Saudi side Khaleej Club finished the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship on a high, with a 47:27 win over Sydney Uni, securing the fifth place in the final standings, their best-ever finish in the competition.

With three wins in four matches, but with a lower goal difference in the overall standings, Egyptian side Zamalek SC finished on the sixth place, after their 30:24 win over Handebol Taubate.

Following the conclusion of the Placement Round, Sydney Uni finished seventh, Taubate eighth, with the last place going to the California Eagles, courtesy of Taubate’s better goal difference.

PLACEMENT MATCHES
11:00 EEST Khaleej Club (KSA) vs Sydney Uni (AUS) 47:27 (19:11)

The Saudi side finished on the fifth place at the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, their best-ever finish in the competition, after yet another dominant performance, which saw Khaleej score 47 goals against Sydney Uni, just one goal short of the record set six days ago against the California Eagles.

Sydney could only match Khaleej for the first 15 minutes, when they held the lead multiple times, boasting a one-goal lead midway in the first half, 9:8. But then, Khaleej pushed the pedal and delivered a 6:0 unanswered run, between the 20th and the 24th minutes, to claim the lead and never look back.

By the end of the first half, Khaleej had already an eight-goal lead, with the Saudi side aiming to improve the lead, as the goal difference would have been the tie-breaker between them and Zamalek, provided the Egyptian side secured another win against Taubate in the last match of the Placement Round.

Constantly forcing their way and taking advantage, Khaleej scored 26 goals in the 30 minutes of the second half, with backs Mojtaba Al Salem and Hussain Al Sayyad combining for 21 goals in the match, as the Saudi side had 11 goals scored only on fast breaks.

Al Salem, who is currently the top goal scorer of the competition, with 34 goals, was named the Player of the Match, after scoring 11 times and dishing six assists, leading his side to a 47:27 win, which improved Khaleej’s goal difference to +38.

On the other hand, Sydney Uni had one win in four matches, ending up on the seventh place, their best finish since the 4th place sealed in 2015.

Player of the Match: Mojtaba Al Salem (Khaleej Club)

14:00 EEST Handebol Taubate (BRA) vs Zamalek SC (EGY) 24:30 (9:17)

For the second time in five days, Zamalek and Taubate met at the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, and the scenario was more or less the same like in the first match, when Zamalek took a 30:25 win.

Back then, the Egyptian side ran away with a five-goal win, but led by as much as 16, thanks to a fantastic first half, and this was the case here too, as Taubate went down by eight goals in the first half, 9:17, with another mistake-ridden performance.

It was Zamalek’s goalkeeper, Mahmoud Khalil, who ensured that his side shined, saving seven of the first eight shots he faced, for a 88% saving efficiency, with Taubate scoring their first goal after eight minutes and 45 seconds. 

With unanswered runs of 3:0 and 5:0, Zamalek jumped to a 8:1 lead, and Taubate had little to show attempting a comeback, despite the Brazilian side using a seven-on-six attack, which usually turned into open oppoortunities for open goal shots for Zamalek.

Khalil’s percentage fell a bit at the end of the first half – 59% - but he still had 13 saves, ensuring that his side enjoyed a healthy lead. But Zamalek needed more, a 22-goal win, to jump on the fifth place, which proved to be impossible.

Yet once again, Taubate came back in the second half, cutting the lead to only five goals, 19:24, with nine minutes to go, as wing Vinicius Stache Perin improved his overall tally to seven goals.

But it was too little, too late, as Zamalek did just enough to beat Taubate for the second time in six days, 30:24, and seal the sixth place in the final standings, with three wins in four matches.

On the other hand, Taubate ended up eighth, with four losses in four matches, the first edition of the competition when they did not win a match, extending their losing streak to six matches at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship.

Player of the Match: Mahmoud Khalil (Zamalek SC)