The three best teams from Group A (Spain, Montenegro and the Islamic Republic of Iran) and just as many from Group B (France, Slovenia and Poland) have progressed to the main round Group I, where they will fight for two quarter-final spots.

Except for Iran, all the contenders represent Europe. France and Spain, who start the main round with the maximum of four points, are regarded as favourites. On Wednesday in Krakow, they will try to extend their winning runs in the matches against Montenegro and Poland respectively, while Slovenia will be favoured to beat Iran. 

• 15:30 CET: Islamic Republic of Iran vs Slovenia

For Iran, reaching the main round for the first time in history is already a big accomplishment. The Asian side had previously featured at only one World Championship, at Qatar 2015, where they moved to the President's Cup and finished 21st.

Now there are 32 teams in the competition, not 24, so Iran are not certain to finish higher than eight years ago. Still, they can be satisfied with their performance. The opening 25:24 win against Chile in Group A was crucial for the team coached by Veselin Vujović, and the subsequent losses against Montenegro (31:34) and Spain (21:35) did not stop them from going through.

With no points under their belt, it will be hard for them to fight for a quarter-final berth. Slovenia are in a better position, as they have two points after finishing second in Group B behind France. Uroš Zorman's team took commanding wins against Saudi Arabia (33:19) and Poland (32:23) before losing to the French, and at the start of the main round, beating Iran is a must for the European team if they are looking for a top-eight finish.

So far, Slovenia's coach Uroš Zorman has been quite happy with his team. "If someone had said before the start that we would reach the main round with two points and two wins like that, I'm sure everyone would have welcomed that. But now it's time to travel to Krakow, where we will look for our chances and, in the end, also for a breakthrough to the quarter-final," he said.

• 18:00 CET: France vs Montenegro

Seen as one of the heavyweights at the World Championship, France had no problems reaching the main round, winning all three matches in group B. After somewhat struggling against Poland in the opening match of the tournament (26:24), they were entirely dominant against Saudi Arabia (41:23) before also defeating Slovenia (35:31).

Three straight victories allowed the French to start the main round with four points, giving them a good chance of a quarter-final berth. However, the Olympic champions are perfectly aware that there are no weak opponents at the next stage and should stay fully focused in each match. 

"We know that competitions may take very different turns. To start with four points is a bit of a safety mattress, but we will have to face strong teams," France's head coach Guillaume Gille said, adding that "the rest of the adventure is to be written."

On Wednesday, his team is scheduled to face Montenegro, who finished second in Group A and carried two points over to the main round. In a decisive match, the Balkan side defeated Chile 35:33 on Monday, as left wing Miloš Vujović scored 12 goals.

France defeated Montenegro at their only previous World Championship in 2013 (20:32) and more recently at the EHF EURO 2022 (27:36). However, head coach Zoran Roganović believes in his players. 

"We'll face France with all our weapons, with everything we have. We have an experience against them from the EURO, where we didn't manage to win, but we will watch that match and learn our lessons," he promised. 

• 20:30 CET: Spain vs Poland

It was hardly a walk in the park for Spain in Group A, yet the team coached by Jordi Ribera reached their goal, as they defeated Montenegro, Chile and Iran, finished on top and will start the main round with four points. 

"We've had some matches against the teams that we are not used to playing. I think the matches against the Europeans will be better, although we have to adjust to any rival," Spanish captain Gedeón Guardiola said after his team defeated Iran on Monday (35:22).
His team's next goal is to beat Poland, whose performance in the group stage was hardly impressive. Co-hosts are generally expected to do well in the opening stages and the Poles had the potential for it, but after fighting hard against France (24:26), they were stunned by Slovenia (23:32) before struggling in the decisive match against Saudi Arabia, where they had to deal not only with the Asians but also with the pressure lying on their shoulders. 

Despite ultimately snatching a win in that nerve-wracking encounter and going through, Poland can hardly rely on a quarter-final berth, as they have zero points. And they need to improve their game a lot in the next matches if they want a decent position in the final standings.

That said, the two most recent matches between Spain and Poland at the World Championship were extremely tight. At Qatar 2015, Poland had the upper hand in the third-place match (29:28), while Spain won their group encounter at Egypt 2021 (27:26). And last January, the Spaniards again won by the smallest of margins (28:27) in the main round of the EHF EURO 2022.