After 48 games on the shores of Xinglong Lake in Chengdu, Argentina women and Germany men have been crowned The World Games Chengdu 2025 champions.

The sixth and final day of beach handball action concluded with all 16 teams in competition, starting with the 5/6 and 7/8 placement games in the morning session and medal matches in the afternoon/early evening session.

Repeat of 2024 IHF Beach Handball Women’s World Championship final goes Argentina’s way

Seven years after winning gold at the Youth Olympic Games on home sand in Buenos Aires, Argentina women have their second global beach handball gold.

They defeated defending champions Germany 2-1 (14:20, 22:12, SO 7:2) after a strong second set saw them 6:0 ahead in under two minutes and it could have been 8:0 had Florencia Gallo not shot over.

The resulting shoot-out was dominated by the South Americans as they went 4:0 ahead after Isabel Kattner had missed for Germany, this was followed up later by a Lena Klingler shot which was smothered by Alma Molina in the goal which meant that Fiorella Corimberto needed the single point for glory – and she delivered again, the Buenos Aires 2018 gold medallist ensuring a second top spot in her – and Argentina’s – career.

"Finally," said Argentina's exhausted Gisella Bonomi to ihf.info after winning gold. "I'm really happy. I think it was the final match I enjoyed the most because I lived it in the present moment. I wasn't thinking that it had to end now. I wasn't thinking of any medal. I was thinking in enjoying the game and that was the hardest thing to train; keeping our heads up and enjoying the present moment. So I'm really happy for that.

"Our country is known for its craziness and it's unpredictability, so we are unpredictable too. That's not something bad. It's more a virtue than a negative thing. The only time I have had a gold medal in my hands, was the (2018) Youth Olympic Games one and my head did a movie with all the sacrifices, all the people that was cheering me up at home, all my teammate - and we are not just this part of the team - we are a bigger team. When I hold the gold medal in my hand, I will have another movie and I will value that and do this 1,000 more times again."

"I can't believe it," said coach Leticia Brunati to ihf.info after taking some time to herself after securing gold. "I have only spoken with my girlfriend and my mum. They are happy because they know how much effort I put into this. It's been difficult because we know we couldn't play a lot of matches before this tournament, so we know that our level is going to be up and down all the time, and we know that, but like yesterday, we know we are really strong at the shoot-out and today, and yesterday, the girls do it perfect.

"In the one year since our world championship final loss they have experience and have cut down the mistakes. In Argentina, we have all the potential in the world for this sport."

"In the first set, everything went according to plan, but Argentina made a strong comeback in the second and turned the match around. We weren't able to respond in time to their momentum," said Germany's Kirsten Walter to The World Games Information Service (WGIS). "Our coach told us to stick to our tactics during half-time since things had been working well in the first, but in the end, it came down to efficiency, and it became increasingly difficult to keep up in the second half.

"In the past 10 years, we have made tremendous progress in the sport, thanks to increased support from the German Handball Federation. The successes of recent years show this development, and I hope it continues. We have won quite a few titles in recent years. Even though we didn't take gold this time, the silver means just as much. The journey will continue and we look forward to our next tournaments."

The final was a repeat of the 2024 IHF Women's Beach Handball World Championship final, won by Germany last year, with both coaches telling IHF.info after the medal match what these meetings could signify in the future.

The bronze medal match saw a clash between the recently-crowned European champions Spain and ANOC World Beach Games champions Denmark with Spain easing to a 2-0 (20:16, 18:10) win, Mariam Gonzalez Llambrich scoring 15 points. 

Spain, playing with a squad of just nine after defensive specialist Violeta Gonzalez Poudereux picked up an injury on the eve of the event, have now won four events this year, with two IHF Beach Handball Global Tour stage victories to their name in addition to the European title earned in July.

"We are so excited for winning the medal.  I'm very proud of my team, and we are all very, very happy," said Llambrich to WGIS. "The amazing teamwork we had during the whole tournament was crucial. We are a team, not just one player. We all worked together despite the high pressure. The last moments were crucial; all the points were important at the end.  It is sport, and we have to play with that in mind.

"This medal is very important because it shows to all of Spain that this sport is as important as others. Personally, it's also my first tournament and was very important in my career."

Her coach, Juan Pablo Morillo, also revealed the extra-pressure his team were playing under at Chengdu 2025.

"We had a lot of problems because we are competing with only nine players. We had to create a new defensive system. The players had to adapt to all of this at the same time we were competing, so it was difficult for us," he said about the absence of Violeta Gonzalez Pouderux, who got injured on the day before Chengdu 2025 but still travelled with the team.

"So, because of this, we had problems in some sets of some matches. We had to adapt to the other team in really a little time, and not prepare for the matches and this means we are really happy because we achieved one medal. It's really, really important for us. We are really happy after becoming European champions. It's really nice for us; two months, two medals."

In the placement matches, Sofia Goncalves’ 13 points helped debutants Portugal to a top-five spot after they defeated China 2-0 (15:12, 22:16) in the 5/6 match, while fellow first-timers Vietnam lost to Croatia 2-1 (14:20, 24:19, SO 9:6) in the 7/8 placement match, Lara Miholic and Lu Ngoc Trinh, Croatia’s and Vietnam’s top-scoring on 14 points each. In the shoot-out, Thi Thanh Huyen Dam missed the Asian champions’ second shot, leaving Lucia Lesac to sink home the single point to win.

Germany men add global title to continental one

A few weeks after Germany won the European title, they won The World Games title with a 2-1 (18:21, 19:18, SO 8:6) win over debutant Portugal. The Portuguese, who only started their beach handball programme in 2019, add to their bronze gained at the world championship last year and are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with.

After Portugal had won the first set, they were locked at 18:18 in the second, but a final second single-pointer from Germany captain Robin John put it to shots.

In what would be an encounter between two of the world’s best – and Chengdu 2025’s finest – men's goalkeepers, Germany’s Moritz Ebert was celebrating at the end and not Portugal's Ricardo Castro, despite Germany missing their first shot. Ebert pulled out an easy save later on to even up the scores, but as the shoot-out entered its fifth round, Lars Zelser evened it up for Germany at 6:6. 

And so the stage was set for Ebert – later named All-star Team goalkeeper – to prove his worth, which he did with aplomb, going down to his right to block the shot from Francisco Santos, the Portuguese player slumping to his knees while the entire German delegation jumped into the net in celebration, Ebert somewhere near the bottom of the heap.

"It's amazing. This is our second final this year and our second win. It feels great. The reality hasn't even set in yet. To earn Germany's 14th gold and top the medal table is incredible. We did it for ourselves, for Germany, and we're very happy," said Germany's Jannis Herr.

"My first set wasn't good, but in the second we switched tactics, [moving away] from spin shots. That worked very well, and we won the second set with the last shot. In the group stage, we lost to Portugal in a shoot-out, so winning today feels great. My own performance was better in the second set, and as a team we put up a very good fight. I'm very happy for the team.

"We have the best goalkeeper in the world, who always delivers two or three key saves in every shoot-out, and that really helped us."

“Unbelievable. I'm empty at the moment, really empty out of energy,” added Germany coach Marten Franke to ihf.info soon after their gold.

“We didn't make our best match and we didn't made our best tournament from a sporting perspective, but it doesn't matter. Mentally, I have no words for this team. They are so strong. Once again, we lost the first set, but then we came back also at the end of it and still believed in it, even though we were 14:6 behind, but then we knew that we could win the second set."

Spain took the first set in the bronze medal match by a golden goal score through Manuel Ramirez Dominguez, but the second set was clearer in Brazil’s favour, the South Americans taking the game to a shoot-out with a 17:12 win. In the shoot-out Gustavo Morais was first to miss, with Brazil’s third attempt, but Spain repeated the feat, Gonzalo Cervera seeing his shot saved by defender Hugo Fernandes.

Rai Goncalves, a debutant with the Brazilian squad, after being promoted to the seniors by coach Antonio Guerra Peixe who spotted him when working as part of the Iranian coaching team at the 2022 IHF Men's Youth Beach Handball World Championship, then stepped up to put his side back on track, with an emphatic fourth shot to make it 6:4 to his side after the fourth round of shots, but it was quickly equalised by Manuel Ramirez. It was pure drama for Brazil’s fifth – as usual, taken by Bruno Oliviera. 

The attacker was fouled by Victor Calleja in the Spanish goal and after a delay, Renan Carvalho sunk home the six-metre (8:6). It was then down to Pablo Martin Ruiz to score, but again, defensive specialist Fernandes stood strong, blocking the shot as Ruiz fell to the floor in realisation that the medal had slipped through his fingers.

"I am so tired, but in the shoot-out, you can win or lose all the time, but, mentally, we were very prepared for this," said Oliveira to ihf.info. "Every time I play I have to go on the podium. I have played 19 years for Brazil, and just one time I was not on the podium. You know, for me, this third place, this bronze medal, is very, very important. This medal is so, so beautiful."

"We have a lot of difficulties but the job was made," added Brazil coach Peixe. "The bronze for us is the same value as gold."

The 2024 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship final rematch between Croatia and Denmark for fifth place saw a monster scoring game for Denmark’s Martin Andersen, who recorded 32 points. Unfortunately for the legendary Danish player, he missed his shot in the shoot-out as Croatia ran out 2-1 (12:28, 24:22, SO 10:8) winners.

Host nation China finally won their first set of Chengdu 2025 in a dramatic 7-8 placement clash with Tunisia, which went to a shoot-out. The home side won the first set 21:20, but were then easily dispatched in the second (18:8). With Tunisia ahead after their fourth shot (8:6), Ma Huifeng missed China’s fourth. It was down to Yahi Mahlouf to score the winner with a single pointer, but his shot was saved by Ren Jianhao. Mao Raoxiang then had a chance to take it to a second round of shots but his shot was saved by Wassim Zariat.

The World Games Chengdu 2025 – Beach Handball: Day 6 results

Monday 11 August

Women’s Competition

Gold Medal Match/Final
Argentina vs Germany 2-1 (14:20, 22:12, SO 7:2)

Bronze Medal Match
Spain vs Denmark 2-0 (20:16, 18:10)

5-6 Placement Match
Portugal vs China 2-0 (15:12, 22:16)

7-8 Placement Match 
Vietnam vs Croatia 1-2 (20:14, 19:24, SO 6:9)

Men’s Competition

Gold Medal Match/Final
Portugal vs Germany 1-2 (21:18, 18:19, SO 6:8)

Bronze Medal Match
Spain vs Brazil 1-2 (23:22, 12:17, SO 6:8)

5-6 Placement Match
Croatia vs Denmark 2-1 (12:28, 24:22, SO 10:8)

7-8 Placement Match
Tunisia vs China 2-1 (20:21, 18:8, SO 8:6)

Final Ranking

Women’s competition
1 Argentina
2 Germany
3 Spain
4 Denmark
5 Portugal
6 People’s Republic of China
7 Croatia
8 Vietnam

Men’s competition
1 Germany
2 Portugal
3 Brazil
4 Spain
5 Croatia
6 Denmark
7 Tunisia
8 People’s Republic of China