With their second win in as many matches, 36:28 against Bahrain, Egypt clinched a main round spot at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, with Japan also following suit, as the winner of the match between the two sides on Saturday will take two points into the next phase.

A fiery comeback for Spain against Croatia saw “Los Hispanos” clinch a 38:35 win and progress to the main round, with Serbia tagging along after their two wins in two matches.

GROUP C
Spain vs Croatia 38:35 (17:18)

Reigning champions Spain clinched a hard-fought 38:35 victory over Croatia in a thrilling Group C encounter at Egypt 2025. Despite trailing for most of the match, the Spaniards showed championship resilience, stepping up in the closing minutes to secure their second win of the tournament—and a place in the main round.

Spain’s victory also proved decisive for Serbia, who secured their own passage to the next stage with one group match remaining. Meanwhile, a devastated Croatian squad will now head to the President’s Cup.

The match began evenly, with neither side able to pull ahead early on. Croatia were the first to gain any real momentum, opening up a 8:6 lead by the 12th minute. With his side still trailing 8:10 midway through the first half, Spain’s coach called for a timeout.

The spark came through Marcos Fis, whose attacking energy helped level the match at 12:12 by the 21st minute—part of a brilliant performance that saw him finish as Spain’s top scorer with 10 goals. However, Spain suffered a blow shortly after when Guido Bayo was shown a red card. The first half ended with Croatia narrowly ahead, 18:17.

After the break, Croatia slightly pulled away, helped by dynamic play from Berislav Tokic, and led 26:23 eight minutes into the second half. Spain’s second timeout did little to shift momentum, and the Croatians maintained a 30:27 lead entering the final 15 minutes.

But following a third Spanish timeout, the tide began to turn. Sparked by Fis and Player of the Match Quim Rocas, Spain mounted a spirited comeback. Four unanswered goals gave them a 31:30 lead—their first in a long stretch.

With 80 seconds remaining, Spain clung to a 35:34 advantage and held their nerves superbly. They added three more goals without reply while goalkeeper Dani Seron denied a key shot from Matko Moslavac, sealing an emotional and vital win.

Spain will now face Serbia on Saturday in a match that will decide top spot in Group C—and the valuable points to carry into the main round.

Player of the Match: Quim Rocas (Spain)

GROUP G
Bahrain vs Egypt 28:36 (13:19)

A lot was riding on this match against Bahrain for hosts Egypt, which could progress to the main round provided they won, against a team which had already lost against Japan. But could Egypt replicate their form from the match against the Republic of Korea, where their depth was crucial?

The nerves got the better of the African champions in the first five minutes, where they could only score twice and conceded five goals, as Bahrain fired from all cylinders, with right wing Salman Alshowaikh scoring twice in the opening sequence, to lift Bahrain to a three-goal lead.

That lead was short-lived, though, as Egypt quickly bounced back and started to produce more quality in attack, scoring eight goals in the next nine minutes, to finally wrestle back the lead, 10:9, after 14 minutes, with six players already scoring at least one goal.

The depth is one of Egypt’s main weapons, with players able to take on the responsibility even when coming from the bench and it went from bad to worse for Bahrain, as the goalkeeper of the hosts, Abdelmalak Mabrouk, saved seven shots for a 40% saving efficiency in the first half.

The Asian side scored only four times in the next 16 minutes, with Egypt’s Abdelrahman Aly and Adel Eletter each scoring four goals in the first half, to lift the hosts to a 19:13 lead at the break, with Egypt being one step into the main round.

The gap only grew bigger in the second half, where the superior Egypt team continued to press and deliver another excellent attackign outing, with a XX% shooting efficiency in the end of the match.

With all but one of Egypt’s outfield players scoring at least one goal, no matter what Bahrain did, the hosts did better, eventually clinching a clear XX:XX win, their second in a row in the competition they host.

With four points in two matches, Egypt and Japan have progressed to the main round of the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, as the Republic of Korea and Bahrain are heading to the President’s Cup.

The deciding clash between the two teams with a maximum number of points on Saturday will see who takes the coveted two-point advantage into the next phase of the competition.

Player of the Match: Aly Hassan (Egypt)