The main round gets underway at the Arena Zagreb with co-hosts Croatia fighting for their lives to qualify through. They face Cape Verde in what should be an opening day victory, but anything can happen in handball – just ask Slovenia, who come off a record loss, full of energy and ready to restart their campaign, against Argentina.

In the Unity Arena in Baerum, a South American derby opens the main round Group III, followed by intense action between European sides, when Sweden take on Portugal, while Norway aim to avoid elimination with a win over Spain.

The final match of the day will be a cracker between two, dynamic teams who have won all three of their games each: Egypt vs Iceland.

MAIN ROUND GROUP III

• 15:30 CET Brazil vs Chile

After a surprising win over Norway in the start of the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship (29:26), the Brazilians were defeated by Portugal (26:30) and finished the preliminary round with a 31:24 victory against the United States of America. These results helped the South American team to finish second in Group E and to take two points to the main round.

Now Brazil are determined to double this tally in a South American derby against Chile, where they will be favoured to win. The two sides have met numerous times at the continental competitions, most recently at the 2024 Men's Central and South American Men's Handball Championship, where the Brazilians won 34:28 on their way to the title, and Chile finished third.

Brazil also had the upper hand in both mutual encounters of the teams at the IHF Men's World Championship. At Sweden 2011, where Chile made their debut at this level, the Brazilians won 28:18, and four years later at Qatar 2025, they were dominant again, claiming a 30:22 victory. 

Since 2011, Chile have not missed any edition of the world men's world flagship handball competition, but they ended up in the President's Cup each time. And now the South Americans finally made a breakthrough, as following a 31:26 win over Japan in a crucial game on Monday, they reached the main round for the first time in history.

At the group stage, Chile conceded 99 goals (33 per game on average), which is the worst result among the teams who progressed to the main round. Erwin Feuchtmann, who has a tally of 21 goals at the tournament, needs more support from his teammates, which might help the team to be more competitive at the next stage. 

• 18:00 CET Sweden vs Portugal

Both European sides won their groups in the previous stage, but while Portugal defeated all their opponents in Group D and start the main round with the maximum of four points, Sweden shared spoils with Spain (29:29) in their last group match on Monday, despite leading by five goals with 11 minutes to play, carrying over three points to the next stage.

With 110 goals, the Nordic team boasted the third best attack at the group stage after Denmark and France. In particular, Albin Lagergren was the joint third-best scorer of the past round phase with 24 goals, while line player Felix Möller, who netted 20 times, shared the ninth position with three other players, including Portugal's best scorer Martim Costa.

Last year, Sweden and Portugal met in a pivotal main round match at the EHF EURO 2024, as the Nordic side won in a high-scoring duel, 40:33, to seal their semi-final spot. The Swedes also won both mutual encounters at the IHF Men's World Championship, 32:25 at the group stage of France 2001 and 32:30 at the main round of Poland/Sweden 2023.

But now it is Portugal who have a better position in the standings as the main round starts, and with a win, the team coached by Paulo Pereira will consolidate their lead in Group III and edge closer towards the quarter-final. 

“If someone had told us at the start of the championship—playing in Norway, against Norway, and a strong Brazil — that we would achieve a perfect record, we might have doubted it a bit. The fact is, I have a group of players with enormous hearts, and that makes a big difference. Once again, it’s a huge pride to work with them," Pereira said after the end of the group stage. 

• 20:30 CET Norway vs Spain

Even if Norway are the co-hosts of the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship and have played all their matches on their home court in the Unity Arena in Baerum, the preliminary round has been quite disappointing for them. The Scandinavian side lost against both Portugal and Brazil, so only a win against the United States of America helped them to reach the main round.

However, they start the next competition stage with no points, so the chances of eventually progressing to the quarter-final seem rather marginal, needing three wins in three matches and other results to go their way. Still, the co-hosts hope to bounce back and get some positive results in the second week of the competition.

Spain started the main round with three points after finishing as runners-up in Group F, where they did not lose a single match and miraculously salvaged a draw against Sweden in the closing minutes.

"It seemed like everything was lost, but in the end we earned a point, and it will be very important to start with three in the main round, where the points will be very expensive, as we are going to face three great teams," Spain's head coach Jordi Ribera said. 

Spain and Norway last met just 11 days ago, on 11 January, when Spain took a 33:31 win against Norway in the final of Torneo Internacional de Espana, a friendly tournament just before the start of the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship 

MAIN ROUND, GROUP IV

• 15:30 CET Slovenia vs Argentina

The first meeting between these two sides sees two very different sets of hopes and expectations. 

Rodolfo Jung’s Argentina side need to win all three of their main round games and hope for other results to go their way in order to qualify through to the quarter-finals, but the ever-realists know that will be nothing short of a miracle and have set their sights on something more realistic.

“Our main objective now is to compete in every match. We have no pressure now and will play our best handball across the next three games,” said Argentina centre back Pedro Martinez Cami Garcia to ihf.info.

“We would like to win every match and we know that Slovenia and Iceland will be really difficult, but we also know that if we play our best handball, we can compete against them. If we win against Cape Verde, for us, it will be a really, really good tournament.”

With the Simonet brothers out and just 14 training sessions together before the start of the world championship Argentina are the underdogs against a Slovenia side fighting for their lives.

Having recorded their lowest-ever IHF Men’s World Championship score (18:23) in their loss to Iceland last time out, and with it, failure to take any extra points in addition to their two already secured, they need wins to progress, starting against the South Americans.

“I hope everyone knows what that game means for us,” said Slovenia’s Miha Zarabec to ihf.info. “For us the most important game is that one; we are not in the situation to think about our next matches against Egypt or Croatia, we have to go step-by-step and win against Argentina, which will not be easy.”

“We still have theoretical chances to advance, the bigger question is whether we will pull ourselves together, close ranks and raise the level of our game,” said Slovenia coach Uros Zorman to rokometna-zveza.si.

“Argentina are a classic South American team that plays fast and attractive handball. After the departure of the Simonet brothers, they have rejuvenated their ranks, but they require all our attention.”

• 18:00 CET Cape Verde vs Croatia

Croatia, already missing captain Domagoj Duvnjak, are also likely missing Luka Cindric and David Mandić too for the visit of Cape Verde, as coach Dagur Sigurdsson sees the generational change of players happening right in front of him.

A comprehensive loss against the impressive Egypt side in their final preliminary game has suddenly seen the co-hosts fighting for their lives too and they – and a potential 15,000-capacity crowd at the Arena Zagreb – will expect nothing less.

But Cape Verde have been there before, playing 2023 co-hosts Sweden in front of their own fans, even outscoring the Scandinavians and they should not be discounted in this first-ever meeting between the two teams.

“Last time, in 2023, we played against Sweden at home and now we play against Croatia at home. A lot of people have seen the Croatia games here and it is amazing,” said Cape Verde’s Paulo Moreno to ihf.info.

“We are not at the level of Croatia. Everybody knows that Croatia has amazing players playing in the Champions League and at the best clubs in the world. They also have an amazing coach. But what we need to do is play with our all, give our best possible and enjoy it. We need to take this experience to grow.”

Coach Jorge Rito will be hoping first-choice goalkeeper Elcio Fernandes, who made 11 first-half saves against Cuba last time out, has recovered from what looked like a knee injury.

• 20:30 CET Egypt vs Iceland

The two table-toppers from their respective preliminary groups in Zagreb clash in their opening main round game with both sides looking to extend their runs of three wins in a row each.

Egypt have looked most impressive in Zagreb so far, and with an extra 24 hours rest and preparation due to the competition format, they appear to be in the driving seat.

In a sign of their strength, both goalkeepers – Mohamed Aly and Viktor Hallgrimsson – were named hummel Player of the Match in their last games, and they will need to be on top form once again for their respective teams.

Hallgrimsson enters the game as the best goalkeeper in the whole tournament, averaging a 44.9% save ratio and it is no surprise that after three games his Iceland side have the meanest defence, conceding just 39 goals.

“It was an amazing performance from him and we're happy that we have four points to take with us into the main round,” said Iceland’s Viggó Kristjánsson about the importance of his goalkeeper to ihf.info. “We haven't played Egypt in the last 10 years or so and we're looking forward to it. We need to take it step-by-step, and, hopefully, we can go all the way.”

His coach, Snorri Stein Gudjonsson, opted for caution as he looks to guide his team to at least a top 10 spot. 

“We are in a good position with four points, but things change quickly,” he said to ihf.info. “In handball, we are facing a really good teams in the next round, starting with Egypt, a world-class team. “We will be ready and we will fight with all what we can.”

President's Cup - Group II

• 15:30 CET Cuba vs Bahrain

Cuba have returned to the IHF Men's World Championship for the first time since 2009 as the NACHC Men's Handball Championship winners, but their return has not yielded dividends so far. Cuba lost all three games in the preliminary round and still search their maiden win. Therefore, this will be their worst placement in eight World Championship appearances, as their lowest placement so far was 20th in 2009.

Jover Hernández's team suffered three clear-cut defeats — 19:41 against Slovenia, 19:30 against Iceland and 28:38 against Cape Verde in the crucial game for progressing to the main round. Their best scorer, left wing Frank Enrique Cordies Castillo, scored 13 times with seven scoring in the last game. However, Cuba's main problem is their defence.

They have the worst defence out of the four teams in President's Cup Group II, conceding 119 goals in three games. And they will have an even tougher job against Bahrain, which have the best attack of the group, scoring 71 goals in three games.

If Bahrain wins this duel, they will celebrate their only fifth win ever at the World Championship.

• 18:00 CET United States of America vs Japan

The United States of America wrote history at Poland/Sweden 2023 by celebrating the first two victories at the world flagship competition and playing the main round. The Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 might seem like a step back, playing once again in the President's Cup, but the USA showcased one of their best performances at the World Championship.

Being placed in Group E with powerhouses Norway and Portugal, and ever-present South American force, Brazil the USA did not have a lot of chances of progressing further. In their opener, they lost to Portugal 21:30, then 17:33 against Norway and 24:31 against Brazil.

While they were having problems in the attack, especially scoring from the backcourt positions, leaving their top left back Aboubakar Fofana on eight goals from 28 attempts. However, among the four teams in President's Cup Group II, the USA can be proud of the best defence conceding 31,33 goals per game on average.

Japan, led by Spanish coach Toni Gerona, dreamed bigger at the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship after missing out on the 2023 edition, but without some key players and not good enough defensive performances they are now aiming to grab their first wins.

Even though they will finish in their lowest place ever in the competition, they want to show they can do better than in the defeats against Sweden (21:39), Spain (30:29) and Chile (26:31). One thing is certain: their rotation could be their upper hand against the USA. These two teams met only twice at the World Championship - in 1970 and 1974, with Japan winning both matches.