For the third time in two editions of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, Egyptian side Zamalek dominated South and Central American champions Handebol Taubaté, opening their account in the 2025 edition with a 26:24 win.

GROUP C
Zamalek SC (EGY) vs Handebol Taubaté (BRA) 26:24 (13:11)

Twice did Zamalek SC and Handebol Taubaté met last year at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship and twice the Egyptian side emerged victorious, following the same recipe each time: starting off strong, creating a double-digits lead in the first half before Taubaté had no time to come back.

This time around, the scenario was different, but the outcome was the same, with Zamalek sealing their first win and improving their chances for a top-5 finish in the competition.

With goal difference being a key differentiator between the sides aiming to qualify to the semi-finals, Zamalek started off strong and used a 4:1 run to pull away from Taubaté, as Gamal Salah scored two of the three goals in this match in the first six minutes.

However, Taubaté looked stronger than last year and never allowed the Egyptian side to pull away. Using some smart rotations to give his starters more rest, coach Franck Maurice designed a defence-first mindset for Zamalek, especially with goalkeeper Mahmoud Khalil managing to keep his saving percentage around the 33%-35% mark.

While Taubaté did manage to cut the gap to a single goal, 11:10, they were still up by two goals at half-time, 13:11, with the Egyptian side still in cruise-control mode, especially as captain Ahmed Elahmar had more in his tank, after scoring two goals in the first half.

With their goalkeeping department failing to improve to more than 15% efficiency, Handebol Taubaté had little chances to really hurt Zamalek, despite the second half still being nip-and-tuck, with the hosts failing to improve their lead to more than four goals.

Nine outfield players went on the scoring sheet for Handebol Taubaté and with 10 minutes to go they were still hoping for a comeback, despite not taking the lead once, as they were only two goals down, 22:20.

At 42 years old, Elahmar still led the way for Zamalek, though, scoring two of his five goals in the last 11 minutes of the match, therefore propelling the Egyptian side to the win, 26:24, before their match against FC Barcelona, the decider on Sunday, for the first place in the group.

But the final minutes of the match were dramatic, as Zamalek held a 25:21 lead with four minutes to go, the Brazilian team came back, cut the lead to a single goal, 25:24, only for Zamalek to score with 13 seconds left to clinch the win.

Handebol Taubaté lost their eighth match in a row at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, with the last win coming in the preliminary round of the 2022 edition.

Player of the Match: Beegad Ragab (Zamalek SC)