In a match packed with turnarounds, the Netherlands and Austria delivered a 37:37 thriller draw in their last game of the Main Round Group II at the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship. Sharing the spoils meant the Netherlands are out of the quarter-finals race, while Austria finished their World Championship campaign on a good note.

MAIN ROUND GROUP II
Netherlands vs Austria 37:37 (19:17)

Even though Austria have already been eliminated from the quarter-finals before this game, they were determined to end their 2025 IHF Men's World Championship campaign on a high. Ten minutes into the first half, they proved their worth as they caught up with the Netherlands, who were in the lead at the moment (5:3), and took over the lead, 7:5, after a 4:0 unanswered run.

However, that was Austria's biggest lead, but also not their last. The Netherlands tightened their defence and tried to push Austria into mistakes guarding one-on-one, but Aleš Pajovič's team seemed to find solutions for it and kept the game level all the way to the final moments of the first half. Dutch head coach Staffan Olsson called for a late team time-out and the one-minute break worked in their favour as the Netherlands scored two in a row for a half-time lead, 19:17.

Turnovers worked against the Netherlands and their ultimate goal, leading to another Austria comeback after only five minutes into the second half as Tobias Wagner wrestled on the line and scored his fifth goal for 19:19. The Netherlands were back up again within minutes, but they could not make a break and kept walking the line with near miss shots and new turnovers.

Austria saw a chance and took the lead for the first time in 36 minutes, putting additional pressure on the Dutch players, who knew a defeat would completely crush their chances. The two sides traded punches again and again as they entered the last six minutes at 33:33. Goalkeeper Jorick Pol, who joined the Dutch team only two days ago, helped his side with his first save of the day, allowing Luc Steins to push the Netherlands in front again by one.

Neither team backed down in the final moments of the game, fighting in every move, pushing themselves to the limit. The tides turned once again with Florian Kaiper's penalty save and Sebastian Frimmel's seventh goal, but there was real drama in Varaždin, Croatia.

With ten seconds left on the clock at 37:37, Austria had a last attack of the game, but they failed to convert it, as the match with a draw. Sharing the spoils didn't do much for the Netherlands, which are now officially out of the quarter-final race and just played their last game at the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship, just like Austria.

The hummel Player of the Match Tobias Wagner and Sebastian Frimmel were Austria's top scorers at the end of the Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 road, with seven goals each, while Luc Steins netted as many for the Netherlands.

hummel Player of the Match: Tobias Wagner (Austria)