Hungary extended their winning run at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship to four matches, with a flawless performance against reigning champions Norway, 31:26.

MAIN ROUND
GROUP II
Hungary vs Norway 31:26 (18:11)

Two years ago, at Slovenia 2022, Hungary were one of the big favourites at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, but missed out on the trophy after a 29:31 loss against Norway in the final, with the Scandinavian side dominating the match from start to finish.

Hungary bounced back one year later, securing the continental title at the W19 EHF EURO 2023, therefore came at North Macedonia 2024 as one of the favourites, a label which they confirmed by becoming the team with the largest number of goals in the preliminary round, 125, comfortably winning all three matches against Mexico, Argentina and the Republic of Korea.

Starting with two points in the main round was important for Hungary, but they did not slow down and delivered another fantastic performance, almost machine-like at times, which brought them the fourth consecutive win and, in turn, a free turn for a quarter-finals berth, which can be confirmed if Denmark do not lose against the Republic of Korea in the next match hosted by the Jane Sandanski Sports Center.

In defence, Hungary were nothing short of fantastic, led by goalkeeper Szofi Imre, who racked up seven saves in the first 20 minutes, for an absolutely superb 58% saving efficiency. In attack, backs Emilia Varga and Luca Csikos scored seven of Hungary’s first 10 goals, helping their team open a 10:5 lead.

Norway did cut the gap to two goals, 10:7, but it was their last meaningful contribution to the match, as Hungary pressed on, firing from all cylinders, to create a seven-goal lead, 18:11, at the break, with no comeback in sight for Norway, which simply did not have any solution in attack to break Hungary’s defence.

The gap grew even further, despite Hungary rotating all their players, with 11 outfield players scoring at least one goal for the reigning European champions, which improved their lead to 10 goals, 26:16, with 19 minutes to go.

Despite trying different things in attack and in defence, Norway failed to really get anything going, with Hungary shutting down the engines at times, with goalkeeper Szofi Imre still going on at it, finishing the match with 17 saves for a 40% saving efficiency, enough to lift her side to a clear 31:26 win, as Norway finished the match on a high, avoiding a bigger loss.

Hungary are still in the lead in Group II of the main round, with four points, as they can confirm a quarter-finals berth, their third in a row at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, if Denmark do not lose later against the Republic of Korea.

On the other hand, Norway have lost their second match in a row and, most likely, will lose their crown won two years ago at Slovenia 2022. The Scandinavian side also faces an uphill battle to seal a top-10 finish, but they can bounce back on Tuesday, when they end the main round with a match against Korea.

Alkaloid Player of the Match: Júlia Farkas (Hungary)