Germany have made it to the final of the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship for the second time in history, after a dominating performance against Denmark, 32:30, taking the lead early and never looking back.

SEMI-FINAL
Germany vs Denmark 32:30 (17:12)

The last time Germany made it into the final of the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship was in 2019. That was, incidentally, also the only appearance for Germany in the last act of the competition, but without conceding any loss so far at Egypt 2025, they were close to make history.

Only one caveat, though: to secure this place in the final, Germany would have to beat Denmark, the most decorated team in the history of the competition, which played the final four times so far.

It was a battle between a free-flowing attack and a team which relied on defence and, usually, the best defences win championships. And that was the case here too, where Germany delivered another fantastic performance behind the ball, to slow down Denmark’s attack.

It was a collective team effort, just like Germany’s motto – Wir, Ihr, Alle (We, You, All) – to keep Denmark at bay, as the two sides barely hit over 50% of their shots in the first half, but Germany took more care of the ball then Denmark, winning the turnover battle by a whopping one-to-nine ratio.

First, Germany took a 4:2 lead after six minutes, which morphed into a 10:7 one, after a 3:0 unanswered run between the 17th and the 20th minutes, which stopped Denmark in its tracks. 

Trying to secure their second consecutive finals ticket and the second consecutive showdown against Spain in the last act of the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, Denmark relied on diminutive centre back Magnus Boysen, who had four goals in the first half, but eventually the gap just grew to five goals, 17:12, as another 3:0 unanswered Germany run set the tone for the second half.

Denmark had a mammoth task to mount a comeback, as the reigning silver medalists at the M18 EHF EURO 2024, needed to neutralize Germany’s attack and find ways to break their defence, but that was easier said than done.

What the Scandinavian side did was to beef up their defence, with goalkeeper Carl Poulsen improving his save tally to 11 shots, for a 31% saving efficiency with 14 minutes to go. And a 3:0 run from Denmark also saw them cut into Germany’s lead, 22:19, in the 42nd minute, with nine players getting on the scoresheet for the Scandinavian side.

But with 14 minutes to go, Germany had a five-goal lead again, with Denmark back at square one and needing to erase the same deficit, but with half the minutes less on the clock, as they had improved their attack to a 63% efficiency.

No matter how hard they tried, Denmark could really not get their thing going, as every time they managed to cut the lead to three goals, Germany bit back, with an exquisite display of divvying up the tasks, as only two outfield players did not score at least one goal in the match.

Eventually, Germany clinched the 32:30 win, remaining as the only undefeated team in the competition, with six wins and one draw on their way to the last act at Egypt 2025, another confirmation of Germany’s penchant for developing young players, after the European country won the 2023 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship on their home court.
  
Germany are for the second time in history in the final of the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, losing against Egypt in 2019. They will face Spain, the reigning champions, in the Cairo Stadium – Hall 1 on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Denmark head to the bronze medal match in an all-Scandinavian battle with Sweden, where they can secure their seventh medal in 10 appearances at this level.

Player of the Match: Finn Knaack (Germany)