After securing their second win in a row at Egypt 2021 – 31:23 against Morocco – Iceland advanced from the preliminary round for the seventh time in a row at IHF Men’s World Championships.

Portugal won Group F with six points, while Iceland finished second on four points, while Algeria’s win against Morocco in the first game of the group was enough to earn them safe passage to the next phase.

GROUP F
Iceland vs Morocco 31:23 (15:10)

Morocco were the first to score, yet their lead was short lived, as Iceland adapted to their highly aggressive 3-2-1 defence and stopped turning the ball over after losing five attacks due to individual mistakes.

With a 92 per cent shot efficiency after 21 minutes, it was no surprise that Iceland had built up a 11:7 lead, after right back Viggo Kristjansson scored five goals in only six minutes spent on court.

While Iceland might have not pushed all the way through, Morocco did not fall far behind. As 32-year-old centre back Mohamed Zaroili scored five times, the African team never trailed by more than seven goals (22:15), cutting the gap to only four, after an unanswered 3:0 run.

Yet with backs Kristjansson’s and Olafur Andres Gundmundsson’s combined tally of 12 goals, Iceland had little trouble to secure the win, especially after Morocco had three players directly sent off after rough fouls.

Failing to adapt to a defence without Amine Harchaoui, Mehdi Ismaili and Hicham Hakimi, Morocco started to collapse and eventually conceded a 23:31 loss, their third at the 27th IHF Men’s World Championship.

Iceland progressed from the preliminary round for the seventh time in a row and will face France, Norway and Switzerland in the next phase of the competition.

As a consequence of Iceland’s win, Algeria also progressed to the main round, with the European side starting the group on two points and the African side starting from zero points.

With three losses out of three matches, Morocco finished last, and will play in Group II of the President’s Cup, alongside Chile, Republic of Korea and Austria.

hummel Player of the Match: Viggo Kristjansson, Iceland