Hungary secured their eighth semi-finals berth and their third one in a row at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, with a topsy-turvy match at North Macedonia 2024, after they saw their seven-goal lead at the break erased, but eventually clinching a 34:31 win in extra-time over Iceland.

QUARTER-FINALS
Hungary vs Iceland 34:31 a.e.t. (19:12; 29:29)

Before the quarter-finals of the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, Hungary had secured five wins in five matches, with their lowest margin of winning being only five goals. The reigning European champions had the best attack and the second-best defence in the competition, therefore being favoured against a team which secured a quarter-finals berth for the first time in history.

Iceland were masters at delivering good performances in tight matches, but here they needed that extra special boost, which they failed to get in the first minutes of their maiden quarter-final, despite scoring the first goal of the match.

Two 2:0 runs, followed by a 4:0 run, which later morphed into a 7:1 partial for Hungary basically decided the match, helping the reigning European champions open a six-goal lead, 11:5, with some fantastic defensive nous, powered by goalkeeper Klára Zaj, who had a 41% saving efficiency after 20 minutes.

But the real strength from Hungary came from their back line, which was absolutely unstoppable in the first half, as Emilia Varga, Luca Csíkos, Anikó Kovács Liliána Csernyánszki and Julia Farkas combined for 16 of Hungary’s first 17 goals, as their team boasted a 68% shooting efficiency.

Iceland could find no way of stopping their counterparts in defence, with the Nordic side’s goalkeepers combining for only three saves in the first 30 minutes, while in attack, Agusthor Johansson’s side turned the ball over 11 times, numbers which cannot really help to provide a good result against a team like Hungary.

However, in the second half, Hungary turned off their engines and entered the cruise control mode, which enabled Iceland to slowly cut into their opponents’ lead. Led by centre back Elín Klara Thorkelsdóttir, who had six goals and four assists during regular time, Iceland erased four goals from their deficit by the 39th minute, 22:19.

Yet Hungary’s clearly superior experience seemed to have prevailed, especially as Iceland lost two players through injury, influential line player Elísa Elíasdóttir and left back Embla Steindórsdóttir. But it was not for the lack of trying for Iceland, which finally exposed Hungary’s woes and put serious pressure on the reigning European champions for the first time at North Macedonia 2024.

But when push came to shove and Iceland looked like they could cut the gap to only two goals, Zaj saved two one-on-one shots, while Hungary’s attack, clearly hampered by the 5-1 defence displayed by Iceland, finally woke up, two consecutive goals via breakthroughs from back Lea Faragó opening another two-goal lead. Yet Iceland did not back down. Limiting Hungary to only 10 goals in the second half, they bounced back and Lilja Ágútsdóttir converted a decisive penalty with 10 seconds to go to push the match intro extra-time, 29:29.

Dumbfounded, Hungary needed to start all over again, as Iceland rode all the momentum. But the Nordic side could not score in the first seven minutes and 54 seconds of extra-time, as Zaj made four key saves to prevent Iceland from scoring. Three goals in a row for Hungary opened a three-goal lead, 32:29, which proved to be decisive, with Iceland losing all the efficiency they had in the second half. Eventually, the reigning European champions survived the scare, taking a 34:31 win, but the energy those long 10 minutes cost will definitely be taken into account in the final weekend at North Macedonia 2024.

Hungary have secured their sixth win in a row at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship and qualified for the semi-finals of the competition for the eighth time, having reached the final four times so far.

On the other hand, Iceland, which have already secured their best-ever finish in the competition, head to the Placement Matches 5-8, where they are due to face Sweden in the first match.

Alkaloid Player of the Match: Julia Farkas (Hungary)