Croatia and France are headed to the Placement Matches 9-12, after securing wins in the last matches of the main round in Katowice and Sosnowiec, against Japan and Romania respectively.

Main round
Group II
Japan vs Croatia 32:37 (18:18)

Croatia bounced back after a slow start to edge Japan and grab their first win in Main Round Group II at Poland 2025. With this result, Croatia move into the Placement Matches 9–12 and could keep alive their record of never finishing lower than 11th at the IHF Men's Junior World Championship. Japan, on the other hand, will now continue in the 13–16 bracket. Their best-ever finish remains 11th place back in 1985, while their most recent appearances ended in 18th and 19th.

Croatia lacked ambition in the opening stages, clearly deflated after Monday's tough loss to Sweden. Japan used this to gain momentum, with Haruto Nagamori and Soi Hasegawa leading the charge as they stormed to a 7:3 lead. Croatia's attack was plagued by rushed decisions and a sheer number of early turnovers.

It looked like the tide was turning when Luka Malinarich stepped up with confidence and closed the gap to 13:12. But just as they were finding rhythm, Aoto Yamazaki made two quick saves to swing momentum back Japan's way. The Asian side pushed it back to +3, but couldn't keep the same intensity throughout.

Croatia stepped up a gear, tightening their defence and finding flow in attack. It paid off, as they erased the gap and even claimed their first lead at 18:17. Japan held on just enough to be in a deadlock before the break, as the two teams went into halftime all square at 18:18.

Croatian experience started to show in the second half. Tin Baković and Jura Egon Juranic joined the action with key goals, while Tin Herceg returned to his usual standards between the posts—having over 35% save efficiency.

With defence locking in and attack finding more width, Croatia used the momentum to launch a 3:0 unanswered run. Ten minutes before the final buzzer, they held a solid 30:26 lead and looked to have finally broken Japan's resistance, who seemed to have less energy and could not maintain a fast pace. Croatia held on to seal the win after a much-improved second half, bouncing back from a shaky start to edge out Japan and ultimately win 37:32.

Player of the Match: Tin Herceg (Croatia)

Group III
France vs Romania 40:33 (19:18)

It was a matter about pride and a better finish in the last match of the main round in Katowice, as France and Romania were eyeing a top-10 finish at the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, with the latter side making the cut for the Placement Matches 9-12 only with a win on Tuesday evening.

However, France were more experienced and had more depth in their squad and that was quickly to be seen in the second half, but up until that point, Romania really managed to keep close, with another excellent outing from centre back Daniel Stanciuc, who became the top goal scorer of the competition, with 45 goals.

Stanciuc had six goals and three assists, as Romania started the match better, but France quickly reaffirmed their superiority, with Eliott Desblancs scoring seven goals. But up until the break, the two teams went toe-to-toe, with Stanciuc being followed by right back Codrin Radu, who had four goals.

Yet when Romania rotated their team, as their main core played the majority of minutes so far in the competition, France’s team really jumped to the occasion and delivered a clinical performance, scoring 12 goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Right back Henri Kirtz was unstoppable, with three goals in eight minutes, as France had a 6:0 run and a 3:0 run to open up a big gap, 28:20, after 38 minutes, with Romania’s attack seeing their shooting efficiency dwindle from 70% in the first half to 58% with 13 minutes to go.

As the match seemed to slip through Romania’s hands, France suddenly lost their clear-cut spirit in attack, enabling their opponents to cut the lead back to four goals, 32:28, in the 50th minute. But as France had 13 out of their 16 players score at least one goal, they bounced back and secured a 40:33 win at the end of the match, their third in three matches at Poland 2025.

France finished third in the group and will face Austria in the Placement Matches 9-12 on Thursday, while Romania are heading to the Placement Matches 13-16, where they face neighbours Hungary.

Player of the Match: Eliott Desblancs (France)

PRESIDENT'S CUP
GROUP I
Poland vs Argentina 33:32 (15:12)

Home side Poland earned their second straight win, this time against Argentina, and finished top of Group I—meaning they will continue fighting for the President's Cup in the Placement Matches 17–20. In turn, Argentina ranked second in the group and will play in the Placement Matches 21–24.

Supported by their loyal home crowd, the Poles felt confident in the opening minutes, and some good saves from Adam Witkowski helped them establish a 7:2 lead. Powered by Lucas Obregon, Argentina hit back and slashed the gap to 10:11, but Poland regained the initiative to enjoy a three-goal lead at the interval.

Poland went on to dominate after the restart before Argentina used a 4:0 run spurred by Tobias Ojea's goals to draw level at 22:22. However, Poland weathered the storm and took the initiative once again.

The outcome was not clear until the closing minutes. With three minutes remaining, the home team had just a two-goal advantage, 31:29. Goals from Patryk Wasiak and Jakub Pinda extended it to four, but Argentina came back within one with half a minute to go. However, they were unable to do more, so Poland celebrated the win.

Player of the Match: Lucas Obregon (Argentina)