Opening the third day of the 2025 IHF Men's Junior World Championship, Portugal and Austria cleared their path towards their main round with clear wins over Canada and Brazil respectively.

GROUP B
Brazil vs Austria 24:32 (14:23)

After defeating Argentina in their opening game, Austria proved too strong for another South American side, thanks to a solid first-half performance, and edged closer to the main round. If Hungary take at least one point against Argentina later today, Austria will seal their progression.

Brazil enjoyed a better start to the match, as goals from Rafael Uglar and Vinicius Bertoldo handed them a 2:0 lead. However, the Europeans had learned their lesson from the opening game, when they lost the first half, and quickly responded. Back court players Gabriel Kofler and Mats Rudnicki made a strong early impact, prompting the Brazilian coach to call his first timeout in the 10th minute with his team trailing 4:8.

It didn’t help, as Austria went on to fully dominate the first half. Nils Moser and Felix Bernkopf-Schnürch also stepped up in attack, while goalkeeper Leon Theodor Bergmann — the hero of their previous game against Argentina — delivered several key saves.

In contrast, the Brazilian goalkeeping duo failed to stop a single shot in the opening 30 minutes. Austria missed just one of their 24 first-half attempts, building a comfortable nine-goal lead at halftime and leaving the South Americans with little hope of a comeback.

With both teams missing several chances, the halftime score of 23:14 remained unchanged until the 37th minute. Brazilian goalkeeping finally improved as Guilherme Candido made a few saves before Rudnicki broke the deadlock. Still, Austria maintained control and held a 26:16 lead midway through the second half.

Austria’s attacking efficiency dropped considerably in the second half, as they appeared less focused — perhaps conserving energy for the matches ahead. Nevertheless, they had no trouble securing their second consecutive win. Bergmann, who boasted a 38% save rate before being replaced by Marko Bogojevic, was named Player of the Match for the second time at Poland 2025.

Player of the Match: Leon Theodor Bergmann (Austria)

GROUP D
Canada vs Portugal 12:45 (6:24)

Portugal continued their dominant run at the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship with a commanding victory over Canada, securing their place in the main round after just two matches.

Canada had a promising start, briefly taking a 2:0 lead, but that was as good as it got for them. Once Portugal found their rhythm, the momentum shifted dramatically. A 7:0 unanswered run turned the game around, followed shortly after by another 8:0 streak that left Canada reeling.

Struggling to maintain any consistency in attack, Canada committed too many turnovers to remain competitive. And when they did manage to break through Portugal’s defence, goalkeeper Gonçalo Morgado stood tall — recording a remarkable 57% save rate by halftime. His performance all but sealed Portugal’s assured victory early on.

Canada endured two major scoring droughts — one lasting eight minutes, the other eleven — and finished the match with just 35% shooting efficiency. In stark contrast, Portugal capitalised on nearly every error, punishing Canada with swift fast breaks and seamless transitions. Player of the Match José Ferreira led the charge with 13 goals, five of them coming from counterattacks.

The second half brought no relief for the Canadians. Portugal maintained complete control and showed no signs of slowing down, hitting the 40-goal mark in the 53rd minute. At that point, Canada had scored just 11 goals.

By the final whistle, Canada had only managed 12 goals — marking their lowest scoring performance in IHF Men’s Junior World Championship history. In their only previous appearance, at the 2021 edition, their lowest score was 17 — coincidentally also against Portugal (17:49) and Spain (17:54). Portugal, meanwhile, rotated their squad freely, kept the tempo high, and exploited every Canadian mistake.

With this victory, Portugal have virtually locked in a spot in the main round, which would guarantee a top-16 finish for the 11th time in the competition.Canada, meanwhile, will once again compete in the President’s Cup. But before that, both teams have one final group-stage match on Saturday: Portugal will face Croatia in a potential battle for first place, while Canada will take on Algeria.

Player of the Match: José Ferreira (Portugal)