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North Macedonia down Guinea to seal main round spot

19 Jan. 2025

North Macedonia down Guinea to seal main round spot

After struggling for much of the first half, North Macedonia claimed their first win at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025, 29:20 against Guinea, securing their berth at the main round. 

GROUP D
North Macedonia vs Guinea 29:20 (14:10)

The more experienced European team was favoured to win this match, but Guinea, which also had a chance to go through with a victory, put a lot of pressure on their rivals since the opening minutes. Their right wing, Theo Lebon, opened the score, and the African side, debutants at the IHF Men's World Championship, went on to take a lead a couple of more times, including 7:6 in the 19th minute, as their goalkeeper Pierre Rubens made some nice saves. 

Yet after struggling early in the match, North Macedonia gradually started to find their rhythm as the game progressed. In particular, Filip Kuzmanovski, who had scored 19 goals combined in their two previous matches, started to show his fire power. As a result, the Balkan side weas dominant on the court late in the first half and created a five-goal gap, 13:8, before Guinea slightly reduced it by half-time. 

North Macedonia enjoyed a good start of the second half, forcing their rivals to make turnovers and scoring from counterattacks. Following a 6:1 run, they extended their lead to 20:11 by the 40th minute, forcing Guinea’s coach Kevin Decaux to call for a timeout.

After listening to his instructions, the Africans somewhat improved their attacking game, but they were unable to hold back the unstoppable Kuzmanovski. The left back became North Macedonia’s best scorer in every group match, and against Guinea, he showed his personal best at the current tournament, scoring 12 times.

Goalkeeper Marko Kizikj also did a good job, as he stopped 15 shots for a 43% save rate. His Guinean counterpart, Rubens, also had 14 saves, but the outcome of this encounter was clear long before the final buzzer. The Europeans, which led 25:16 with 10 minutes to go, retained their nine-goal advantage until the end. 

North Macedonia will start the main round with one point, and they are now certain to make a step forward compared to Poland/Sweden 2023, where they finished only 27th. Meanwhile, Guinea, which have lost all three matches in Group D, will go to the President’s Cup with the goal of getting some positive results in that part of the competition.

hummel Player of the Match: Filip Kuzmanovski (North Macedonia)