A solid defence and Hampus Wanne’s 11 goals helped Sweden to start their campaign at the 27th Men’s World Handball Championship on a good note, defeating North Macedonia by 12 goals. 

Sweden vs North Macedonia 32:20 (16:11)

It was just on Tuesday that North Macedonia was inivited to take part in the World Championship as a substitute team for Czech Republic, who had to withdraw from the competition due to multiple COVID-19 cases. And two days later, Danilo Brestovac’s men were already on the court for their opening game against Sweden. 

North Macedonia’s right wing Martin Popovski scored the first goal of the game, and soon his teammate Stojance Stoilov made it 2:1 – however, it was to be the last time the Balkan side were in the lead. Sweden did well in defence and were efficient in fast breaks, which propelled them to a 7:4 lead ten minutes into the match.

However, North Macedonia fought back and enjoyed a 5:2 run, as their goalkeeper Nikola Mitrevski made a few spectacular saves, and 40-year-old veteran Kiril Lazarov showed his strength in attack.

The sides were level at 9:9 before Sweden had a 5:0 run in the next eight minutes to pull ahead again. Left wing Hampus Wanne did especially well as he netted six times in the first half and helped the ‘Tre Kronor’ to a 16:11 lead at the break.
Wanne, whose participation in the tournament was under threat after his girlfriend tested positive for COVID-19, ultimately became top scorer of the match with 11 goals. His teammates, in particular Linus Persson and Max Darj, also did well in attack, and Sweden’s advantage reached double digits by the 42th minute (24:14).

In the last quarter of the game, the Scandinavian team somewhat relaxed their approach, but their victory was never in threat. Throughout the match, Sweden scored 11 goals from fast breaks and ultimately cruised to a 32:20 win, making a big step towards the main round. 

hummel Player of the Match: Hampus Wanne, Sweden