Egypt are the first qualified team to the semi-finals of the 1st IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship, after they secured their second consecutive win, 42:22, against the United States of America. As Egypt beat both Brazil and the USA so far, the teams following them in the standings, they cannot be leapfrogged by any of the two opponents.

Argentina also staked a claim for a place in the semi-finals, with a clear 38:29 win over the Islamic Republic of Iran, 

GROUP A
United States of America vs Egypt 22:42 (12:21)

Egypt started the match with a clear 4:0 run, preventing their opponents to score for the first five minutes and nine seconds, but the USA came back slowly, finally getting at grips with the match after 20 minutes.

Led by centre back Jorge Gomez De Santiago, one of the most experienced USA players, the American side cut the gap to only two goals, 11:9, after 14 minutes of play, as their attack could finally produce the goods and the defence forced some key mistakes from Egypt in the attack.

However, the experience, depth and athleticism of the Egypt team were overwhelming for the USA, as the African powerhouse continued to pounce and used a 6:0 run to finally open a bigger gap, 17:9, after 23 minutes. 

And the gap continued to grow in the second half, when all but one of Egypt’s outfield players scored at least one goal. The rhythm of the match got too much for the USA side, as the difference was there to be seen immediately on the shooting efficiency, where the gap was absolutely huge, 79% for Egypt, to USA’s 45%, which also pretty much summed up the situation on the scoreboard at the end of the match.

Yassien Ramadan scored 10 goals for Egypt, being named the Player of the Match, while Yassin Morsi added eight more goals for the African side, delivering a perfect performance, with the same number of shots attempted.

The 42:22 win for Egypt meant that the African side won their group and qualified to the semi-finals, but are the first-placed side with the lowest goal difference so far, +29, compared to Spain’s +58 and Germany’s +64, meaning that chances are high that Egypt will be the third best winning side.

USA still have a chance to finish second, but everything will be decided in their final matchday encounter against Brazil, when the winning team will finish on the second place, with the USA affording only a win.

Player of the Match: Yassien Ramadan (Egypt)

GROUP B
Argentina vs Islamic Republic of Iran 38:29 (20:16)

Argentina made a big step towards the semi-finals of the 1st IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship, with their second win in as many matches in Casablanca, dominating the Islamic Republic of Iran, 38:29.

It was a match controlled from start to finish by the South American side, which started with a 3:0 run, preventing their opponents to score for the first three minutes and 28 seconds. Another 3:0 run from Argentina saw them jump to a 7:2 lead, as centre back Nicolas La Delfa ruled the court.

But after a team time-out called by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Asian side deployed  a man-to-man defence for La Delfa and that seemed to yield dividends, as Argentina had their own issues in attack under this setup.

In fact, the Islamic Republic of Iran cut the gap to a single goal, 12:11, but this was the closest they could get in the match, as Argentina finally broke through, found the best ways to exploit the Iranian defence and finished the first half with a four-goal lead, 20:16.

Iran could not keep up with La Delfa and Argentina, as the centre back scored eight goals until the end of the match, as many as the Player of the Match, Lautaro Agustin Roa.

Fully confident and in need of a big difference, Argentina opened a bigger gap in the second half, taking advantage of Iran’s turnovers woes, as the Asian champions turned the ball over 22 times.

Argentina could have won by double digits, but a late Iran resurgence helped them cut the gap, as the South American side eventually clinched a 38:29 win.

The South American side has now a big chance to progress to the semi-final, regardless of the result of the last match against Germany. Currently, Argentina are on four points and with a +27 goals, by far the best between the teams in the competition, and only a big collapse would see them out of the next phase.

On the other side, the Islamic Republic of Iram are out of contention for a semi-finals berth and will head to the Placement Matches, aiming for a win against Puerto Rico in the last match of the preliminary round.

Player of the Match: Lautaro Agustin Roa (Argentina)

GROUP A
Morocco vs Brazil 38:45 (14:19)

Morocco’s prospects for the semi-finals were already bleak after they conceded a loss in the maiden match against the USA, and they needed a win against Brazil to keep the glimmer of hope alive, but facing the South American side was never going to be an easy prospect.

And after a healthy start from Morocco, which took a 2:1 lead, Brazil went on a five-goal unanswered run, to take a 6:2 lead, with those five goals coming in only four minutes and 25 seconds.

Centre back Eduardo Rodrigues led by example, scoring five goals and dishing five assists in the first half for Brazil, with the South American side adding three more 3:0 unanswered runs, yet Morocco were still with a chance in the match, as Idriss El Hammoumi and Oussama Moukafih scoring five goals each for Morocco in the first half.

There was nothing Morocco could do in the second half, as Brazil were too strong and dominated them in all aspects, despite the South American side failing to get anything meaningful out of their goalkeepers.

Rodrigues added two more goals, while Morocco did improve their attacking efficiency, only to be hampered by their constant turnovers – 31 in the whole match – as Brazil opened the largest gap of the match, 11 goals, in the 50th minute, 41:30.

Eventually, Morocco cut the lead, but they could not produce a comeback, with Brazil taking their maiden win of the competition, 45:38, as the hosts are out of contention for a semi-final berth.

Player of the Match: A. Freitas Pereira (Brazil)