An expectedly tough fixture got worse for Qatar as six-time World Champions France dominated en route to victory.

Qatar suffered a heavy blow early on in the World Handball Championship as a dominant France side registered a convincing win in Croatia’s Porec on Tuesday evening.

Veselin Vujovic’s side went down 37-19 against the six-time World Champions, in what was a one-sided affair for the majority of the two halves.

Qatar now sit at the bottom of Group C with a goal difference of negative eighteen, as Austria defeated Kuwait 37-26 in a high-scoring matchup.

Remi Desbonnet’s inspired performance led the way for a dominant win as the French keeper kept Qatar goalless with stunning saves for the opening three-minutes-and-a-half. France had already been two goals up by then.

Despite making a brief comeback to make it 2-2 in the eighth minute, Qatar were then swept away by Les Experts.

“We did not start the match in the required manner and committed easy mistakes,” Vujovic said in the post-match press conference.

“We failed to take advantage of the opportunities that we had throughout the match. Although I think the performance was good in general, it was not enough to win the match against a side that deserved to win.”

Within five minutes of the equaliser, France were already 7-2 up and ended the half 18-10, against a Qatari side that looked heavily reliant on its old guard.

Experienced campaigners Ahmad Madadi, Rafael Capoute, Youssef Altaieb Ali, Frankis Marzo, Yassine Sami, and Zarko Markovic had all been on the scoresheet by the end of the first half.

Yet, it was the lack of incisiveness that cost Qatar the game, coupled with lack of control in the middle. Qatar’s attackers averaged shot accuracy of slightly more than 50 per cent, bolstered by Abdulrazzaq Murad’s three goals in as many shots.

“We fought hard but unfortunately, we did not succeed in some periods of the match,” Murad said after the match.

“France took advantage of the opportunities that we opened for them and won. We must accept the defeat and learn from this as we rejoice at the time of victory. But, we must focus well.”

The French, on the other hand, were ruthless. The trio of Thibaud Briet, Aymeric Minne and Dika Mem inflicted the most damage, sharing 16 goals between them, and taking 20 shots.

Desbonnet picking up from where he left the first half also contributed to Qatar’s woes in front of goal, as they managed to score just nine in the second half. The score ended 37-19, helping the reigning European champions get off to a perfect start, mostly unchallenged.

At the back, they forced Qatar to take shots from outside, minimising dangerous threats to the goal — a tactic that Vujovic’s side will have to be wary about in their upcoming matches.

“I hope that this loss will not affect us in the upcoming games,” Vujovic said. “We hope to learn the lessons and be at our best in the next match. We need to win our remaining matches to keep the chances qualifications alive.”

Al Annabi will now face Australia in their second Group C game on Thursday, followed by the Kuwait clash on Saturday.