Sturdy defence propels Egypt into final, with fantastic win against Spain

A nip-and-tuck match provided a dramatic win for Egypt in the second semi-final of the 2025 IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship, with the African powerhouse dominating Spain, 31:28.

SEMI-FINAL
Spain vs Egypt 28:31 (12:12)

Spain and Egypt were the two group winners colliding for the last place in the final of the competition, where Germany were already waiting. On paper, Spain had a better preliminary round, with a +83 goal difference, 42 goals better than Egypt. But the African side always had the potential to produce a surprise and in the first 30 minutes, they managed to produce some high-quality handball.

It might have been the nerves or the lack of experience for Spain, which had missed three fast break attempts, with balls intercepted by Egypt, or the large number of turnovers commited by Spain, but the match was always nip-and-tuck.

Egypt had the better start, preventing Spain to score for the first four minutes and three seconds of the match, but the European side really had a guardian angel in goalkeeper Alvaro Quesada Quesada, who had a fantastic first half, with nine saves and a 43% saving efficiency.

He made four consecutive saves and covered Spain’s lack of efficiency in attack, which stopped at 39% in the first half, but Egypt also made some mistakes, with their attacking efficiency standing at 36%, while the African side had the ball in possesion more.

While right back Youssef Ahmed missed six of his seven shots in the first half, Abdelrhman Elgamal and Moamen Bakir combined for seven goals, while Spain had seven different scorers, with Pablo Sánchez Labrador scoring five times, with the two teams deadlocked after 30 minutes, 12:12.

But something happened in the second half that helped the match turn. Suddenly, there were no saves from the Spain goalkeepers and Egypt got more and more confident. While right back Ahmed started scoring, Bakir added two more goals and Egypt used a 3:0 run between the 42nd and 45th minutes to open their maiden two-goal lead, 20:18, in the second half. Eventually, the two were their team's top scorers, with six and seven goals respectively.

Yet the turning point came during a bareless stint for Spain which lasted more than seven minutes, which Egypt duly took advantage of. Spain’s stalwart in defence, Eric Anselmo Guinau, was sent off directly for a tough foul and that really hampered Spain’s defence too.

Despite an outburst which saw Spain tie the score while Egypt were two players down to suspension, the African side played this match to perfection, especially in defence, where they covered the spaces excellently and goalkeeper Abdelmalak Mabrouk (10 saves and a 27% saving efficiency) delivered some timely saves to enhance Egypt’s chances of progression to the semi-finals.

As Spain’s barren run continued, it proved to be too late for the European side, as Egypt produced yet another huge result in the younger age categories, with a complete, flawless and mature display, taking a 31:28 win, their fourth in a row.

Egypt will now face Germany in the final, their third at a World Championship, after the one at the 1993 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship and the one at the 2019 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship.

Player of the Match: Youssef Ahmed (Egypt)