For the third consecutive edition of the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, Hungary secured a place on the podium, this time the third, winning the bronze medal match against France, 25:24, after dominating throughout the 60 minutes of the penultimate match at China 2024.

BRONZE MEDAL MATCH
France vs Hungary 24:25 (13:16)

Missing out on the final, which could have brought Hungary their maiden gold medal at the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, was a difficult thing to overcome, but the European powerhouse was on a mission against France, trying to end the competition on a high and secure the third consecutive medal in the world handball flagship competition at this age category.

But Hungary have plenty of experience in these situations and they still were focused and polished, something that missed in their game against Spain, in the semi-final, taking an early 7:4 lead, after 12 minutes, with a 3:0 run spurred by two goals from Renáta Keceli-Mészáros handing them their maiden three-goal lead.

France were no pushovers, though, despite losing themselves the match against Denmark two days ago, especially as the European side led by as many as four goals with 16 minutes to go, only to concede the loss. However, France’s defence was too permissive, while their turnovers, displayed throughout all the competition, hampered their chances for a comeback.

Led by Keceli-Mészáros, who scored five goals in the match, Hungary carefully managed the three-goal lead at the break, 16:13, which grew in the second half to maximum four goals until the 47th minute, when Hungary had a 22:18 lead, especially as France had turned the ball over 19 times until that moment.

France had a chance to finally apply some serious pressure on Hungary, when they cut the gap to only two goals, 22:24, with nine minutes to go, cutting the lead to a single goal immediately and putting serious pressure on Hungary. But then, France missed three clear-cut chances, one-on-one with goalkeeper Gréta Majoros, as Hungary stayed ahead by a single goal, with 90 seconds left on the clock.

In fact, there was no goal scored in the last four minutes and 22 seconds of the match, as Majoros stopped another shot, finishing with six saves and a 43% saving efficiency, while France missed shot after shot, especially through centre back Claire Koestner, who had her penalty stopped, as well as the shot finishing France’s last attack.

Hungary’s hard-fought win means that the European side became only the fourth country in history to secure three medals at the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, after Denmark, Russia and the Republic of Korea. The European side also have the top goal scorer of the competition, right back Virág Fazekas, with 54 goals.

On the other hand, France finished fourth for the fourth time in history, after three consecutive finishes on the fourth place, in 2006, 2008 and 2010.