kangny Abalo (born 6 September 1984) is a French retired handball player. 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.

5. Bertrand Gille (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 40.51, Bertrand Gille is the 5th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Bertrand Fabien Gille (born 24 March 1978 in Valence, Drôme) is a 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. His career as a handball player started very early: in 1984, he played for HBC Loriol and followed sport étude as a scholastic path. From 1996 to 2002, he played for Chambéry SH (under the guidance of Philippe Gardent, another famous French handball player) before joining the German club HSV Hamburg. He has been playing together with his brother, Guillaume Gille, since they were little. They have played together in HBC Loriol, Chambéry SH and now HSV Hamburg. Member of the national team since 1997, "Gilou" was again pivot on the team which, among others, won the handball competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he was also named best pivot of the tournament. He decided to suspend his international career after a physical injury contracted during the Handball-Bundesliga of 2009. His successor on the team was Cédric Sorhaindo. Now, 2010, Bertrand Gille is back on the team. He was a part of the team, who won European Championships 2010. He was also part of the French team that won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

6. Jérôme Fernandez (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 39.75, Jérôme Fernandez is the 6th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Jérôme Fernandez (born 7 March 1977) is a retired French 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 (1463 up to 9 January 2020).

7. Ludovic Fabregas (b. 1996)

With an HPI of 38.98, Ludovic Fabregas is the 7th most famous French Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Ludovic Fabregas (born 1 July 1996) is a French professional handball player for ONE Veszprém and the French national team.

8. Michaël Guigou (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 37.39, Michaël Guigou is the 8th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Michaël Guigou (born 28 January 1982) is a French former handball player for USAM Nîmes Gard and the French national team. 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, 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. In 2019, after 20 years in Montpellier Handball, he joined USAM Nîmes Gard. He ended his career in 2022.

9. Dika Mem (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 37.33, Dika Mem is the 9th most famous French Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Dika Mem (born 31 August 1997) is a French professional handball player for FC Barcelona and the French national handball team. Mem was a late starter, learning how to play at the age of 13. He began his career with French club Eaubonne, where he played until he was 15 years old. The following two seasons he was at Pôle Espoirs before one season at Saint Gratien. He made the jump to the handball elite at the age of 17 and in the 2015–16 season he made his debut with Tremblay. In his first season in the LNH, Mem scored 93 goals in 25 games. Prior to that, he had already tasted top competition, becoming a European champion with the U18 French National Team. Mem signed with FC Barcelona for six seasons, beginning in 2016–17. There, he has won the Liga ASOBAL, Copa ASOBAL and Copa del Rey de Balonmano treble for seven consecutive seasons. He was on the France squad at the 2017 World Men's Handball Championship, that won a gold medal. He won an additional gold medal with the French national team at the 2020 Olympics.

10. Vincent Gérard (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 36.48, Vincent Gérard is the 10th most famous French Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Vincent Gérard (born 16 December 1986) is a French professional handball player for Istres Provence Handball and the French national team. In the 2020 Olympics he was selected into the All-Star Team.