In Gothenburg, co-hosts Sweden will try to take another victory at the 28th Men's IHF World Championship, this time against Cape Verde. At the same time, Brazil and Uruguay will fight for crucial points in a continental derby. 

• 18:00 CET: Brazil vs Uruguay

Both teams failed to take any points in their opening matches at the tournament. On Thursday, Brazil fought hard in the first half against Sweden, as their goalkeeper Rangel Da Rosa made a string of saves, but ultimately lost 18:26, and Cape Verde defeated Uruguay (25:33).
So both South American rivals have no points and desperately need a win in their clash to progress to the main round. Representing the same continent, they know each other very well, but Brazil have always been dominant in this rivalry, having won all 16 mutual encounters in all competitions.

Most recently, the Brazilians defeated Uruguay at the 2021 IHF Men's World Championship, 37:17, and they enjoyed an even bigger victory at the 2022 South and Central American Men's Handball Championship, 48:20, on their way to the continental title.

The results of these matches clearly show the difference between the sides, so Brazil will be heavily favoured to take two points in this match, and as it looks now, Uruguay have a very marginal chance of reaching the main round. However, hope dies last, and the Uruguayans are determined to fight hard against their continental rivals. 

• 20:30 CET: Sweden vs Cape Verde

Both teams claimed eight-goal victories in their opening matches, but Cape Verde are currently top of Group C as they scored a higher number of goals on Thursday. However, reigning European champions Sweden will be strong favourites in the match against the African team they have never faced before. 

In their opening match against Brazil, the co-hosts struggled for a long time, but Andreas Palicka's brilliance paved the way to the victory. The Swedish goalkeeper finished the match with 17 saves and a 49% save efficiency, becoming the hero of the day and making the home crowd at the Scandinavium constantly roar his name in the last quarter of the match.
"You get goosebumps. It's everyone's dream to make so many people happy. This is the best arena in the world," Palicka said after the match.

In turn, Cape Verde made history by earning their first win at the World Championship. At their debut tournament two years ago, the African team played just one match before an outbreak of COVID-19 forced them to withdraw. But now they hope for a more successful campaign, and the two points claimed in the opening match give them a good chance of a main round berth – even if it will be extremely hard to beat Sweden on Saturday.