Khaleej Club and Zamalek SC secured their second wins in three matches at the 2024 the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, enhancing their chances for a better finish in the competition.

Khaleej had a hard-fought win against Handebol Taubate, 29:27, while Zamalek dominated the match against the California Eagles from start to finish, 

PLACEMENT MATCHES
Khaleej Club (KSA) vs Handebol Taubate (BRA) 29:27 (13:13)

Taubate are heading to their worst finish in their appearances at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, after the Brazilian side conceded their third loss in three matches, 27:29, against Khaleej Club.

This time around, the Brazilian side, currently the South and Central American champions, started the match better than the previous two ones, scoring more goals against Khaleej in the first half of the match than in the matches against Zamalek and Veszprem combined.

But Khaleej, which started with one win and one loss, did not fall behind by more than two goals, despite Taubate producing some of their best moments in the competition between the 10th and the 15th minute, when they used a 4:0 run to turn the match on its head, taking their maiden two-goal lead, 7:5.

Boosted by a fantastic match from centre back Mujtaba Al Salem, who had seven goals and three assists, Khaleej bounced back, tied the score, but it was still Taubate leading by two goals, 20:18, with 20 minutes to go, forcing Khaleej to rethink their approach.

Everything went better for the Saudi side in the end, with Al Salem and Hussain Al Sayyad combining for 11 goals, to gift their side the win, 29:27, after a hard-fought finish, where Taubate tried their mightiest, but eventually failed to clinch the win.

Al Salem, the Player of the Match for the second time in three matches at the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, is now the top scorer of the competition, with 23 goals, an average of 7.6 goals per match.

Khaleej will still play one more match, when they face Sydney Uni, while Taubate face Zamalek once again, as both sides will conclude their appearance in the competition on Thursday, the last day at the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship.

Player of the Match: Mujtaba Al Salem (Khaleej Club)

California Eagles (USA) vs Zamalek SC (EGY) 23:41 (11:21)

There was no stopping Zamalek SC in the match against the California Eagles, after the Egyptian side finished second in their group, being clearly favoured against the American team, still searching for their maiden win in the competition.

Still, the gulf in quality, depth and experience between the two sides was huge, as the Eagles could, once again, only be competitive for the first part of the match, or the first 20 minutes, to be precise, when Zamalek’s lead was still slim, 14:11.

However, the Egyptian side went on a 7:0 unanswered run to finish the first half, with Akram Saad and Mohamed Omar each scoring two goals, with the gap growing at 10 goals at the break, 21:11.

It was the point of no return for the Eagles, debutants at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, which conceded their third loss in a row, albeit scoring once again 20 goals or more, an impressive performance for a side which has never played at such a level.

But Zamalek was too strong and they secured a 41:23 win, their third largest win in the history of the competition and the second best attacking performance, with the record still set in 2021, when they beat Al-Wahda, 42:22.

Zamalek will face Taubate in their last match, while California meet Sydney Uni tomorrow, in what is their best chance to secure the first win in the competition.

Player of the Match: Youssef Mansour (Zamalek SC)