Three, two, one and… pandemonium. As the final whistle of the last match of the Group Phase at the 2026 IHF Men’s Club World Championship was blown, the Al Ahly players were jubilating, while the fans were in raptures.

The Egyptian side had just added another memorable chapter to their IHF Men’s Club World Championship history, defeating Füchse Berlin, 30:27, to secure only their third victory against European opposition in the competition.

For a club that has carried the hopes of Egyptian handball into the global arena year after year in the past five editions of the world club handball flagship competition, this was definitely a result of considerable significance. 

Füchse Berlin arrived in Egypt as one of Europe’s leading sides, having reached the Machineseeker EHF Champions League final in the previous two seasons, while their IHF Men’s Club World Championship pedigree includes two titles, won in 2015 and 2016.

 

And they also have Mathias Gidsel, arguably the best player in the world, in their roster.

More importantly, Al Ahly have now the chance to finish on the podium for the third time – after their silver medal in 2007 and the bronze in 2024. A match against archrivals Zamalek Club awaits on Thursday, which will surely make the rivalry between the two sides even bigger.

For Ibrahim Elmasry, a player whose career is basically mirroring Al Ahly’s recent history, the significance of the achievement was immediately clear.

“It means for us a lot to beat a European team. It's not only a team, it's a Champions League team, one of the best teams in the world,” said the 37-year-old defensive specialist, who has represented both Al Ahly and Egypt at the highest level, playing for the Cairo club since 2013.

Elmasry pointed to the quality of the opposition and the circumstances surrounding the match. Füchse were without Mathias Gidsel, the IHF Male World Player of the Year in 2023, 2024 and 2025, who sat on the bench for the entire match, but the Egyptian star was quick to emphasise that the German side remained a formidable opponent.

“They are still a very strong team and we are very happy to beat them,” he added.

 

The win carries even greater weight when placed against Al Ahly’s long record of meetings with European clubs at the Club World Championship.

Before this edition, the Egyptian giants had faced European opposition 11 times, with two victories and nine defeats. Their first such encounter came in 2007, when they lost narrowly to Ciudad Real, 29:28. They subsequently faced FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals 2015, before finally getting their first win against European opposition in 2022, when they edged Benfica 29:28 in the group phase.

That same year brought a semi-final defeat to SC Magdeburg, and Barcelona then accounted for Al Ahly in both 2023 and the 2024 group phase. The 2024 edition nevertheless produced one of the defining moments in the club’s international history, as Al Ahly returned to Barcelona in the bronze-medal match and prevailed 32:29 to claim the third place.

It was a huge win for Al Ahly and Egyptian handball in general, especially as the national team has been featuring in the quarter-finals of the IHF Men’s World Championship in 2021, 2023 and 2025, as well as in the quarter-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the semi-finals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“We represent Egypt,” Elmasry added. 

 

“We have here in Egypt a very good handball. We have a strong league. A lot of players now from the Egyptian national team play in the first-class clubs in Europe. So we also here have very good players.”

However, Al Ahly’s tenure in the IHF Men’s Club World Championship saw further losses followed against Magdeburg in the 2024 semi-final, Veszprém in the 2025 group phase, Barcelona in the 2025 semi-final and Magdeburg again in the 2025 bronze-medal match.

The victory over Füchse therefore represents Al Ahly’s third win in 12 matches against European opposition at the competition, bringing their overall record in those encounters to three victories and nine defeats.

And it was a convincing match, where the Egyptian side took a 5:2 lead early in the match, saw a comeback from Fuchse which briefly took the lead, but from that moment on, Al Ahly dominated the match and eventually sealed the 30:27 win, one which sent them to the bronze-medal match.

“We have a lot of concentration in this match. We tried to do our best from the beginning. If a European team, a strong team, leads a game by two or three goals, I think it's finished. So we wanted to put them under pressure all the match and we did it finally,” added the defensive specialist.

That approach resonated with head coach David Davis, who described the victory as one of the biggest of his career.

“One of the biggest victories in my story for sure, and I will never forget this,” Davis told his players immediately after the match.

 

Yet even in that moment, the Spaniard was already looking towards the next challenge. Al Ahly had another match to prepare for, with the bronze medal and an all-Egyptian meeting with Zamalek awaiting them.

“Now we have another battle,” Davis said. “We have to be fresh in 48 hours.”

“We did something good, but we have to do something bigger,” he then told his players, urging them to recover physically and mentally before the final day.

His message to the team was clear: enjoy the achievement briefly, then turn the page. A do-or-die clash for a medal awaits against their biggest rival. 

That final task will have a different character. Elmasry knows what an Egyptian derby means, particularly with a place on the podium at stake.

“It will be different to play against Zamalek. It's the Egyptian derby here. Totally different match, totally different tactics,” he said.