A second-half comeback saw Spain secure their maiden title at the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, with their eight consecutive win at China 2024, 23:22 against Denmark, coming in a topsy-turvy final, with plenty of twists and turns.

FINAL
Denmark vs Spain 22:23 (11:9)

6,003 spectators – a new record for a match at this age category in women’s handball at the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship - flocked to the International Handball Hall in Chuzhou, the People’s Republic of China, for the final of the 10th edition of the world handball flagship competition, a showdown between the best two teams in the competition – Spain, which did not lose a match before and were on a seven-match winning streak, and Denmark, which did concede a loss, but provided some excellent performances.

Finals are were titles are won or lost, therefore it does not matter how a team played until that moment. Only the regular 60 minutes plus the eventual extra-time and penalties matter and the two sides knew fully well that they needed to bring their A-game to secure the coveted the title.

And it was Denmark which started better, despite Spain taking an early 4:2 lead, thanks to three goals from left back Belen Rodriguez Lario, who was unstoppable in the first seven minutes of the match. Yet the Scandinavian side deployed a 4:0 unanswered run, spanning for seven minutes and 16 seconds, to take the lead, 6:4.

It was a mixed bag for Spain, which had some good moments, but also some huge misses, which saw their shooting efficiency drop to 36% after 23 minutes, when they were in the middle of another rut. In fact, Denmark went to a 10:6 lead, as Spain had another scoreless stint of nine minutes and 19 seconds, being down four goals and finally being put under pressure at China 2024.

In total, Spain turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, hit the post three times, while their two goalkeepers, Goundo Gassama Cissokho and Udane Bernabe Cobos, did not save a shot until the 25th minute.

Yet Spain were still, somehow, in the match, only two goals down at the break, 9:11, despite Belen Rodriguez Lario failing to convert a penalty in the last second, after she took her foot off the ground, which would have seen her side be in the position to tie the score, as they had the first attack in the second half, were that shot to go in.

Nothing seemed to have changed after the start of the second half, when Denmark jumped to a 13:9 lead, but then, the Scandinavian side collapsed entirely and forced their coach to call a team time-out, as their efficiency dropped to 42%, while Spain’s ballooned to 54%.

It was once again Rodriguez, seconded by centre back Marta Regordan, who had five goals and two assists in the match, which led the Spain charge, a fantastic one, which proved to be the pivotal moment of the match.

In a stint of 12 minutes and 57 seconds, Spain scored 10 times and conceded only one goal, successfully turning the game on its head and jumping to their biggest lead of the match, 19:14, taking advantage of every mistake made by Denmark in that span, with the runners-up at North Macedonia 2022 facing a mountain to climb when there were only 15 minutes left on the clock.

From that moment on, it was all about Spain managing their gap and they did that in superb style, with key saves recorded by Gassama Cissokho and Bernabe Cobos, including a penalty by the latter, seeing Denmark down by four goals, 18:22, with six minutes to go.

Yet it went down to the wire, as Spain had three suspensions in the last six minutes, Denmark mounted a spirited comeback, only to fall short by one goal, after left wing Andrea Jensen lobbed a ball in the post with two seconds to go, enabling Spain to take a 23:22 win.

For Spain, the winners of the W17 EHF Championship 2023 – the second division of the European handball pyramid – the ascension to greatness has been unprecedented, delivering a fantastic competition at China 2024, where they won their first gold medal in history at the World Championship in the younger age categories.

Moreover, Spain did the double, after the men’s youth team secured the gold medal at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship last summer, marking the huge potential for these generations.

On the other hand, Denmark had to settle for their third silver, the same medal colour like two years ago, at North Macedonia 2022. It was also Denmark’s seventh medal, the team with the largest tally in the history of the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship.