FC Barcelona clinched the first place in Group C, with a 47:25 win over Zamalek SC, which helped them leapfrog SC Magdeburg in the group winners’ standings, with a +41 goal difference, one goal over Magdeburg’s +40.

GROUP C
FC Barcelona (ESP) vs Zamalek SC (EGY) 47:25 (24:12)

Between the three European sides participating at the 2025 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, FC Barcelona recorded the lowest-difference win in the first day, by 19 goals against Brazilian side Handebol Taubate, therefore they had a mountain to climb provided they wanted to finish on the top of the rankings of the group winners.

SC Magdeburg already had a +40 goal difference, while Veszprem HC boasted a +36 goal difference, therefore the Spanish powerhouse needed a flawless match against Zamalek, but few would have expected such a big difference between the two sides after 30 minutes.

But with Emil Nielsen providing a fantastic performance between the posts, hovering around a 50% saving efficiency, and left wing Daniel Fernandez scoring 11 goals in the first half only, nearly the whole number of goals scored by the Egyptian side, which made too many turnovers.

In fact, Zamalek lost 12 balls in the first half, and Barcelona really turned up the heat on the fast breaks, despite making several key mistakes throughout the first 30 minutes, as some passes were intercepted by Zamalek.

After 11 minutes, Barcelona were up six goals, 9:3, and by the 14th minute, Zamalek’s coach, Franck Maurice had already expensed his second team time-out from the three available in the match, but that did not really provide an uptick in the team’s form, as it only got worse for the Egyptian side.

By the break, Barcelona were leading by 12 goals, 24:12, with the gap only increasing in the next part of the amtch, with Fernandez finishing the match with 16 goals, tying the second-largest ever number of goals scored by a single player in the history of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, as Daniel Pettersson’s record set against the University of Queensland in 2023, 26 goals, still intact.

But Barcelona found it harder to largely improve the lead in the second half, as Zamalek’s attack really found a footing. By the 40th minute, the Spanish side boasted a 16-goal lead, 36:20, and it looked increasingly likely that Magdeburg’s goal difference will not be bettered by Barcelona.
Only that Barcelona went into full-on mode in the last 10 minutes of the match, using a man-to-man defence over the last five minutes to press Zamalek more and more, in order to leapfrog the German side.

And they did just that, using a 7:1 run to end the match, taking a 47:25 win against the Egyptian side and boasting their goal difference to +41, one goal more than Magdeburg, as they are now the top team in the group winners’ standings.

Therefore, Barcelona are likely to play Al-Ahly in the semi-finals, provided the Egyptian side do not beat Veszprem in the last match, while Zamalek will head to the Placement Matches 5/6, after finishing second in the group, but without a virtual chance to get into the semi-finals as the best-placed second team.

Player of the Match: Daniel Fernandez Jimenez (FC Barcelona)