48 games are elapsed at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, with 16 teams earning safe passage to the main round and the other 16 sides heading to the President’s Cup. There have been big wins, but also huge surprises, with European powerhouses being out of the title challenge after some missteps, which spiced up the competition.

What are the main takes after the first four days of competition at Croatia 2023? Let’s take a look and dive into the numbers, results and performances.

A new record for goals?

Croatia 2023 is on pace to be the highest-scoring edition of the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, with 2893 goals scored in the first 48 matches. The higher pace of the sport was available on display also here with 10 games with at least 70 goals scored in the preliminary round, roughly 20% of the total of matches played so far at Croatia 2023.

The average number of goals scored was 60.27 goals per game, the largest in history, just a bit higher than the current record, 60.12 goals per game, which was set at Bahrain 2007, 16 years ago. The highest-scoring game was the one between Sweden and Burundi when the two sides combined for 78 goals in Sweden’s 62:16 win over the African side.

Four continents represented in the main round

Four continents are represented in the main round, with South American, Asian and African teams progressing alongside European sides, with the prospect of all those four continents earning places in the quarter-finals. 11 European sides have made it to the main round, with six of them starting with two points in the main round, with two Asian sides and one African and South American team each making it into the next phase.

The biggest surprise was that the Islamic Republic of Iran made it with two points into the main round after the Asian side delivered an excellent performance throughout the preliminary round, with a 26:26 draw against Sweden and a 29:27 win over the Faroe Islands. Iran will have big chances to progress to the quarter-finals, as they face Germany and another Asian side, Saudi Arabia, in the main round, in what could become their best-ever outing for the team in the competition.

Brazil are the South American side which qualified for the main round. Theyeliminated Bahrain and the Republic of Korea with two wins against their Asian rivals, while reigning champions Egypt have held the flag high for Africa, taking three wins in three matches against Iceland, Czechia and Japan in a fiercely contested group.

Mittun – a natural-born scorer

Last summer, Oli Mittun delivered an astonishing performance at the M18 EHF EURO 2022, becoming the top scorer with 80 goals. The Faroe Islands’ centre back has continued his excellent run of form at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, where he is on pace to become the top goal scorer, with some flawless games delivered, being a cornerstone for his side’s success, after the Faroe Islands made it into the main round, in their debut.

Mittun scored 37 goals in the first three matches, including a 17-goal outing against Sweden, where he scored half of his team’s goals in the 34:31 win, which saw the Faroe team progress to the next phase. The back was also a part of the junior team, which ended on the seventh place at Germany/Greece 2023, but was only called late in the event, but did not make such a huge impact. Were Mittun to become the top goal scorer of the competition, the Faroe Islands would have two out of two, after Elias Ellefsen A Skipagotu was the top goal scorer at Germany/Greece 2023.

Rookies make good on their promises

Six teams have made their debuts at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship at Croatia 2023, and some have already secured some success, with Czechia and the Faroe Islands being sure of a top-16 finish after their progression to the main round. Faroe lost against the Islamic Republic of Iran but bounced back with one of the biggest shocks in the competition, their 34:31 win over Sweden, announcing themselves once again on the biggest of stages.

Czechia are also a team which has paid a lot of attention and bet plenty on their future, and the first results are there to be seen. Their win against Iceland (29:27) on the first day of the competition was also a huge shock. Still, their appearance in the main round is totally deserved after securing their second win against Japan (30:26), which saw them clinch the second place. Austria, in their comeback after 10 years, have also made the cut, with an excellent performance in the preliminary round.

Big shocks send waves at Croatia 2023

Which were the biggest surprises, though? The results which sent shockwaves throughout the competition were surely Sweden’s missteps. The Scandinavian side, which have never finished lower than the 11th place, first drew against the Islamic Republic of Iran (26:26) and lost against the Faroe Islands, finishing on the third place, in what was a huge upset for Sweden, whose top placement can now be finishing on the 17th place.

Another shock came in the failure to progress of Argentina, a team used to seal main round spots, whose draw against Saudi Arabia (29:29) saw them out of contention, as they had a lower goal difference (+1) than Saudi Arabia’s +18. The Asian champions, the Republic of Korea, also had a disappointing competition, losing three games out of three. At the same time, a new record for the biggest win in the history of the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship was set when Slovenia took a 60:11 win over New Zealand in the opening day in Varaždin.

​​​​​​​Photos: Croatia 2023/Kolektiff images