The business end of the 2026 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Zagreb saw the quarter-finals take place in hot and humid conditions on the shores of Lake Jarun and the morning/afternoon session of the penultimate day of competition did not disappoint.

South American delight in men’s competition as title-holders Croatia through

Argentina men made history as they secured their first-ever semi-final world championship spot, defeating Portugal via shoot-out.

Their best ranking in their four previous appearances was eighth at China 2024, but Jorge Nahuel Perez Baptista’s 21 points ensured his side made it through after both sets were decided by a single point each. In the shoot-out, Marco Gorgo made a crucial stop from Rodrigo Gomes to secure a 7:2 win and end Portugal’s hope of a repeat podium place after the European side won bronze at China 2024.

The World Games champions Germany had 22 points from Lennart Wormann to be thankful for as they defeated Denmark 2-0, while Brazil made it through to the final four, easing to a 2-0 win against Spain with Nailson Amaral and Renan Pinheiro sharing the top-scoring duties on 15 points each.

The central court saw an all-European heavyweight clash with Hungary and Croatia only separated by two goals in the last seconds – both going to the hosts and title-holders. First, captain Ivan Juric scored with one second left of the first set for a 25:24 win and then Karlo Grkovic scored his 27th point of the game to secure a 21:20 set win and overall victory.

“There’s always pressure when you play for the national team, and when there's pressure, it means that it's exciting, it means something to you,” said Croatia’s Valentino Valentakovic to ihf.info.

“It means a lot to play for national team, that's why it's pressure, but there's also courage. Courage to handle the pressure and we did that in the end. The Hungarian team have been great and I think the difference was just 1%. We were playing goal-for-goal in the whole match and only in the second set we made a little bit of difference – it was just one ball each set. That was the difference. It's a combination of luck, experience, concentration and focus.”

And just a few hours after their game against Hungary had concluded, the hosts now have to get ready for the record title-holders, Brazil, a team they have already played – and lost to at Croatia 2026.

“I actually like that we are playing against Brazil as it's a team that's a better match-up for us from what I see in the defence,” he said. “Since the Hungarians know us so well, and we know them, it's very tight, but I Brazil is a very good match and it’s the final before the final. It's even more pressure, but it's a good pressure, actually. It's a good feeling, since we don't have many championships at home, and people cannot follow us around the world. This is kind of a big difference for us.”

The 9-16 placement round saw two debutant v continent winner clashes. With France defeating Oceania gold medallists Australia 2-0, Marius Inocencio scoring 20 points, and Asian champions Oman losing to Italy 2-1, Alessandro Benini top-scoring on 22 points. Iran beat Puerto Rico via shoot-out and Tunisia defeated the USA via shoot-out too despite 16 points from Jason Borchik.

Spain continue perfect championship as 2022 and 2024 winners Germany lose to Brazil

Seven of the quarter-finalists had appeared at the same stage two years ago at China 2024, and by the end of the day just two of the semi-finalists from last time out had made it through to the last four again.

Brazil’s women dumped out Germany with a 6:2 shoot-out win on court two as the European side’s wish to become the first-ever three-in-a-row champions evaporated on the Croatian sand.

The result means that Brazil will finish in their highest ranking since 2018, when they ended with bronze, their last medal after a sixth and then eighth-placed position at the last two events (2022, 2026).

Germany, missing key attacking threat Belen Gettwart ahead of the tournament, had impressed at Croatia 2026 with a blend of experience and youth, but Brazil’s women are on the up once again with their own mix, forcing Germany into only scoring one of their four shots in a dramatic shoot-out, Mariane Hanthequeste top-scoring on 12 points for Brazil.

Denmark made light work of hosts Croatia, Line Larsen scoring 16 points in a 2-0 win, while Spain made it seven 2-0 victories in a row as the European champions defeated 2018 world champions Greece.

2024 World championship bronze medallists Netherlands lost to The World Games 2025 champions and 2024 silver medallists Argentina with captain Gisella Bonomi leading the way on 11 points in a repeat of their China 2024 semi-final win – the victory in Zagreb following directly after the Argentina men had already sealed their place in the last four.

“We are really happy that we got here [to the semi-finals],” said Bonomi to ihf.info after the game. “We believe in our work and that makes us really strong. It's historical for us to win against Netherlands as they played really well and are a very good team

“Before our game we watched the first set of our men’s team, and then we heard they were going to a shoot-out [and then won], so that really gave us the strength to go out in the game and make it ours.

“Having both our teams in the semi-finals says a lot about the huge amount of work done that people don't see. They see us winning now but we know where we come from, and we are really proud of that – every match since yesterday is like a final.”

The 9-16 placement round also got underway with Uruguay defeating Cook Islands, Zhalyn Mateo’s 12 points helping the Philippines to a 2-0 win over the USA and Asian champions Vietnam defeating Puerto Rico 2-0.

All games from Croatia 2026 will be streamed live and free (no login required) on the IHF Competitions YouTube channel (geo-restrictions will apply) click HERE for more information.

2026 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships

Saturday, 27 June 2026

MATCH RESULTS

Women’s Competition

Quarter-Finals
DEN v CRO 2-0 (21:8, 26:18)
BRA v GER 2-1 (14:10, 14:15, SO 6:2)
ESP v GRE 2-0 (20:18, 18:15)
NED v ARG 0-2 (16:23, 16:18)

9-16 Placement Round
URU v COK 2-0 (24:10, 24:4)
PHI v USA 2-0 (20:18, 12:10)
NOR v BEN 2-0 (10:0, 10:0)*
PUR v VIE 0-2 (14:22, 8:24)

Men’s Competition

Quarter-Finals
GER v DEN 2-0 (22:20, 25:10)
ARG v POR 2-1 (24:25, 19:18, SO 7:2)
HUN v CRO 0-2 (24:25, 20:21)
ESP v BRA 0-2 (20:23, 16:22)

9-16 Placement Round
FRA v AUS 2-0 (32:20, 28:16)
OMA v ITA 1-2 (19:18, 16:22, SO 6:9)
IRI v PUR 2-1 (22:14, 16:19, SO 9:6)
TUN v USA 2-1 (24:20, 14:20, SO 14:12)

MATCH SCHEDULE

Women’s Competition

Semi-Finals
1800 DEN v BRA
2000 ESP v ARG

5-8 Placement Round
1800 CRO v GER
2000 GRE v NED

9-12 Placement Round
1800 URU v PHI
2000 NOR v VIE

13-16 Placement Round
1800 COK v USA
2000 BEN v PUR**

Men’s Competition

Semi-Finals
1900 GER v ARG
2100 CRO v BRA

5-8 Placement Round
1900 DEN v POR
2100 HUN v ESP

9-12 Placement Round
1900 FRA v ITA
2100 IRI v TUN

13-16 Placement Round
1900 AUS v OMA
2100 PUR v USA

All times local (CEST). Competition Management has the right to change the order, the court and the time of the matches.

*Game forfeited 2-0 (10:0, 10:0) to Norway due to Benin withdrawing from the competition
**Game forfeited 2-0 (10:0, 10:0) to Puerto Rico due to Benin withdrawing from the competition