Sunday closes out the 4th IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship in Granollers, and whatever happens on court, the podium will look different from the one built in Egypt over the previous two editions.

No former medallist is among the sides fighting for gold or bronze at Spain 2026, with Japan and Spain contending the title, while Portugal and Chile meet in the bronze-medal match.

FINAL
20:00 CEST Japan vs Spain

BRONZE-MEDAL MATCH
18:00 CEST Portugal vs Chile

PLACEMENT MATCH 5/6
16:00 CEST Egypt vs Brazil

PLACEMENT MATCH 7/8
14:00 CEST France vs USA

PLACEMENT GROUP 9-12
10:00 CEST Libya vs Lithuania
12:00 CEST Australia vs India

Neither Asia nor Europe has ever produced a champion at the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship. Brazil won the inaugural title in 2022, Egypt took over in 2024, and with both former winners now out of contention, Sunday's final between Japan and Spain guarantees that one of Asia or Europe will finally get its name on the trophy. 

Add in the bronze medal match, and the picture gets even more striking: not one of the four teams involved in Sunday's medal matches has ever stood on the podium at an IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship before.

Japan arrive unbeaten through four matches and have been the tournament's most productive attack, with 95 points, nine more than any other team, while conceding just 52, the fourth-tightest record in the field. 

Their route to a first final has been built on scoring depth as much as any individual: Shinnosuke Morooka sits third in the overall standings with 34 points on 57% shooting, with Yukitaka Moriya (26 points, 63% shooting) and Leo Onuki (19 points at a tournament-high 72% conversion rate) giving Japan scoring threats across the roster rather than in one place. Therefore, the three have scored 79 of Japan’s 95 points so far and will be the top threats.

Spain reach the final as hosts and as debutants at the same time, a combination the competition has not seen before. Their numbers are more modest than Japan's — 57 points scored (seventh-best, 14.2 per match) and 59 conceded (sixth-best).

But Spain have one of the tournament's most reliable frontman in Lorenzo Envo Edjang Nsa, sixth overall in the top scorer standings with 27 points, including a competition-high 13 one-point goals, evidence of a player who keeps the scoreboard moving in tough conditions.

So far, Spain have lost one match, against France, in the preliminary round, while Japan have not lost a match and are on a four-game winning streak. 

Portugal finished seventh two years ago and now play for their first-ever medal at the IHF Wheelchair Handball Championship. 

Their numbers through four matches – 64 points scored (sixth-best) and 63 conceded (seventh-best) — reflect a side which have gone through good and bad moments, but their main concern is the depth, with 58 points coming from three players. Half of Portugal’s points were scored by Ricardo Queirós, who did the heavy lifting in attack: scoring 32 points.

Chile have quietly put together one of the most balanced records in the entire championship: 68 points, fourth-best in the field, alongside the joint-best defence in the tournament, conceding only 42. 

Jorge Carrasco embodies that balance from both ends of the court, sitting eighth in the scoring standings with 26 points while also among the leaders in goalkeeper standings, a dual threat few other sides can match. A fourth-place finish in 2022 and sixth in 2024 means Chile, like Portugal, have never left an IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship with a medal. One of them will end that run on Sunday.

One other fiery clash will be the rematch of the final in 2022, between Brazil and Egypt, with both sides missing out on the podium for the first time. 

Egypt still have the individual player of the tournament in Magdy Talaat Abdo Abbas, whose 47 points remain the highest of any player in Granollers, built on 29 goals from 47 shots and a tournament-leading 15 two-points goals

France take on the USA in the Placement Match 7/8, while Libya vs Lithuania and Australia vs India round out the day in the battle for 9th through 12th.