The final day of the preliminary round of the 2025 IHF Men’s Club World Championship will decide the four qualified teams for the semi-finals.

The winners of each group plus the best second-placed team will progress to the next phase of the competition and will still be in the hunt for the title, with the three European sides plus Al-Ahly being the best positioned so far after featuring once in this phase.

GROUP A
15:30 EEST SC Magdeburg (GER) vs Sharjah SC (UAE)

GROUP B
20:00 EEST Veszprém HC (HUN) vs Al-Ahly SC (EGY)

GROUP C
17:45 EEST FC Barcelona (ESP) vs Zamalek SC (EGY)

Where they are: All six teams have won their first match, sitting on two points. All the three European sides have a better goal difference than the second-placed sides, which means a draw would see them finish first in their groups. For the group leaders, Veszprém HC lead the way with a +36 goal difference, followed by Magdeburg (+30) and Barcelona (+19). Nevertheless, all three need at least a draw to secure the first place in the group, while losing sees them concede the first place and finish second.

Who qualifies to the semi-finals: The winners of each group, plus the best second-placed team. The first tiebreaker is the number of points, followed by the goal difference. Currently, all the second-placed teams have two points, and provided the situation will stay the same after the last day of the preliminary round with all European sides winning their matches, Al-Ahly hold a substantial advantage. The tiebreaker will be the goal difference, and the Egyptian side are on +27, followed by Sharjah SC, with +5, and Zamalek SC, with +2. 

How do the semi-finals look: The group winner with the best ranking will face the best second-placed team in the semi-finals. However, teams from the same group cannot face each other at this stage. Currently, this rule applies to Veszprém HC and Al-Ahly SC, who are in the same group and are leading the standings for their respective places. As a result, if this is the case, the best group winner will face the third-best group winner instead, while the second-best group winner will play against the best second-placed team.

Why is the goal difference important: In case of a tie in points, the goal difference will decide the rankings of all places.

Who is out: Sydney Uni, Handebol Taubate and the California Eagles are all out, finishing on the third place, after conceding two losses each in the first two matches.