The first semi-final at China 2026 delivered exactly what was expected — a high-quality battle between two of Europe's strongest sides and the only two sides with a perfect record at China 2026, as Germany were better in the end, taking a 36:31 win.

It's Germany's first final at the IHF Women's Junior World Championship since 2008, when they secured the title.

Semi-final
France vs Germany 31:36 (14:15)

France made the brighter start, opening up a 3:1 lead, but soon their attack stalled through a series of turnovers, while Germany goalkeeper Lina Steinecke came up with several important saves. At the other end, the reigning W19 EHF EURO champions once again showed the composure that has been shown through their campaign, putting together a 5-0 unanswered run between the fourth and ninth minute.

Germany held on to that advantage, with Aylin Bornhardt leading the attack, and by the 16th minute had opened a four-goal cushion at 10:6. But France eventually found their rhythm and tightened up defensively, offered much better support to their goalkeeper and needed less than five minutes to erase the deficit through a series of fast breaks.

It was Dawiya Abdou who completed the comeback, scoring her fourth goal of the match on a fast break to make it 11:11 and effectively restart the contest. From that point until halftime, the teams traded goals evenly, with Germany taking only a slender one-goal lead into the break. Interestingly, both sides finished the first half with an identical 45% attacking efficiency.

The balance of power remained much the same after the restart. France once again came out strongly from the dressing room and, after a superb finish from Lalie Lambe, moved 19:16 ahead in the 35th minute. But, just like in the first half, another four-minute blackout proved costly. Germany responded with another 5-0 unanswered run, with Ruslana Litvinov putting them back in front at 21:19, and from that moment France were chasing the game.

The defending champions came closest in the 55th minute when they cut the deficit to 30:31, raising hopes of another comeback. Instead, they undid all of their hard work in the closing minutes. A series of careless attacking mistakes and misplaced passes were punished by Germany, who raced away with yet another 5-0 run — their third of the match — to open a decisive 36:30 lead with 15 seconds remaining. France could only soften the defeat with the final goal of the game, for 31:36.

Germany were led by Aylin Bornhardt with nine goals and Farrelle Njinkeu with eight, while Claire Koestner was France's top scorer with six.

The reigning world champions will now play for the bronze medal, their first third-place match since winning silver in 2012 before lifting the trophy in 2024. Germany are one win away from adding a world title to the European crown won by this generation, hoping to repeat the country's triumph from the IHF Women's Junior World Championship 2008.

hummel Player of the Match: Ruslana Litvinov (Germany)