The penultimate day of action at the 2024 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships gets underway on Saturday (22 June) at the 'Pingtan International Beach Sports Base' on Pingtan Island, People's Republic of China.

The day is split into two sessions: quarter-finals and 9-16 Placement Round matches in the morning and the semi-finals and 5-8, 9-12 and 13-16 Placement Round matches in the later afternoon/evening session.

By the end of the day, we will know which four teams will be competing for gold on Sunday (23 June).

For all matches on Day 5, see the end of this article.

Argentina chase further history, world champions take on European champions in men’s competition

After sealing their passage through to the last eight on Thursday with a shoot-out win against the USA, Argentina take on 2022 world silver medallists Denmark in their knockout stage. The South American side have never finished higher than 10th in their previous three world championship appearances.

By qualifying for the last eight, Germany have also reached a historic high – equalling their best-ever ranking, however, that was in their solitary previous world championship appearance, back in 2006. They face a Spain side who will be desperate to push for a podium place having missed out on numerous occasions, including four fifth places in a row (2012-18). Spain have impressed in front of goal, with the stats to back it up – they are the tournament top-scorers with 278 points in their six games so far (46.3 per game).

World champions Croatia take on European champions Hungary in a game which promises to be the highlight of the round. Not only are the Croatians the only unbeaten team over their six games so far, they have only conceded one set. The clash will feature the second and third top-scorers at China 2024 so far: Hungary’s Norbert Attila Gyene (89 points from six games) and Croatia’s Lucian Bura (86/6).

The last of the final eight matches sees Brazil – who have medalled in the last eight world championships and who can boast the best defence (178 points conceded in six games) – face Portugal, who are in just their second global event, having finished 10th on their debut in 2022.

The Placement Round opens with USA vs CHN, OMA vs URU, TUN vs PUR and QAT vs AUS.

Continental rivals go head-to-head as women’s quarter-finals looks set to amaze

A mouthwatering derby opens the women’s last eight with Brazil and Argentina going toe-to-toe. After knocking at the door in the past decade, the Argentina women finally overcame their eternal rivals on the sand a few years back, buoyed by the surge in support and interest for the sport after their Youth Olympic Games gold on home sand back in 2018. 

However, the experienced Brazilians reasserted their continental authority last year and this will be a fascinating contest between the youthful exuberance of Argentina (average age 25) and experience of Brazil (31). With Beatriz Cruz (104 points/six games) and Gisella Bonomi (90/6), Brazil and Argentina boast the number two and three top goalscorers at China 2024 respectively.

Sitting top of that scoring list is Anna Buter from the Netherlands with 107 points and her and the Netherlands will be breathing a sigh of relief they still have a chance to repeat at least their bronze of 2022 after scraping through thanks to a shoot-out win against Greece on Friday. They face a Portugal side who have already equalled their best-ever ranking – on their debut in 2022.

“We needed to win to go to the quarter-finals so there was some tension but we are also very calm,” said Netherlands’ Amber van der Meij. “We're very, very happy right now because we are in a quarter-final.”

The third quarter-final pits Denmark against Croatia. After being awarded a late spot at China 2024 following the withdrawal of Tunisia, the Croatians are looking forward to a chance to finish inside the top four at their first world championship appearance since 2012.

“Croatia has been out of the world championships since Oman in 2012 so it's a great, great chance to be back and we hope to really use this opportunity to make a good result,” said Croatia coach Josipa Grebenar about reaching the last eight. 

“Last time I was in Oman as a player and this time I'm as a head coach for the first time. I'm really eager to do our best and I'm really hoping that this team can go far. The quarter-finals are already a really huge success after all these years but now everything has opened up and we are ready to do some big things.”

Germany welcome back their only goalkeeper, Nele Kurzke after she was red-carded in her second main round match, causing her to miss her side’s 2-1 win over Norway last night.

Her Germany side will continue their title defence against 2016 world champions Spain who boast the best defence at China 2024 with just 174 points conceded in their six games, averaging 29 per game. 

Spain’s defence is led by the legendary Patricia Encinas Guardado, who also tops the best saves percentage charts, sitting on 44% (38 saves from 87 attempts – 6.3 per game).

PHI vs PUR, CHN vs VIE, GRE vs AUS and NOR vs USA open the Placement Round proceedings.

All games will be streamed live on the IHF Competitions YouTube channel (geo-restrictions will apply) click HERE for more information.

Match schedule – Saturday 22 June 2024
all times local

Men’s Competition

Quarter-Finals
1200 DEN vs ARG, GER vs ESP, CRO vs HUN, BRA vs POR

Semi-Finals
1920, 2010

9-16 Placement Round
1020 USA vs CHN, OMA vs URU, TUN vs PUR, QAT vs AUS

9-12 & 13-16 Placement Round
1650

5-8 Placement Round
1830

Women’s Competition

Quarter-Finals
1110 ARG vs BRA, NED vs POR, DEN vs CRO, ESP vs GER

Semi-Finals
1740, 1830

9-16 Placement Round
0930 PHI vs PUR, CHN vs VIE, GRE vs AUS, NOR vs USA

9-12 and 13-16 Placement Round
1600

5-8 Placement Round, Semi-Finals
1740