Ok, so we are in unknown territory at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship. We have just entered the last week of the competition. In only seven days we will find out who the new world champions are!

But until then, there is still a day left in the main round at Poland/Sweden 2023. Group I and Group II of the main round concluded on Sunday evening with some high-profile clashes that yielded four teams qualified for the quarter-final.

In Group I, France and Spain had already earned their berths for the knockout phase of the competition, but their mutual clash was going to decide the final standings in the group. France ended the match on a high, sealing their sixth win in a row (28:26) and clinching first place in the group, with Spain finishing second.

Group II was the most balanced one so far at Poland/Sweden 2023, with Hungary facing a nervous wait before the final whistle in the match between Sweden and Poland. Chema Rodríguez’s side did their part by sealing a 42:30 win over Cape Verde, but needed Sweden to take a win against Portugal. That win (32:30) came after a strong second half from the co-hosts, with the Scandinavian side leaving Gothenburg with six wins in a row. 

A thought for co-hosts Poland, who ended the tournament on a high, in fourth place in Group I, with a win over the Islamic Republic of Iran, but also for the first finalist of the President’s Cup in Plock, Chile, who secured their third win in a row, 33:26, over the Republic of Korea.

The main round will conclude on Monday with six matches scheduled in Katowice and Malmö. In Group III, Germany and Norway are already qualified for the knockout phase, but the winner of the group will get Spain, while the second-placed side will face France. Germany can also afford a draw when they face the Scandinavian side in the last match of the group.

Moving on to Group IV, the maths are simple. Egypt are already qualified and Denmark have a two-point advantage over Croatia after drawing the match against the European side. Egypt will win the group and avoid Sweden if they do not lose against Denmark, while the Scandinavian side are not yet qualified, but have an advantage of +22 goals in the goal difference over Croatia.

Uruguay might not have had the success of Egypt 2021 when they made it to the main round, but they are still in the early stages of developing the sport in their country. A long read about Uruguay and their grit can be found here.

Serbia might not have qualified for the quarter-final. Still, they put up a strong performance at Poland/Sweden 2023, underlining the hard work done by coach Toni Gerona, who took over the team in May 2020 and has improved the team year after year.

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. 

The top goal scorer of the competition is Chile’s Erwin Feuchtmann with 46 goals, one more than Iceland’s Bjarki Már Elísson and eight more than Dutch right back Kay Smits.

Sweden’s Tobias Thulin has the best efficiency in the goalkeeper standings with 48%, leading the pack over Egypt’s Abdelrahman Homayed (45%) and another Sweden goalkeeper, Andreas Palicka, with 42%. The highest number of saves comes from the Netherlands’ Bart Ravensbergen (56).

Curious about where you can follow your team on TV? Don’t worry, we also got you covered – just click here!

Don’t forget you can also win prizes by predicting the results of the matches at Poland/Sweden 2023.

The IHF is working hard to bring you the very best from what is sure to be an exciting competition, and wherever you are, there are many ways to follow the action! Make sure you stay up to date, follow our social media channels and find out which was the pic of the day and the best actions of the day! 

You can also check the best plays from the first day on our Facebook and Instagram accounts, with plenty of mouthwatering goals ready to be seen. Did you see Rui Silva’s pass to Victor Iturriza? Pure gold.