African champions Egypt finished their 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship preliminary round campaign with a perfect record of five wins from five matches, as they defeated France in the final match for the group on Monday in Vigo. 

After winning the titles at the U18 EHF EURO 2016 and 2017 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, and ranking second at the U20 EHF EURO 2018, the 1998 generation of France players were tipped as one of the favourite sides ahead of the competition – but Egypt have snatched that status with their performance in Group B. 

The African side were by far the most impressive in the group, and the results were very well deserved. Egypt have certainly made a statement with their position on top of the table. 

Egypt are not only the first non-European team to win a group at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship since 2009, but are the first African side since their own national squad did so in 1999. The results, in combination with the senior squad’s highest ranking since 2001, achieved at the 2019 Men’s World Championship in January, show the African side have great potential to accomplish something big in front of their home crowd at the next World Championship, in 2021. 

GROUP B
France vs Egypt 32:37 (16:20)

When France were defeated in round four by Sweden, it seemed an ominous sign of what was to come, as Egypt had already beaten the Scandinavian team. However, France appeared likely to come out of the gate more determined against Egypt and would possibly be an even more formidable opponent than they have proven in the past. That was not the case however, as Egypt were in control from start to finish. 

Despite Egypt’s results in the preliminary round, the fact that they were completely dominant against France was not foreseen. With 2017 Youth World Championship MVP Kyllian Villeminot starting off the court, it seemed there might be some trouble in the France squad – and that was proven throughout the game, as they simply had no answer for Egypt. 

After 10 minutes, Egypt were already in command, leading 7:3 with four goals from Mohsen Ramadan Mahmoud at that point and a 57% save rate from goalkeeper Abdelrhman Taha Ali. France goalkeeper Gauthier Ivah was the right choice between the posts versus Egypt, and he had a strong game, with 13 saves – but with defence in front of him that could not stop the African champions’ near flawless attack, his performance was not enough to keep Egypt from holding the advantage. 

By the 11th minute, France coach Yohann Delattre had already called two time-outs – at 1:4 in the seventh and 3:8 in the 11th. Already it seemed as though the game would belong to Egypt, and the African team did not stumble. Villeminot entered the court after the second time-out, but his presence was not enough to help France come back. 

As the first quarter came to a close, Egypt were comfortably in front at 10:5, and coach Tarek Sayed Elsayed changed almost his entire line-up. With their bench players on court Egypt found their advantage slipping slightly, however, and Noah Gaudin brought France to a two-goal deficit at 13:15 in the 25th minute. 

However, Egypt remained calm and reopened a four-goal gap in time for the break – and after that, France entered a period of even more difficulty. Just 10 minutes into the second half, Egypt hit a 27:20 lead, and as the last quarter of the game began they kept that advantage, 31:24. 

Again, Egypt’s line-up changed, and again, France fought back – and late in the game there was a moment where they could have swung the momentum their way. After a deficit as large as nine goals in the 44th, France managed to come within three goals at 32:35 in the 57th, at which point they had the chance to keep closing the distance. But after some tense minutes, it was an important goal from Ahmed Hesham Mohamed that pulled Egypt ahead by four in the 59th, followed by a save from keeper Abdelrahman Mohamed Homayed that secured his team the victory. 

Player of the match: Mohsen Ramadan Mahmoud, Egypt