Austria opened their account at Germany/Netherlands 2025 against debutants Egypt, with a 29:20 win, after a strong challenge from the African side, which led throughout the first 15 minutes.

GROUP E
Austria vs Egypt 29:20 (14:12)

When line player Mariam Ibrahim passed the ball to centre back Ehsan Abdelnaeim to throw off Group E at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, history was made. It was the first time Egypt featured in the world handball flagship competition and they enjoyed a fantastic start against a more seasoned European side, Austria.

For the first 17 minutes, the African side – fourth at the 2024 CAHB African Women’s Handball Championship last winter – were ahead, despite the mounting number of turnovers, expertly led by Abdelnaeim, the most experienced player in the team.

Simply, Austria had too many misses, too many miscues and their goalkeeper efficiency was also in the lower 20s, as Egypt took a 7:4 lead after 13 minutes, forcing hit after hit in Austria’s confidence. Nevertheless, the European side did not panic, despite missing two key backs in Katarina Pandža and Johanna Reichert, both injured.

While coach Monique Tijsterman did not call any team time-out, the tide continued to turn Austria’s way, which had two unanswered 3:0 runs, spurred by Eleonora Stankovic and Klara Schlegel, who both had four goals in the first half. On the back of these runs and a well-rounded first half finish, Austria were up by two goals at the break, 14:12.

Another 3:0 unanswered run from Austria to start the second half created the maiden five-goal lead for the European side, 17:12, which looked to be cruising to the win. Only that they were not. In just eight minutes, Egypt used their own 4:1 run to cut the gap to only three goals, 21:18, applying just the right amount of pressure in defence to force the European side to make mistakes.

Egypt had two chances to cut the deficit to two goals, but failed to score each time, opening a door for Austria to bounce back and secure the win. And indeed they did, with Ana Pandža scoring two crucial goals – on her way on finishing the match with four goals and six assists – while fellow back Kristina Dramac added two goals herself to up the ante, for a 26:19 lead for Austria with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Eventually, Austria delivered a 29:20 win, setting the tone for their campaign and getting closer and closer to a main round spot, in a group where they are due to play against Argentina and the Netherlands next.

On the other hand, Egypt enjoyed a great outing in their maiden match at the IHF Women’s World Championship and have plenty to learn after their loss, especially in protecting the ball more, with their 20 turnovers hampering their efforts to secure a better result in this match.

hummel Player of the Match: Touka Gadallah (Egypt)