World champions Spain, and Uruguay, who finished fifth in the tournament held in Tunisia last year, will go toe-to-toe on the Senegalese sand on Friday (13 November) morning for Olympic Games gold.

Both teams have won all five of their respective games en route the medal match with Spain taking victories against People's Republic of China (2-1), Mexico (2-0), Croatia (2-0), Kenya (2-0) and Senegal (2-1) and Uruguay, against Kenya (2-0), Senegal (2-1), France (2-1), Mexico (2-0) and France again (2-1).

 

Spain hoping to end top of the podium

Like Uruguay, Spain topped their preliminary group with ease. Coming with the target on their backs of being world champions, they have more than lived up to the billing as pre-event favourites, showing their composure and experience in a dramatic and emotional semi-final shoot-out win against host nation Senegal.

“This is incredible. We still can't believe it, but we played a fantastic match and we had prepared very well,” said Spain coach Inmaculada NAVARRETTE to IHF.info. “The girls came out super-motivated, aware that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and that they weren't going to stop fighting or believing until the final whistle.”

With silver already secured at least, Spain add yet another medal to their beach handball honours list.

Just a few months ago, Spain’s men won the YAC 17 EHF Beach Handball EURO 2026 and their women took silver. Their senior women’s team took home global bronze at Croatia 2026 in June, a year after their men’s silver and women’s gold at the 2025 senior EHF EURO which followed on from both of their youth sides topping the podium at the 2025 IHF Men’s and Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championships in Tunisia. Spain’s women also won gold in the 2025 Youth EHF EURO too.

 

Uruguay look to Tunisia 2025 experience as motivation at Dakar 2026

“We don't know about golds or Olympic gold medals,” says Uruguay coach Fran GALLO to IHF.info about being in the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games final. “We only know about hard work and stress.”

With that fifth-place finish at the 2025 IHF Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship in Tunisia, the South American side certainly announced themselves on the global beach handball stage last year.

And they have now followed that up with a guaranteed second place finish at Olympic level, but such are the expectations of the side now that they are looking even further.

“We are very proud of the girls, but right now, we have to aim for the gold – we have to try it because it's the final,” says former men’s national team player, GALLO. “No-one has done it before in our country, but now we are here, we cannot just think about having a medal already, we have to aim as high as possible.”

At Tunisia 2025 their second preliminary group game saw them shock the eventual championship winners Spain, 2-1 (30:24, 20:26, SO 7:6) and that experience, combined with strong support back home, could be the magic formula to top the podium on Friday.

“Last year we beat them in Tunisia by playing an excellent offence, but this is a completely different situation and competition,” says GALLO. “My phone is exploding right now. We have a lot of parents that came from Uruguay to Senegal and made a lot of effort. I know we are a small federation, a very proud one, but small one, and I know that everyone is cheering for us.”

“I’m very happy for this achievement,” adds player Julietta VILLAR LOGO, “but I have to say it’s not a surprise because we have been working a lot for this since a long time now. We came here with big expectations and now we are fulfilling them. This is no coincidence, it is the result of our effort, we have been working since 2024 and we will fight to get the gold.”  

One key player helping with that fight is defensive lynchpin Julia ROTUNDO BIANCHI.

Having risen up with teammate VILLAR LOGO, the defender even played for the senior team at the 2026 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in Croatia earlier this year and was crucial in the shoot-out win against France in the semi-final.

“Julia, like the rest of the team, is an important key,” says VILLAR LOGO. “However, she is one of the most experienced, has been with the senior team and gained a lot of experience from there, so she knows very well how the game works – being with her in the team is amazing.

“But we are going to play the final like all of our previous games. We had that hope of the final as a mid-term objective, as, in the end Uruguay is a small country, but we have been working for that, we are going for the first set, if we do not win it we go for the second and if not, the shoot-out, but we will always try until the end.”

And what about that hard work and stress over the years that coach GALLO mentioned? Has it been worth it now to be in an Olympic final?

“Yes, it's all worth it, but let me tell you something. For this competition, the Uruguay Olympic Committee (COU) did everything to make us feel at home; from the preparation, to the recovery after the games, they were excellent with us. They even rented a villa (close to the Saly Beach West venue), so we can rest and stay away from the sun between games, so I can only say ‘thank-you’ to them.”

Thanks to Carmen de Weert for Spanish to English translation