16 teams have played at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship so far. There have been no big surprises in the first eight matches of the competition, but Day 3 at Poland/Sweden 2023 could see one or two odd results.

Until what’s on the menu for Friday, let’s see what happened on Thursday in Katowice, Krakow, Gothenburg and Kristianstad, as seven matches were scheduled, with favourites nearly sweeping the board.

While co-hosts Sweden were definitely favoured against Brazil, they had to worry after the first half, but an excellent defensive display in the second half saw them cruise to a 26:18 win. Earlier, Cape Verde recorded a strong win against Uruguay, enhancing their chances of a place in the main round. 

In Katowice, Slovenia joined France as the co-leaders of the group after a no-nonsense win against Saudi Arabia. In Krakow, Chile and the Islamic Republic of Iran delivered an excellent, well-balanced match, with the Asian side taking their first-ever win in the preliminary round at the IHF Men’s World Championship.

Hungary and Iceland also earned important wins against the Republic of Korea and Portugal, as one of the most balanced groups of the competition threw off with two exciting matches in Kristianstad. 

But let’s focus on today’s matches, with the big highlight coming in Group G, where Egypt, a team that eyes a major result at Poland/Sweden 2023, throws off the competition against Croatia. In Katowice, Group E also features two interesting matches as Germany meet Qatar, while Serbia face Algeria.

The reigning champions Denmark are also entering the fray in Group H in Malmö, as another well-balanced group sees Argentina face the Netherlands, while Norway battle North Macedonia in Krakow.

With Morocco facing the United States of America, who are making their comeback for the first time since 2001, we sat down and talked to their goalkeeper, Alae Laaroussi, who was named the All-Star goalkeeper of the 2022 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship for his superb performances in the competition. He follows in the footsteps of Yassine Idrissi, who retired from the national team in 2022, and aims to help his side deliver a main round berth.

All the statistics, tailor-made for everyone, are just one click away, so you can follow your favourite player and see who’s the best scorer, the best assists provider and the best goalkeeper. 

After eight matches, Iceland’s left wing Bjarki Már Elisson, a prolific scorer, is leading the standings with nine goals, followed by Portugal’s Pedro Portela with eight goals, while Hungary’s centre back Máté Lékai is third with seven goals.

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