A late comeback in the match against Sharjah SC, which saw them earn a draw, 28:28, helped Zamalek SC to finish fifth at the 2025 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, while Handebol Taubate ended seventh, with a 35:25 win against California eagles, as the bottom half of this edition’s standings is now complete.

PLACEMENT MATCH 5/6
Zamalek SC (EGY) vs Sharjah SC (UAE) 28:28 (18:12)

Two days after taking a 29:26 win over Sharjah SC in the Placement Matches 5/6, Zamalek SC drew the debutant Emirati team and finished on the fifth place at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship for the third time in their last three appearances.

While the match looked to be in the bag for Zamalek, after a strong first half, that slowly faded away in the second part, as Sharjah bounced back admirably. After 30 minutes, thanks to a seven-goal outing from wing Akram Yousri, Zamalek were ahead by six goals, 18:12, and looked in control, as goalkeeper Youssef Salama boasted a 45% saving efficiency, with six saves.

But the second half saw a monster comeback from Sharjah, which first used a 6:1 run to cut the gap to only one goal, 19:18, as the current top scorer of the competition, Mohamed Radwan, scored four goals by that point.

Zamalek did stay in the lead for a few more minutes, but Sharjah scored some easy open-goal shots to first tie the score and then go ahead, 26:23, tying the doubleheader for this Placement Match, after Zamalek won the first match by three goals.

Mouadh Ayari was unstoppable during this stint, while goalkeeper Mohammad Altaher made seven saves in the first 20 minutes of the second half, as with only 10 minutes to go on the clock, Sharjah were still in the lead and had all the momentum working in their favour.

Risking it all on a seven-on-six tactic, Zamalek were lucky twice as Sharjah missed some open-goal shots, and the debutants missed three consecutive chances to go four goals ahead, missing two one-on-one shots, still keeping their lead, 28:25, with five minutes to go.

Three Sharjah turnovers later, Zamalek had cut the gap, 27:28, forcing Sharjah to score twice in the last 90 seconds to tie the score in the doubleheader. And with the Emirati side turning the ball over once again, Zamalek tied the score, 28:28, basically sealing sealing the fifth place.

It was a strong outing for Sharjah SC in their maiden appearance at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, with one win and one draw, as well as two losses, helping the Emirati side to improve for the future.

Player of the Match: Mohammad Altaher (Sharjah SC)

CONSOLATION ROUND 7-9
Handebol Taubaté (BRA) vs California Eagles (USA) 35:25 (18:13)

Handebol Taubaté waited for three years for a win at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, but in only three days they secured back-to-back victories in the competition, ending this edition on a high, with a 35:25 win over the California Eagles.

As the Eagles were coming after their maiden win in the history of the competition, against Sydney Uni, their spirits were surely boosted, but they could only stay close to Taubaté in the first minutes of the match.

Soon, after only five minutes, Taubaté started to pull away and opened a four-goal lead, 7:3, with some of their most experienced players, Gustavo Andrade Da Silva and Guilherme Torriani, running the show.

Yet after 30 minutes, the Eagles were still in with a shot to produce a surprise, being down only five goals, 18:13, with right wing Sean Corning scoring four goals in the first half.

However, the depth was the key ingredient which helped tilt the balance towards Taubaté. While the Brazilian side produced the same attacking output from the first half, the Eagles’ attack fell and failed to produce any kind of momentum.

Corning did score seven goals for the Eagles, but Andrade da Silva and Torriani ran the show, combining for 13 goals. As Washigton Luis Silva Santos and Gabriel dos Santos da Rosa added five goals each, Taubaté improved the lead minute after minute in the second half, eventually taking a 10-goal win, 35:25.

For the Brazilian side, their second win in a row was enough to see them finish on the seventh place, while the Eagles still celebrated their maiden win in the competition against Sydney on Wednesday, which enabled them to finish eight and avoid the last place.

Player of the Match: Gustavo Andrade Da Silva (Handebol Taubaté)