Japan and Chile clinched the first places in their groups, following Brazil, as they secured their second wins in a row, over Australia and Lithuania respectively.

Group B 
Japan vs Australia 2:0 (15:5; 12:1)

After Brazil secured the first place in their group, Japan became the second side to clinch the first place in one of the four groups of the preliminary round at the 2026 IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, with their second win in as many matches, 2:0, against Australia.

The debutants lost their maiden match against USA earlier in the day, scoring only three points, but they managed to top that number in the first set against their Asian counterparts, scoring five times.

However, Japan were simply better, rotating their players effectively and being a menace in attack, where the scored in double digits in both sets. Shinnosuke Morooka had nine points, Yukitaka Moriya added seven and Leo Onuki had six, in a dominating performance for Japan.

While the first set was won by Japan, 15:5, the second was even more lopsided, with Australia taking the lead after 29 seconds, but failing to score any point in the next nine and a half minutes, as the Asian side secured a 12:1 win, to take the win in straight sets.

Japan won the group, with four points, and are followed in the standings by the United States of America, which also made it to the quarter-finals, while Australia head to the Placement Matches.

Group D
Chile vs Lithuania 2:0 (10:3; 4:3)

Chile won their second match in a row at the 2026 IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, after a hard fight against debutants Lithuania, which needed a golden goal in the decider to settle the score.

The first set was totally dominated by Chile, which took a clear 10:3 win, with Jorge Carrasco and Jose Leon scoring at free will. 

But Lithuania bounced back, amped up their defence in the second set and provided a better fight, limiting Chile to only three points scored in 10 minutes. Lithuania’s issue? They also scored only three points and the set went to a golden goal, where Chile’s Carrasco converted his first shot to secure a 4:3 win.

Chile won the group and will face USA in the quarter-finals, while title holders Egypt, which finished second in this group, are due to face Japan in the knockout phases.