The South and Central America Under-15 Women's Handball Championship, which served as qualifiers for the upcoming 2026 IHF Women’s Under-16 World Championship and the SCA Under-16 Men's Championship took place between 23 and 27 September in Asuncion, Paraguay.

The two qualified teams filling the quota for the continent for the 2026 IHF Women’s Under-16 World Championship were Argentina and Paraguay, the continental champions, which defeated Paraguay in the final, after a fantastic comeback.

Seven teams lined up at the start of the competition, being divided into two groups, one of three teams and one of four teams, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the semi-finals.

In Group A, Argentina secured the first place, with two wins over Uruguay (26:20) and Chile (31:22), with Uruguay finishing on the second place, after their draw with Chile (23:23), boasting a better goal difference, having lost by six goals against Argentina.

In Group B, both Paraguay A and Paraguay B teams finished on the top two places, each winning against Brazil and Peru. The Paraguay A team won, 32:21, against Brazil, while Paraguay B team dished a 29:25 win against the continental powerhouse.

However, due to the competition rules, Brazil, the third-placed team, made it to the semi-finals, and there they meet Argentina in another classic. However, after a close first half, which saw Argentina take a 10:8 lead, they dominated the second half to book a place into the final, with a 27:19 win.

They were joined by Paraguay, which narrowly avoided a loss against Uruguay, after the two teams were deadlocked at the break, 12:12. Five goals from Tiziana Devaca and Mayari Ramirez each helped Paraguay clinch a 26:23 win and set up a showdown against Argentina in the final.

And the final was a true roller-coaster. At the break, Paraguay were leading by six goals, 15:9, but in the second half they could only muster nine goals, as Argentina came back and pushed the match into extratime. With Sol Oranias, Agustina Viscovich and Alma Albino each scoring seven goals, Argentina eventually powered through to the title, taking a 31:29 win.

Brazil beat Uruguay, 22:17, to finish third. Uruguay’s Antonella Marti was the top scorer of the competition, with 29 goals, followed by Paraguay’s A, Mayari Ramirez, with 27 goals.

The men’s Under-16 competition also saw seven teams line up at the start, with the same competition format and the four qualified teams in the semi-finals were Argentina and Paraguay A from Group A, plus Chile and Brazil from Group B, with Argentina and Chile winning their group with a 100% winning record.

In the first semi-final, Argentina narrowly downed Brazil, 19:18, after they led by five goals at the break, 12:7, with Argentina scoring only seven goals in the second half, enabling a comeback from Brazil.

The second semi-final saw a clear win from Chile against Paraguay A, as they dominated the second half, boosting a five-goal lead at the break, 15:10, to a clear 35:17 win.

Chile also used a fantastic second half, and a great performance from Sebastian Munoz, who scored seven goals, to lift the trophy, after a 29:17 win against Argentina in the final, dominating the match from start to finish.

Brazil finished third, with a 35:25 win over Paraguay A in the bronze-medal match. Chile’s Gaspar Serrano, who scored six goals in the final, was the competition’s top scorer, with 31 goals.

South and Central America Under-15 Women's Handball Championship final standings: 1. Argentina, 2. Paraguay A, 3. Brazil, 4. Uruguay, 5. Chile, 6. Paraguay B, 7. Peru

South and Central America Under-16 Men's Handball Championship final standings: 1. Chile, 2. Argentina, 3. Brazil, 4. Paraguay A, 5. Uruguay, 6. Peru, 7. Paraguay B

Photo credit: SCA / Jorge Olmedo / German Paez