With the 48 matches in the preliminary round done and dusted at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, the 32 teams are now divided into two mini-competitions. The main round has the 16 teams which are still in the fight for the title, while the President’s Cup sees the 16 teams featuring to end the competition on a high.

The next phase at North Macedonia 2024 makes its debut on Sunday, with eight matches scheduled in the Boris Trajkovski and Jane Sandanski Sport Centers.

MAIN ROUND

GROUP I
16:15 CEST Netherlands vs Egypt

The Netherlands have been incredibly consistent in the past years in the younger age categories in the world handball flagship competition and after the impressive 29:26 win against Romania, they are on the edge of securing another quarter-finals berth, with one win in the two main round matches against Egypt and Switzerland virtually seeing them through.

So far, the Dutch side proved to have an impressive collective effort, as only one of their players, back Alieke Van Maurik is in the top 50 goal scorers, with 16 goals, from the 95 scored by the European side so far in the competition.

Egypt, on the other hand, had issues in the win against Tunisia, and conceded a loss against Switzerland (22:31), with several blackout moments in their attack, which have hampered their efforts to secure three wins. However, with players like Mariam Omar Ibrahim and Lojin Osama Abdalla, who scored 33 goals, the African side can always be dangerous against any other side.

18:30 CEST Switzerland vs Romania

Romania, the bronze medallist from the W19 EHF EURO 2023, had an underwhelming start at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, with their first two wins against Brazil and the Islamic Republic of Iran being cancelled by Saturday’s loss against the Netherlands, 26:29.

This means that Romania will start the main round with zero points and are facing a must-win match against Switzerland, the winner of Group B in the preliminary round, which have swept their opponents and started with three wins in three matches, including a super win against Egypt, 31:22.

Romania’s gameplan seems centered on backs Alisia Boiciuc (18 goals) and Diana Lixăndroiu (14 goals), but the latter has only a 39% shooting efficiency so far in the competition, needing to improve her efficiency in order to bring more returns to her side.

In turn, Switzerland will know if a win here, their fourth in a row, will bring them the quarter-finals berth. The European side, seventh last summer at the W19 EHF EURO 2023, have the highest goalkeeping efficiency in the competition, 42.1% saving efficiency, which could bode well against Romania, which have the 14th attacking efficiency out of the 16 teams qualified for the main round, 59%.

GROUP II
16:15 CEST Hungary vs Norway

The 125 goals scored by Hungary so far at the 2024 IHF Women’ Junior World Championship are the largest number by any team, with the reigning European champions proving their favourites status so far, with three wins out of three matches.

The latest one, 32:17 against the Republic of Korea, was by far the most impressive, proving that the reigning European champions are definitely one of the teams to watch at North Macedonia 2024 and, more importantly, one of the teams to beat in the path towards the title.

On the other hand, reigning champions Norway, look to have taken a step back, after conceding a painful 25:33 loss against fellow Scandinavian side Denmark in the last match of the preliminary round on Saturday, having little chance to deliver a shock. Starting with zero points and facing Hungary, Norway’s chances are slim, especially as they have lost last year against their opponents at the W19 EHF EURO 2023, 20:28, in the preliminary round.

Hungary also have the second best percentage in terms of saving efficiency by the goalkeepers in this competition, 41.4%, only behind Switzerland, which are boasting a 42.1% saving efficiency. If Hungary and Denmark both win their matches, they will secure their quarter-finals berths.

18:30 CEST Denmark vs Republic of Korea

This generation of Denmark have been consistently flirting with silverware, after securing the silver medal at both the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship and the W19 EHF EURO 2023. Now, they look primed to feature once again in the battle for the medals, after a three-match winning streak to open North Macedonia 2024.

Two years ago, also in Skopje, North Macedonia, this was the final of the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, where the Republic of Korea dominated and won the title, becoming the first non-European team to win the competition.

But this time around, the Asian champions have taken a step behind, failing to shine in their wins against Mexico (33:20) and Argentina (33:31), and being thoroughly dominated by Hungary, 32:17, as nothing seems to work for the Asian side., which faces a must-win match against Denmark, as they start with zero points.

The Scandinavian’s side main scorer is left wing Mathilde Vestergaard, who has scored 25 times in the wins against Japan (43:25), Chinese Taipei (41:19) and Norway (33:25), being the second best scorer in the competition, five goals behind Montenegro’s Jelena Vukcevic.

PRESIDENT'S CUP

GROUP I
11:45 CEST Tunisia vs Islamic Republic of Iran

Tunisia could have progressed to the main round of the IHF Women's Junior World Championship for the second straight time after Slovenia 2022 if they had beaten fellow African team Egypt on Thursday, but the Egyptian won that crucial battle by the smallest of margins, 25:24. 

In their last group match, Tunisia showed strong attacking performance against Chile and won 46:28, registering their largest-ever number of goals in a single match at the IHF Women's Junior World Championship. Right wing Nour Mariem Dabbabi had a special impact, scoring 13 goals from 13 attempts.

That win certainly boosted Tunisia's confidence before their match with Islamic Republic of Iran, in which the Africans, who start the next phase with two points, hope to take another victory. In turn, Iran are also eager to end their three-game losing streak, but they need to improve their attack, who scored just 48 goals in three matches.

14:00 CEST Brazil vs Chile

Losses against Romania and Netherlands prevented Brazil from advancing to the main round, but the South Americans have already claimed their first win in the tournament, 30:21 against Islamic Republic of Iran on Saturday. That result helped them to finish third in Group A, so they will start the President's Cup with two points.

In turn, Chile have no points in hand after suffering three defeats in as many encounters in Group B. And the team could hardly hope for a better result, as they struggled both offensively and defensively, scoring 55 goals and conceding 119 in the three group matches.

Brazil are views as favourites in the clash of the South American teams, who actually met last year at the 2023 South and Central American Women's Junior Championship. Brazil then won in a group encounter by a small margin, 28:27, and they seem to have a fair chance for another victory. 

GROUP II
11:45 CEST Argentina vs Chinese Taipei

Just like fellow South American teams Brazil and Chile, Argentina failed to progress to the main round at North Macedonia 2024, just like two years ago when they finished 25th. However, they have shown some decent performance in Group C – in particular, fighting hard against the Republic of Korea before losing 31:33 and taking a commanding win against Mexico, 41:15.

So Argentina hope to do well in the President's Cup, and they will be favoured to beat Chinese Taipei on Sunday. The Asian team, which are playing at this level after a 16-year hiatus, finished bottom of Group D, losing all three matches.

The Chinese Taipei are eager to end this unlucky run, but they will need to improve their performance for it. In three group matches, they scored only 57 goals, so the Asian side should be more efficient in front of goal if they want to challenge Argentina. 

14:00 CEST Japan vs Mexico

After two losses against Denmark and Norway, Japan lost a chance for a main round spot, yet they demonstrated their fire power in the last group match against Chinese Taipei, winning 43:20. This victory helped the Asian side to finish third in Group D and carry two points into the President's Cup.

In their first match in the consolation tournament, the Asian side are favoured to win against Mexico, which have not really impressed at North Macedonia so far. The Mexicans hardly had chances to take points in any of their three group encounters, having conceded a whopping 128 goals.

Mexico hope to do better against Japan, but the Asians, whose best scorer Ayumu Koyama has a tally of 16 goals in the tournament, are seen as favourites. Japan have no more chance to finish as high as at Slovenia 2022, where they ranked ninth, but they will try their best to win as many remaining matches as possible.