The final day of the preliminary round of the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship will decide the four semi-finalists, with the three group winners, plus the best second-placed side progressing to the next-to-last act of the competition.

The top two sides in each group will face off on Sunday in the New Administrative Capital Hall in Egypt, in an action-packed day of handball, with mouth-watering clashes on the card.

GROUP A

• 17:30 EEST Zamalek SC (EGY) vs Veszprem HC (HUN)

GROUP B

• 20:00 EEST Al-Ahly (EGY) vs FC Barcelona (ESP)

GROUP C

• 15:00 EEST Khaleej Club (KSA) vs SC Magdeburg (GER)

The six teams which will take on the court on Sunday, in the last day of the preliminary round of the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship have all won their first two matches, therefore another win will surely secure their semi-finals berth, but there are certainly matches which will create some close situations.

Arguably, the most exciting match will be the one between Al-Ahly and FC Barcelona, with the Egyptian powerhouse facing the reigning Machineseeker EHF Champions League winners for the third time in the last nine years. Each time, Barcelona have secured the win, 20:16 in 2015, and 37:26 in the previous edition, also in the preliminary round.

This time around, on their home court, Al-Ahly will try and dethrone Barcelona, as the Egyptian side will enter the court tied on points with the Spanish champions, but with a better goal difference, after they won by 34 goals against Sydney Uni, while Barcelona only took a 30-goal win.

In case of a draw, Al-Ahly would win the group, but their challenge will be high, especially as Barcelona rested some players in the match against Sydney Uni, with right back Dika Mem and Gonzalo Perez de Vargas playing only 30 minutes, while backs Jonathan Carlsbogard and Timothey N’Guessan did not feature at all.

On the other hand, Al-Ahly are aiming for another semi-finals berth, their second in three years, after they reached this phase of the competition in 2022, but will have to stop a fantastic Barcelona attack, a team which has an average of goals scored per match this season of 37.6 goals, after putting a historic record 53 goals past Sydney Uni, the largest number scored in the team’s history.

The other Egyptian side taking part in the competition, Zamalek SC, will also face a tough challenge from Veszprem HC. The Hungarian side needs at least a draw to progress to the semi-finals, as their 43:17 win over Handebol Taubate was larger than Zamalek’s 30:25.

Back after nine years at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, Veszprem mean business, but this will surely be a special match for their left back, Yehia Elderaa, who played four years for Zamalek, between 2018 and 2022, before moving to Hungary to play for Veszprem.

A team with huge ambitions, after signing coach Xavi Pascual this summer, Veszprem have already played the final of the competition in 2015, and will be looking to build on that performance in their return, after they showed both attacking prowess and defensive strength.

Their goalkeeper, Mike Jensen, who played in the match against Taubate, had a fantastic outing, with 24 saves for a 59%, but Veszprem also have Rodrigo Coralles in their arsenal for that position, as well as some extensive depth, with centre back Luka Cindric and line player Ludovic Fabregas being rested especially for this match.

Zamalek also have some firepower themselves, but failed to contain Taubate in the last part of their first match, seeing a 16-goal lead dwindle to only five goals, as the depth was their main issue, one which will be seriously tested in this match too, especially as Veszprem had 10 different outfield players score at least one goal in the first match.

For the second edition of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship in a row, SC Magdeburg scored 57 goals in one match, after a dominating performance against the California Eagles in their maiden match, 57:21.

The German champions have the two best scorers in the competition, left wing Lukas Mertens (16 goals) and left back Antonio Seradilla Cuenca (13 goals), with Mertens tying the second-best individual performance in the history of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship in the win against the Eagles.

Now, Magdeburg will face Khaleej for the third edition in a row, after sealing two wins in the previous editions, when the Saudi side were the hosts, 35:29 in 2022 and 29:20 in 2023.

Despite some injury woes, Magdeburg will be heavy favourites and will win their group with a win here, as Khaleej will aim to limit the damage to try and secure the best performance between the second-placed teams, which will ensure safe passage to the semi-finals.

The top team in each group, plus the best second-placed team progress to the semi-finals, while the other five teams taking part in the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship will head to the Placement Matches, where Taubate, Sydney Uni and the California Eagles are already sure to play from Tuesday onwards.