Three more teams secured their quarter-finals berths at the 2024 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, with Croatia securing their place after a 24:19 win against Sweden, while Netherlands’ loss against Brazil, 22:23, saw Japan and France cruise through to the knockout phase.

MAIN ROUND 
GROUP I

• Sweden vs Croatia 19:24 (10:12)

GROUP II

• Netherlands vs Brazil 22:23 (10:11)

PRESIDENT’S CUP
GROUP I

• Chile vs Angola 21:32 (9:11)

What happened: The last time Croatia made it to the quarter-finals of the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship was in 2016, when they finished eighth. This time around, though, the European side have their best start in history in the competition, having won four matches and drew another, securing a berth for the quarter-finals with their 24:19 win against Sweden.

It was a match controlled from start to finish by Croatia, which have the second best defence in the competition so far, conceding at a fantastic pace of only 15.4 goals per match, 77 goals in five matches. They managed to hold Sweden to only 19 goals, with the pivotal moment of the match being a 5:0 Croatia run, from the 36th to the 46th minutes, when Sweden failed to score a goal for 10 minutes and 11 seconds. There, Croatia built a seven-goal lead, which proved to be unassailable, as Mirna Brusić and Ivana Fratnik combined for nine goals, the same as Sweden’s centre back Nora Huselius scored. In fact, Huselius scored half of her team’s goals, but it was not enough, as Sweden’s shooting efficiency, 46%, let the team down.

The big surprise of the day was the Netherlands’ loss against Brazil, 22:23, which puts a huge dent into the European’s side chances of qualification. Now, France need only one point to secure a place in the quarter-finals, as the Dutch team continued to turn the ball over during this match, with 17 balls lost in the attack and a 50% attacking efficiency. 

Nothing seemed to work for the Dutch side, while Brazil had a fantastic goalkeeper in Sophia Ludwig Kieling, who saved 15 shots for a 44% saving efficiency, and never conceded the lead in the second half. Playing for their future in the competition, the Netherlands put together a 4:0 run late in the second half, but Brazil held their ground, having built a five-goal lead with 10 minutes to go, to take a 23:22 win. It was a devastating loss for the Dutch side, which crashed out from contention for the knockout phase, as they cannot finish higher than the third place in the standings.

That means that Japan and France are through to the quarter-finals, as Japan have four points and can only be leapfrogged by France provided the European side wins the last match in the group, while France have the advantage in a three-way tie with Brazil and the Netherlands.

Stat of the day: 102 – the number of turnovers made by the Netherlands so far in the competition, which is a 20.2 average per match

What’s next: Croatia have won Group I, while two more quarter-finals berths are still to be delivered: the second one in Group I, and the second one in Group IV. Croatia, Denmark, Hungary, Spain, Japan and France are the teams already through.