Germany, France and Denmark joined Spain, Egypt and Romania in the main round, delivering clear wins in the final matches of day 2 of the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship.

GROUP E
Mexico vs Denmark 20:48 (8:21)

In their own words, debutants Mexico are making their first appearance at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship with a clear objective – to develop even further and forge a path for the country for future success.

But for their first two matches at Poland 2025, the North Amerifcan side had their work cut out, meeting France and Denmark, two of the big European powerhouses, and it has been a steep learning curve for Mexico, which conceded over 40 goals in each of the two matches.



One day after being handed a 17:46 loss against France, Mexico met Denmark, and the outcome was fairly similar, with another 28-goal loss registered under their name, as the Scandinavian side used their traditional fast-paced style to inflict more pain.

While in the match against France, Mexico scored only one goal before the 15th minute and saw a 10-goal gap increase even further, this time around they made a better start, but their goalkeepers failed to produce any meaningful saves, finishing the first half with a 18% saving efficiency.

Denmark enjoyed a 13:6 start, with Ulrik Kirkely starting to rotate players, as the break saw the European side boast a 21:8 lead. With only two outfield players failing to score at least one goal in the match, including the MVP of the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, Frederik Pedersen, Denmark continued to pounce in the second half, where they registered an average of nearly one goal scored per minute.

Eventually, they clinched a 48:20 win, their second in a row in the competition, and secured a main round berth, courtesy of France’s win against Morocco in the next match.

Player of the Match: Mathias Kragh Pedersen (Denmark)

France vs Morocco 35:28 (18:15)

After taking Denmark the whole way until the 45th minute in their debut at the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, when the pace finally got up to them, Morocco were facing France, another strong European side, which would seal their main round berth with a win.

But the match was far from a walk in the park for the French team, with Morocco boasting some players featuring in the French league, with their experience rubbing off excellently on the African team, which provided a great answer for what France brought to the table.

For starters, France’s lead never got bigger than five goals in the first half, while the European’s side shooting efficiency hovered around 65%, as coach Guillaume Joli rotated all his players throughout the match, including the newly-introduced Noa Narcisse, who sat in the stands in the first match.

While France’s top scorer against Mexico, Nael Tighiouart scored only two goals, Reyhan Zuzo had five goals and three assists, but France’s lead at the break was only of three goals, 18:15, as Morocco’s line player, Mohamed Bouydarne, and left back Youness Mansari, each had four goals.

But if France expected Morocco’s collapse in the second half, it certainly did not come, with the European side turning the ball over more than the African one, as Morocco cut the gap to only two goals, 21:19, with 20 minutes to go, missing two chances in a row to come only one goal closer on the scoreboard.

Yet once again, Morocco’s lack of depth proved decisive in the match. Tighiouart was flawless from the penalty line and finished the match with nine goals, 11 of the 14 France outfield players scored at least one goal, as the European side used a 6:2 run to pull away between the 42nd and the 51st minutes, 27:23.

As Morocco’s shooting efficiency dropped to 53%, the African side could not mount another comeback, conceding their second loss in as many matches, 28:35, with France celebrating their second win and, subsequently, their main round berth, with the last match of the group against Denmark deciding how many points each team takes to the next phase.

Player of the Match: Abdellah Razgui (Morocco)

GROUP G
Tunisia vs Serbia 33:38 (10:18)

To stay alive in the competition after their loss against Germany in the first match, 29:30, Serbia needed to win against Tunisia and at one point, it looked like the European side were heading to a comfortable two points in their bag before the decider against Switzerland.

And it looked like Serbia got the memo in the first half of the match, when they easily jumped to a 10:2 lead after 13 minutes in the match, setting the tone for what was about to happen, as right back Uros Mitrovic and left back Vojin Čabrilo had five of the 10 goals scored by their side.

Tunisia finally woke up and started to produce something in attack, but it was still too little, as they cut the gap to five goals, 13:8, only for Serbia to enter the break with an eight-goal lead, 18:10, firmly in control of the match and without too many issues, especially as goalkeeper Nikola Zoric provided some excellent saves and scored a goal.

Yet the match was not ever, despite Mitrovic and Čabrilo proceeded to create more issues in Tunisia’s defence, with Serbia still having a seven-goal lead with 13 minutes to go, 30:23.

A 4:1 run from Tunisia, which had Iskander Jafali, Slim Brahem, Khalil Barboura and Mohamed Cherin combine for 20 goals, scoring five goals each, set the tone for a fiery finish, only for Serbia, which lost Mitrovic due to a red card, to push once again the pedal to finally secure their maiden win at the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship.

Serbia got back to six goals ahead, but eventually finished the match with a five-goal win, 38:33, putting them firmly back into contention for a main round spot, one which they will seal on Saturday, provided they win against Switzerland in the last match of the group.

Player of the Match: Vojin Čabrilo (Serbia)

Switzerland vs Germany 33:43 (14:21)

Fresh from a 30:29 win against Serbia in the first match of the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, Germany secured their main round berth and will surely start the next phase with two points, after delivering an easier win now against Switzerland, 43:33, to top the group, irrespective of the conclusion of the group, when they face Tunisia in the last match.

With issues arising in their play and not much time to fix, Germany did not go off on a flying start, but rising star Henri Pabst definitely improved his game, after scoring a single goal in the maiden match against Serbia, with the THW Kiel right back scoring for fun in the first half.

Pabst had six goals in the first 30 minutes, and Switzerland could only manage to tie the score at 5:5 after 10 minutes, with Germany controlling the next 20 minutes. Despite top scorers Luca Sigrist and Nikos Sarlos combining for eight goals in the first half, Switzerland were down seven goals at the break, 14:21, with a mountain to climb.

Sigrist, Sarlos and right wing Gino Steenaerts, who played at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, continued to try to maintain Switzerland in a strong position, the gap grew bigger and bigger, as Linus Kutz and Tim Gömmel scored six goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half for Germany.

By the 42nd minute, Germany were up by 11 goals, 32:21, and there was nothing stopping them to secure the second win in as many matches, with a well-rounded attacking performance, which eventually saw them pass the 40-goal mark. With 12 out of their 14 outfield players scoring at least one goal, the reigning champions made it into the main round with maximum points, taking a 43:33 win.

Player of the Match: Henri Pabst (Germany)