Initially assistant to the coach of the French men’s team, before becoming the head coach in 2020, Guillaume Gille stepped down from his position on Tuesday.
Prior to leaving, Guillaume Gille had announced his departure from the role of selector after an unsuccessful Euro 2026 campaign for the French men’s handball team, eliminated in the group stage in January. The decision was made during a press conference of the French Federation on Tuesday, February 24th. “It’s my decision, based on my feeling, a long time of reflection,” he stated. Philippe Bana, the president of the federation, revealed that Spaniard Talant Dujshebaev will succeed him.
Former player of the French team, Guillaume Gille, who won two Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012, and two World Championships in 2001 and 2009, had joined the French team staff in 2016 after the Olympic Games. He had contributed to the French team’s victory in 2017, and later to a bronze in the Euro 2018 and the World Championships in 2019. The elimination of the French team in the preliminary rounds of Euro 2020 had led to Didier Dinart’s departure and Guillaume Gille’s promotion to head coach.
Over five years, Guillaume Gille led the French team in eight international competitions, including a new Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021. However, the first major disappointment was their elimination in the 2024 Paris Olympics quarter-finals after extra time against Germany.
Gille, 49, whose contract extended until 2029, mentioned that his departure was not directly linked to the Euro failure. But this setback made him question for the first time: “Is this what I want to do? The right place for me now? Do I still have the energy to give to this team?” He explained, “We cannot cheat with this jersey.”
The Hispano-Russian Talant Dujshebaev will replace him as the selector. “For many, it’s a revolution,” admitted Philippe Bana, as previously, the French team had only one foreign head coach in the past, German Bernhard Kempa in 1958.
Dujshebaev, 57, has notably won four Champions Leagues as a coach, including one with Kielce (Poland), where he has been in charge since 2014. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was one of the world’s best players with the USSR, Russia, and Spain. He was the rival of Jackson Richardson on the field, named twice as the world’s best player (1994, 1996), experiencing victories such as the 1992 Olympics and 1993 World Championships with the Russian teams.
