The main round and consolation round of Tunisia 2025 got underway on the third day of competition in Hammamet, with 14 games – seven men’s and seven women’s – taking place across four late afternoon/evening sessions.

Spain defeat European champions Hungary, Oman upset title-holders Croatia, Argentina and hosts Tunisia book quarter-final spots

With their 2-0 wins against Uruguay and Mexico, hosts Tunisia and Argentina booked their quarter-final spots through from group II with two games remaining in the main round.

Both sides have six points each and cannot now be caught by the bottom two teams in their group – Mexico and Uruguay, who have zero point with just two games remaining. Four teams from each of the two main round groups progress.

The pair both eased into the last eight, Tunisia with a 23:16, 19:12 defeat of the Uruguayans and Argentina completely dominating their North American rivals 26:14, 28:6 with Nicolas Santa Cruz scoring 16 points. Brazil and Thailand lie in the last two qualification spots, the Brazilians easing to a 23:10, 28:24 victory over the Asian silver medallists.

In group I Spain and Hungary met once again, repeating the YAC 16 EURO final from last year which saw Hungary take the title with a 2-1 win following an epic shoot-out (18:20, 21:18, SO 15:14). This time in main round group I it was Spain who took the win via shoot-out, Marcos Lazaro Maluenda making the shooting alley narrow for Marko Forgacs who could only shoot wide for Hungary, meaning Spain took a 2-1 (26:16, 22:24, SO 8:6) win.

Oman caused an upset, defeating title-holders Croatia via shoot-out 2-1 (12:22, 22:20, SO 9:6) as Loay Al Suleiani in the Omani goal blocked Pavle Novakovic’s effort. As expected, Germany eased past Puerto Rico (2-0, 26:14, 16:12), with their tournament top-scorer Finn Jacobsen adding another 10 points.

Anyone who was at Mamaia Beach not playing or coaching on court for the final games of the day would have been drawn to the epic continental encounter between Kenya and Senegal, both playing in their debut competition and with only three competitive games under their belts each.

And it lived up to its billing, with the women’s teams of each side creating an amazing atmosphere on the outside court four. Numerous beach handball dignitaries took time to watch, most notably Germany senior women’s coach Alexander Novakovic – here as part of the coaching staff for the younger team.

Together, everyone saw Senegal come from behind to win via shoot-out, 2-1 (14:19, 21:14, SO 7:6), sparking jubilant scenes for everyone involved on both sides eventually – history made for Senegal with their first set, first shoot-out and first match win at a beach handball world championship and Kenya for taking their first set win as a nation.

“I am happy. We proved to the world that we can play beach handball,” said Senegal’s captain Ibrahim Seck, to ihf.info. “It was quite a close game but I think, maybe, we wanted it more for our coaches and the people from our federation who did everything for us get here. We are confident we will win all our remaining games.”

Netherlands, France, Uruguay and Hungary into last eight

South American side Uruguay continued their impressive, perfect form at Tunisia 2025 with their fourth, successive victory, easing to a 2-0 (20:8, 15:8) victory against the host nation to confirm their spot in the last eight, beating their previous highest rank of 13th. Qualification through for Tunisia is now hanging by a thread as they lie bottom with Croatia on zero points.

Joining Uruguay in the quarter-finals from group II are Hungary, who beat CRO 2-0 (19:10, 14:12) with 12 points from Dorka Borbas and a small revenge after Croatia had beaten them in the YAC 16 EURO 2024 bronze medal match. With their 2-0 (26:8, 15:11) victory over Senegal, Spain lie in third on four points, ahead of Senegal on two.

All group I matches were one-side with France, Germany and Netherlands beating China, Brazil and Thailand 2-0 respectively.

A small piece of handball history was made in the consolation round with Martina Todorova’s 14 points helping her Bulgaria side to a 2-0 (18:11, 19:5) victory over fellow world championship debutants Kenya, to seal their first ever IHF youth beach handball world championship win.

All games can be watched again via the IHF YouTube Competitions channel.

Thursday 19 June – Results

Men’s Competition

Main Round Group I
ESP vs HUN 2-1 (26:16, 22:24, SO 8:6)
OMA vs CRO 2-1 (12:22, 22:20, SO 9:6)
PUR vs GER 0-2 (14:26, 12:16)

Main Round Group II
TUN vs URU 2-0 (23:16, 19:12)
THA vs BRA 0-2 (10:23, 24:28)
MEX vs ARG 0-2 (14:26, 6:28)

Consolation Round
KEN vs SEN 1-2 (19:14, 14:21, SO 6:7)

Women’s Competition

Main Round Group I
FRA vs CHN 2-0 (28:18, 26:10)
BRA vs GER 0-2 (18:34, 18:23)
THA vs NED 0-2 (10:30, 16:26)

Main Round Group II
HUN vs CRO 2-0 (19:10, 14:12)
SEN vs ESP 0-2 (8:26, 11:15)
TUN vs URU 0-2 (8:20, 8:15)

Consolation Round
KEN vs BUL 0-2 (11:18, 5:19)