Norway delivered a 36-goal win against Mexico, 51:15, while Hungary beat Kosovo, 37:28, to heavily improve their chances for a main round berth.

Group B
Kosovo vs Hungary 28:37 (14:22)

Hungary delivered a commanding performance against Kosovo, seizing control from the opening whistle and leaving little doubt about the outcome. The early dominance was built on the exceptional goalkeeping of Ádám Balogh, who recorded seven saves from 13 attempts within the first 15 minutes, and the attacking prowess of Máté Fazekas, the younger brother of Gergő Fazekas. With momentum firmly in their favour, Hungary quickly surged to a 13:6 advantage.

Kosovo struggled to unlock the Hungarian defence, particularly from the backcourt, and found themselves searching for solutions without the necessary firepower to break through. Hungary, in contrast, capitalised on every mistake, converting fast breaks and transitions into goals, and demonstrating superior precision from nine metres. By the break, Hungary held a well-deserved 22:14 lead.

With the result all but secured, Hungary played with greater fluidity in the second half, while Kosovo fought valiantly to close the gap. In the 38th minute, Hungary extended their lead to 27:17, although the double-figure cushion did not last.

Kosovo, led by Player of the Match Olsi Mulaj, produced a spirited response, narrowing the gap and entering the final ten minutes trailing by eight. However, Hungary’s greater experience and composure ultimately prevailed, as they regained control to close out a decisive 37:28 victory. Máté Fazekas led the Hungarian attack with seven goals, while László Várady-Szabó contributed six saves, taking the Hungarian goalkeeper total to 15 saves alongside Ádám Balogh.

With this result, Hungary are on the brink of securing a main round berth; should Switzerland defeat Morocco later in the day, both Hungary and Switzerland will confirm their places among the competition’s top 16 and face off for first place in the group on Saturday.

Player of the Match: Olsi Mulaj (Kosovo)

Group F
Mexico vs Norway 15:51 (7:23)

After a one-goal win against Argentina, where they sweated throughout the whole match, Norway enjoyed a thorough win against Mexico, edging closer to a main round spot, which can be confirmed provided France beat Argentina in the last match of the day.

For Norway, the learning curve in their third appearance at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship has been steep, as they needed 14 minutes to score their maiden goal of the match against France.

Here, Mexico managed to score five goals – three more than they did in the entire first half against France – by the 15th minute, and they were down only by four goals, 9:5, with left back Strøm Tjernshaugen firing from all cylinders, scoring five goals until this point.

But from this moment, Norway really got their engines going and delivered a good attacking performance, finishing the first half with 23 goals scored. With a fast-paced attack, which kept the average of the attacks for 17.39 seconds, Norway converted 51 of their shots, for a 81% attacking efficiency.

It was the largest-scoring performance for a side until now at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, with Strøm Tjernshaugen becoming the Player of the Match, with 16 goals out of 17 shots and six assists, delivering a flawless performance against Mexico.

Eventually, Norway added 28 goals more in the second half, for an average of nearly one per minute, to see the gap growing to 36 goals, in their largest-ever win in history at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, and their second in two matches after the one against Argentina.

Unfortunately for Mexico, the North American side conceded 99 goals so far in the first two matches, but they will hope for a better outcome in the match against Argentina. Norway will qualify for the main round, provided France win against Argentina.

Player of the Match: Sander Strøm Tjernshaugen (Norway)