Iceland made it three out of three at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, marking their best start in history in the competition, with a 36:20 win against the United States of America.

GROUP H
Iceland vs United States of America 36:20 (19:12)

The last match of Group H at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, between hosts North Macedonia and hosts Angola, was going to decide the second qualified team to the main round, but the match between Iceland and the United States of America saw two teams which had their places fixed face off.

Iceland were already qualified to the main round, while the USA were heading to the main round and that was there to be seen from the start of the match, when the European side jumped to a 8:2 lead, after right wing Sonja Lind Sigsteinsdóttir scored three goals.

The USA had the lowest number of goals scored and looked to be heading to another heavy loss, but they quickly bounced back, producing some of the best handball delivered at North Macedonia 2024, with a fantastic 5:1 run seeing the gap cut to only two goals, 9:7, after 17 minutes.

Feeling that the room for mistake just got significantly reduced, Iceland started pushing once again, as goalkeeper Anna Karólína Ingadóttir saved six shots in the first half, improving her overall efficiency roughly around the 50% mark, lifting her side to a 19:12 lead at the break.

In the second half, Iceland used all the players at their disposal and had 11 different outfield players score at least one goal, with left back Inga Dís Jóhannsdóttir leading the way with six goals. Two 3:0 unanswered runs helped the European side create a larger gap, eventually sealing a 36:20 win, while USA's Daisy Licea, who scored six goals, was named the Alkaloid Player of the Match.

This was Iceland’s third win at North Macedonia 2024, which means that they have started the world handball flagship competition for this age category with three out of three for the first time in history, heading to the main round with two points.

On the other hand, USA limited the damage this time and looked competitive for big chunks of the match, but will still start the President’s Cup with zero points, as they have matches against Guinea and Uzbekistan following.

Alkaloid Player of the Match: Daisy Licea (United States of America)