In a fiery battle between North Macedonia and the Faroe Islands, the latter side emerged as winners, with a 33:28 win which puts them on the top of Group F. Medal contenders Hungary, Croatia and Egypt also threw off the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship with wins.

GROUP B
Hungary vs Brazil 29:24 (13:10)

Hungary, the silver medallists at Germany/Greece 2023, overcame a shaky start to claim a five-goal win over Brazil in their opening match of the 2025 IHF Men's Junior World Championship.

Brazil led only once — after Vinicius Bertoldo opened the scoring in the second minute — but kept Hungary under consistent pressure throughout the first half. The Europeans struggled to find their rhythm and held only a narrow one- or two-goal advantage for much of the period.

With five minutes remaining in the half, the teams were locked at 10:10. However, Hungary responded with a surge, scoring three unanswered goals to head into the break with a 13:10 lead. Notably, just five Hungarian players found the net before halftime, with Tamás Kovács making a standout contribution by scoring five goals.

In goal, Nándor Győri made only two saves for Hungary in the first half. After the break, he was replaced by Máté Borsos, whose strong performance between the posts helped Hungary pull away. A string of saves from Borsos sparked a dominant spell for the Europeans, who built an eight-goal lead at 21:13 by the 39th minute.

Brazil mounted a spirited comeback attempt, narrowing the gap to 24:20 with three consecutive goals, prompting a Hungarian timeout. Soon after, Csongor Varszegi received a red card for his third two-minute suspension, but Hungary kept their composure to secure the win.

Kovács finished as Hungary’s top scorer with eight goals, while Kornél Lukács — named Player of the Match — added five goals and three assists to help seal the victory.

With this result, Hungary open their account at Poland 2025 and take an important step toward the main round. They will face Argentina on Friday, while Brazil prepare for a crucial clash against Austria on the same day.

Player of the Match: Kornél Lukács (Hungary)



GROUP D
Croatia vs Canada 44:20 (20:12)

Croatia opened the 2025 IHF Men's Junior World Championship with a commanding win, cruising past Canada 44:20 in one of their highest-scoring games at this level.

Croatia had a blistering start, immediately taking control. Tin Herceg stood tall between the posts, saving three consecutive Canadian attempts and fueling an early 3:0 lead. Canada struggled to find any rhythm in attack, failing to break through Croatia’s organized defense and taking a full seven minutes to score their first goal.

The gap widened quickly as Petar Krupić and Player of the Match Marko Bajan orchestrated a smooth, flowing offense that kept Canada trailing.

For a team making just its second-ever appearance at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, the pressure weighed heavily on Canada — and it showed. Lacking top-tier experience, they faltered as the first half progressed. Canada converted just 50% of their attacks, while Croatia remained sharp with an impressive 81% efficiency.

With a comfortable lead, Croatia’s head coach Boris Dvoršek used the second half to rotate the squad, giving minutes to every player — including goalkeeper Nikola Kahlina, who picked up right where Herceg left off. In the first ten minutes after the break, Kahlina made six saves from ten Canadian attempts, helping Croatia extend their lead to 28:16.

Canada occasionally found a breakthrough, mainly through Colton Kuypers. The left back shouldered much of the scoring load, netting eight goals by the time the score reached 31:17 — accounting for half of Canada’s total at that point. Croatia reached a 20-goal margin (38:18) five minutes before the final whistle, capping a dominant performance in which all 14 outfield players got on the scoresheet.

In the next round at Arena Sosnowiec, Croatia will look to stay unbeaten as they face Algeria, while Canada prepares for another major test against a strong European side, Portugal.

GROUP F
North Macedonia vs Faroe Islands 28:33 (15:16)

Two years ago, at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, Óli Mittún was the top goal scorer of the competition, with 87 goals, 31 more than any other player in the competition. Having already played at senior level, Mittún was once again shining at the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, where he pulled off another magical performance in Faroe Islands’ debut.

Facing another European sides – in fact, three European sides in Group F – the Faroe Islands had their work cut out, with any misstep potentially may be proven costly. And that being said, their opponents started the match harder, as Valentin Karasmanakis and Dimitar Uzunchev each scored two goals each, to power their side to a 6:4 lead.

Nevertheless, Mittún was everywhere on the court and until the 43rd minute, he had a direct hand in 20 of his side’s 23 goals, including 14 goals and six assists under his name, as the Faroe Islands had a gung-ho approach to the match, including deploying a seven-on-five attack at times against their opponents.

For Radoslav Stoianovikj’s side, the issue was the large number of suspensions conceded – six in the first 30 minutes – seeing the European side have to play with six players on the court for nearly half of the first part of the match.

Therefore, with the Faroe Islands boasting a better shooting efficiency, it was clear that they were controlling the match, despite boasting the smallest of leads, 16:15, at the break.

A 5:2 run in the start of the second half powered by the same Mittún, who missed two penalties in the first half, helped the Faroe Islands to take a four-goal lead, 21:17, with 17 minutes to go, but soon, the gap was cut to only two goals, 23:21, as the Nordic side started to lose some steam.

It was the last moment when the Faroe Islands were in doubt, as they constantly continued to push, with Radoslav Stoianovikj’s side failing to bring what was needed to the table, especially in attack, where they missed two penalties and some easy one-on-ones.

As Mittún, who was man-marked in the end of the match, finished with 15 goals, the Faroe Islands eventually clinched a 33:28 win, despite their opponents trying their utmost to stop a loss.

Player of the Match: Oli Mittún (Faroe Islands)

GROUP H
Egypt vs Saudi Arabia 35:30 (19:15)

Perennial contenders Egypt, the reigning African champions, which finished in the top-10 at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship in 14 of the last 15 editions, shrugged off a slow start at Poland 2025, to secure an important win against Saudi Arabia, bringing them closer to a main round spot.

Two years ago, Egypt finished fourth with this generation at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, therefore they were contenders for a podium finish here, but after four minutes, the Saudi side had a 3:1 lead, taking advantage of Egypt’s turnovers.

One of the lesson which the African champions need to learn after this match will definitely to take better care of the ball, after turning it over 19 times throughout the match, yet eventually that did not had a strong impact on the match, despite Saudi Arabia providing an excellent answer for their counterparts.

As Zian Hashad, one of the most experienced players in Egypt’s squad, stayed on the bench throughout the match, the African side had right wing Yassin Salem as the best scorer, with six goals, with line player Moaz Azab added five more goals.

While the 35:30 scoreline might suggest a comfortable win for Egypt, a 3:0 run for Saudi Arabia, which turned into a 5:1 run spurred by right wing Hussain Furaij, cut the gap to a single goal, 23:22, with 20 minutes to go, a moment which woke up Egypt, as the African champions went on a 4:0 unanswered run, preventing their opponents to score for five minutes and 27 seconds.

That 4:0 run was the backbone of Egypt’s win, 35:30, as the African champions had their share of issues, but eventually navigated them well, with a possible second win against Bahrain seeing them off to the main round, before they face Spain in the last match in Group H.

Player of the Match: Yassin Salem (Egypt)