Dhe favorites France, Sweden and Spain made it into the main round at the Handball World Championship in Poland and Sweden, while Iceland failed against Hungary. Thanks to the comeback, the Hungarians have qualified for the main round, and after their second win, Slovenia can no longer slip down to last place in Group B and is therefore through.
Insider tip Iceland lost a clear lead against Hungary. Despite a six-goal lead, the Icelanders around Magdeburg’s Omar Ingi Magnusson and Gisli Thorgeir Kristjansson lost 28:30 (17:12). Hungary qualified for the next round and meets Sweden there.
The European champions also won their second game in Gothenburg against Cape Verde 34:27 (19:8). The World Cup hosts dominated their game and made things clear in the first half, long-time Flensburg player Hampus Wanne and Daniel Pettersson from German champions SC Magdeburg each scored five goals.
Spain meets France
Spain found it a little harder against Chile, but ultimately beat the self-sacrificing South Americans 34:26 (18:15). The top scorer of the two-time world champion was Alex Dujshebaev (six goals).
In the main round, Spain will face record world champions and Olympic champions France. The co-favorite previously qualified as the first team for the next round. France didn’t let anything burn against outsiders Saudi Arabia at 41:23 (24:14) in Katowice.
In the France group, Slovenia also made it into the main round with their second win in the second game. The Slovenians surprisingly won 32:23 (17:11) against co-hosts Poland in Katowice, so the Poles have to win their last group game against Saudi Arabia, who was also winless, in order to progress.
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