France took to the court with noticeable absences, such as goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer, who stayed on the bench while Vincent Gerard stood between the posts. The reigning Olympic champions played relaxed attack yet still scored the opening two goals of the match, both of which came from right back Adrien Dipanda. Amine Bannour was first on the board for Tunisia, and as the clock showed five minutes France were in front 2:1 before Valentin Porte scored a fast break that created an early two-goal advantage.

In defence France played a 5-1 system focused on FC Barcelona star Wael Jallouz, while at the other end of the court they added mainly counter attack and fast-break goals to lead 5:2 at the close of the first 10 minutes. After Kentin Mahe scored his first goal on a penalty to put the score at 6:2, Tunisia coach Hafedh Zouabi requested a time-out, but France’s dominance would continue as the clock ticked on. Midway through the half France led 7:3, and by the break they were comfortably in front by five.

But Tunisia flipped the tables completely in the second period, quickly closing the gap to three at 13:16 before Mohamed Jilani Maaref received a two-minute suspension. 10 minutes into the period France retained a three-goal advantage at 17:14, but Tunisia chased hard and decreased the deficit to two goals with a score of 19:21 at the 50-minute mark.

With five minutes left in the game France found themselves in front by just one goal (23:22), and that score line persisted until Nikola Karabatic broke through to take the score to 25:23 with 60 seconds remaining. Thierry Omeyer, who had substituted into the goal during the second period, made an important save on what would be Tunisia’s second-last opportunity, and when the African team missed the goal on their last shot France recorded their first win on the road to defending their Olympic title.

"We knew that Tunisia would fight until the end. We were five goals up at half-time but after they played well in defence and had a great goalkeeper. They took the risk to come back," said Omeyer after the match. "I think we deserved the win because we were in front of them during all the game."