The final day of the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship will see once again the best eight teams play in Katowice, in a fantastic day, where a new world champion will be celebrated.

After seven wins in a row, Portugal and Denmark will collide for the world title, while the bronze medal match is scheduled to feature the Faroe Islands and Sweden. Denmark can secure their fourth world title, while Portugal are in the final for the first time.

FINAL
19:30 Portugal vs Denmark

Bronze medal match
17:00 Faroe Islands vs Sweden

Placement Match 5/6
14:30 Egypt vs Germany

Placement Match 7/8
12:00 Slovenia vs Norway

FINAL
19:30 Portugal vs Denmark

It is a battle of the titans – the battle between the only teams which are still unbeaten in this competition, as both Portugal and Denmark rode seven-match winning streaks to fight for the title.

While for Denmark this is their 10th final at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship – winning three and losing six – Portugal are for the first time in this situation, with their best performance being a bronze medal in 1995.

So far, Denmark and Portugal are on the top of the metrics, with the Scandinavian side being the best attacking side, scoring 269 goals, an average of 38.4 goals per game, with Portugal on the fourth place, with 253 goals, or an average of 36.1 goals scored per match. 

Despite that, their top goal scorers rank only 14th, where Denmark’s Magnus Pedersen scored 43 goals, and 43rd, where Portugal’s Jose Ferreira has scored 31 goals, proving that both sides have multiple avenues of scoring.

In defence, though, Portugal have conceded the second lowest number of goals, 176, or an average of 24.4 goals per match, while Denmark have a larger number of goals conceded, 201.

“I think that when we play matches like this, you need to trust all players. The depth matters the most,” said Denmark’s coach, Ulrik Kirkely, after the Scandinavian side won the dramatic semi-final against Sweden, 40:37, after overtime, with 12 different players scoring at least one goal for Denmark.

On the other side, Portugal also won all their matches, but the last three have been close ones, starting with a fantastic comeback to secure a 31:29 win against Sweden in the last match of the main round.

A 30:26 win over Egypt in the quarter-finals followed, while the overtime win against the Faroe Islands was an absolutely epic clash, as goalkeeper Diogo Rema Marques saved a penalty at the buzzer, after 80 minutes, to propel Portugal to the final with a 38:37 win.

“Now our concern is to recover. And then we will focus on Denmark. We played against Denmark relatively recently, in Maia, and it is the same team. They are a top team, with good players in all positions, a complete team, with a typically Scandinavian style of play, in which quality of passing and speed of play are the main characteristics. They have a strong 6:0 defence and two good goalkeepers, but we will do everything to win and, if we are at our best, I believe we have a great chance of winning the title,” said Carlos Martingo, Portugal’s coach.

The two teams have met most recently in a friendly match in May, in Portugal, where Denmark took a 31:28 win, as Frederik Emil Pedersen scored seven goals.

Bronze medal match
17:00 Faroe Islands vs Sweden

Both teams conceded painful losses in the semi-finals against Portugal and Denmark respectively, with overtime needed for the winners to secure their places in the final. Nevertheless, one of these two Nordic sides will be on the final podium at Poland 2025 and both have a big incentive to try and produce another fantastic match to end the competition on a high.

The Faroe Islands have been the surprise package of the competition, conceding only a loss in the main round against Denmark, where they rested their top players, on their way to becoming the smallest country to ever win a medal at the IHF World Championships.

Between the Faroe Islands and that dream is a plucky Sweden side, which provided some exciting matches, and thanks to a fantastic defence, anchored by Theodor Uliana Starck and Marcus Björkman, managed to make it to a medal match for the first time since 2013, missing out on a top-10 finish in the last three editions.

It has been a fantastic competition for the Faroe Islands, which are ensured to finish in the top-4 for the first time ever at the IHF World Championships, securing back-to-back quarter-finals berth in the world handball flagship competition in the junior category.

Much of their success has come thanks to the outstanding performance of centre back Oli Mittun, who is their top scorer, with 64 goals, and scored 11 goals in the semi-final against Portugal, as Mittun is also the top assists provider in the competition, with 46 assists.