Iceland have secured their tickets to the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, after a 70:48 aggregate win against Israel, after winning both matches in the doubleheader of the Qualification Europe Phase 2.

With both matches played in Iceland, one of the 11 doubleheaders which will see 11 European sides punching their tickets to the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, has been already decided, as Iceland have made it for the third time in history and for the second time in a row to the world handball flagship competition.

In the first leg, Iceland dominated the match from start to finish, enjoying a 20:10 lead at the break, which morphed into a 39:27 win. Þórey Anna Ásgeirsdóttir was the team’s top scorer, with 10 goals, followed by Dana Björg Guðmundsdóttir, who had six goals.

The second leg was played on Thursday and it provided yet another excellent performance from Iceland, which had Ásgeirsdóttir add eight more goals, on Iceland’s way to a 31:21 win.

Other 10 doubleheaders are still to be decided, and, as expected, the closest ones were between Slovenia and Serbia, and Croatia and Spain respectively, where everything is going to be decided in the second legs.

With experienced players like Andrea Lekic, Dragana Cvijic and Katarina Krpez-Slezak returning to the national team after a lengthy break, Serbia had a see-saw performance in the official debut for coach Bent Dahl, but eventually had to settle for a draw against Slovenia, 29:29.

Lekic scored seven goals, while Cvijic and Krpez-Slezak added three more, as Serbia had a three-goal lead, 27:24, with eight minutes to go, but a fantastic performance from Tjasa Stanko, who scored 14 times, helped Slovenia save a draw, 29:29, in the end.

Croatia are also aiming to return to the final tournament of the IHF Women’s World Championship, but facing Spain was a daunting task. Despite the change of generation deployed by Ambros Martin, “Las Guerreras” are still in with a chance, after erasing a four-goal deficit in the match and finally setlling for a 26:27 loss with the away leg played on home court, in Cadiz.

Spain have an appearance of nine consecutive editions of the world handball flagship competition, but could find themselves backed into a corner, as the second leg will be played in Cadiz on Sunday.

North Macedonia also provided an entertaining performance against Poland, conceding a 18:22 loss before the away leg in Bitola, with Poland struggling in the second half, where they scored only six goals and their performance was found lacking.

Austria also had to sweat against Türkiye, being down two goals, 20:22, with 18 minutes to go, but they rallied back, while in-form left back Johanna Reichert scored 10 goals, to gift her side a 36:29 win, a big buffer before the second leg is played in Türkiye on Sunday.

Shaking off a mediocre start in the first half, Montenegro powered to a 31:19 away win against Portugal, all but securing their tickets to the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, as did Romania, with their 30:21 away win against Italy, as Florentin Pera’s side is now close to extend their record as the only team in history to take part in every edition of the world handball flagship competition.

The Faroe Islands also made a huge step towards their maiden appearance at the IHF Women’s World Championship, with a 36:26 win against Lithuania, where Jana Mittun scored nine goals.

Elsewhere, Switzerland dominated Slovakia, 38:22, Czechia thoroughly beat Ukraine, 35:19, while the largest difference was recorded in the doubleheader between Sweden and Kosovo, where all but one of the Scandinavian side’s outfield players scored at least one goal on their way to a 51:16 win.

The second leg of the remaining 10 doubleheaders is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, with 30 of the 32 participating teams at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship being known after this point.

2025 IHF Women’s World Championship - Qualification Europe Phase 2 

• Iceland vs Israel 70:48 on aggregate (39:27; 31:21)
• Switzerland vs Slovakia 38:22
• Italy vs Romania 21:30
• Poland vs North Macedonia 22:18
• Sweden vs Kosovo 51:16
• Slovenia vs Serbia 29:29
• Portugal vs Montenegro 19:31
• Faroe Islands vs Lithuania 36:26
• Czechia vs Ukraine 35:19
• Croatia vs Spain 27:26
• Austria vs Türkiye 36:29