California Eagles became only the second American team in history to secure a win at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, dominating Sydney Uni in the Consolation Round 7-9, 31:25.

Consolation Round 7-9
California Eagles (USA) vs Sydney Uni (AUS) 31:25 (13:12)

Still looking for their maiden win at the 2025 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, California Eagles and Sydney Uni collided in the only match of the penultimate day of the competition, with the Eagles still aiming to secure their first win in two appearances.

A win would have also gone a long way for the Eagles, as it would have meant avoiding the last place in the final standings, but Sydney Uni were no pushovers in this meeting, with the Australian side clinching a 35:30 win in their mutual meeting in 2024.

However, the Eagles looked better in the first minutes of the match, opening the match with a 3:0 run, with two goals from back Leon Agner and one goal from right wing Sean Corning. Sydney scored their first goal after four minutes and 32 seconds, but then went on their own 4:0 run to turn the match on its head.

Agner and Corning were their team’s top scorers in the first half, with three goals each, while goalkeeper Mika Gmelich saved seven shots for a 40% saving efficiency. But the Eagles were still two goals down, 8:10, with six minutes to go in the first half, as wing Alexandre Coindevel and back Seifeddine Cherif combined for nine goals for Sydney Uni.

However, the Australian side did not have more answers in attack, and the Eagles bounced back to end the first half with a 5:2 run to take the lead at the break, 13:12, being only 30 minutes away of their first win in the competition.

While Sydney did bounce back and were in the lead in the first half, the start of the second half has been well underpar, with too many turnovers, one-on-one missed shots and mistakes in defence, which were then swiftly punished by the Eagles.

A pair of penalties converted by line player Ignacio Vejar and two more goals from Magnus Johannessen fueled the Eagles’ 7:1 run between the 34th and 41st minutes, which put the American side six goals up, 21:15, looking increasingly likely that there was not going to be any comeback from Sydney Uni.

That was the point of no return, as Johannessen finished the match with seven goals, while Corning also added five goals, as the gap grew bigger and bigger, before eventually the Eagles secured a 31:25 win.

The win meant that the Eagles secured their maiden win, the second win for an American team at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship and also the largest one for an American side in the competition, with the previous one being a five-goal win by the San Francisco CalHeat against another Australian side, Sydney Uni.

The Eagles are now sure that they will not finish last in the standings, deciding their final place after the match against Brazilian side Handebol Taubate, while Sydney are due to finish on the ninth place, the last, with four consecutive losses.

Player of the Match: Magnus Johannessen (California Eagles)