Brazil clinched their third win in four matches at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship and had a winning start to the main round, with a hard-fought 28:24 win over fellow South American side, Chile.

MAIN ROUND, GROUP III
Brazil vs Chile 28:24 (13:10)

Chile had made it into the main round of the IHF Men’s World Championship for the first time in history and they were aiming for more in the Unity Arena in Baerum, especially in their maiden match of this phase of the competition, where they faced a familiar foe in Brazil.

Brazil also had the upper hand in both mutual encounters of the teams at the IHF Men's World Championship. At Sweden 2011, where Chile made their debut at this level, the Brazilians won 28:18, and four years later at Qatar 2015, they were dominant again, claiming a 30:22 victory.

This time around, things did not look as easy, despite Brazil being confident enough for a big win, after their 34:28 win last January at the 2024 South and Central American Men's Handball Championship, as Chile managed to stay close until late in the match.

The first question was which Brazil team was going to show up at the match: the one which shocked everybody against Norway, taking a 29:26 and blowing Group E in the preliminary round wide open, or the one which lagged behind in the second half against Portugal and in the first half against the USA?

The answer was a bit of both, with Brazil using a 3:0 unanswered run and another 4:1 run to take a commanding lead in the first half, 13:7, with the game looking to go Brazil’s way, as left back Haniel Langaro looked to be unstoppable.

But then, Chile did what they promised and started clawing back, beefing up their defence, with the gap cut to only three goals, 13:10, as goalkeeper Felipe Garcia provided yet another time much-needed relief, in the form of key saves.

In the first 20 minutes of the second half, Brazil could only score seven times, as Chile had some great help from line player Esteban Salinas and centre back Matias Paya, who combined for 12 goals in the game, as the South American side’s usual top scorers, Rodrigo Salinas and Erwin Feuchtmann were limited to eight goals between them.

And just like that, Chile came back into the match and on the back of a 3:0 run spurred by Rodrigo Salinas and Feuchtmann, tied the score, 19:19, and even took the lead for the first time, 21:20, with only eight minutes to go.

It looked like Brazil were in serious trouble, but in the closing minutes of the match, they tied the score with some great defensive output, taking advantage of Chile’s dwindling energy reserves.

Sure enough, it was left back Bryan Monte Da Silva who started starring, scoring two goals in quick succession, as Chile failed to get back on track, with the reigning South and Central American champions delivering a great finish of the match, with an 8:3 run, to clinch a 28:24 win.

Brazil are now definitely in the hunt for a place in the quarter-finals, being on four points, while Chile are out of contention for a quarter-final spot, staying on zero points before facing Norway and Portugal in the next matches.

hummel Player of the Match: Matias Paya (Chile)