It was all-in for Brazil, as they needed to get a six-goal win to keep their quarter-finals dream alive, but the South American side could only muster a three-goal win, 30:27, against Czechia, as they crashed out entirely of the 2023 IHF Women's World Championship.

Bent Dahl's team's quarter-final hopes now depend on the outcome of the clash between the Netherlands and Spain, the final match in Group IV of the main round in Frederikshavn, with only a Spain win derailing their progression.

Main Round
Group IV
Czechia vs Brazil 27:30 (17:16)

The first goal in the contest came from Brazilian line player Tamires Morena Lima De Araujo and it looked like Brazil were fully focused on what they had to do, especially in defence, where Czechia were forced into plenty of turnovers. However, goalkeeper Petra Kudláčková once again showed she could be Czechia's fulcrum and helped her side to create a two-goal lead after five minutes of play, with some exquisite saves.

With everything at stake, Brazil continued to pounce, with a good defensive display forcing Czechia into mistakes and as the clock hit the 10th minute, teams were locked in a 7:7 tie. The EHF Champions League Women MVP from two seasons ago, Marketa Jerabkova, kept her side in the rhythm, scoring four times from as many attempts, coming back on the top of the goal scorer standings. Hence, she was the main focus of the Brazilian defence just like right wing Adriana Cardoso De Castro was unstoppable on the opposite side, scoring six out of six by halftime.

Not being able to make a break, Bent Dahl had to call for a team time-out, using the one-minute break to tell his players to make a run back and tried to shake things up by changing the player's positions in attack, with Charlotte Cholevova and Jerabkova switching positions in every attack. His vision provided a Czechia rebound six minutes later (14:12), following Brazil's good use of the seven-on-six game that propelled them to a two-goal lead (10:12). The high-intensity match saw Czechia the come on top in the last moments of the first half, going to the break with the minimum lead, 17:16.

Both coaches decided to change their goalkeepers at the start of the second half and the Brazilian Gabriela Gonçalves Dias Moreschi had the better match, stopping two straight Czechia attacks and carrying her team to a new lead that morphed into a 23:20, ten minutes into the second half.

The battle for the possible quarter-final spot was a real nip-and-tuck affair with trading leads, strong defensive displays and fighting spirits. That's how Czechia narrowed the gap and cut the deficit to one (24:25) after nice Natálie Kuxová's steal just as we were coming into the last ten minutes of the game, but Brazil were on the up, especially after switching to a more aggresive central defence, forcing Jerabkova to sit deep.

The pressure was high, as the number of mistakes teams made in the last five minutes of the game grew. Brazil almost made it and hit their six-goal need, especially after Bruna De Paula's fourth goal for 30:26 but Sabrina Novotná saved and allowed Czechia to set the final 27:30 defeat, after Dias Moreschi saved three one-on-one shots between the 51st and 55th minutes.

If Spain lose against the Netherlands, Czechia will make it to the quarter-finals thus Brazil will end the world flagship competition as the third team of the Main Round Group IV. If 'Las Guerreras' manage to draw or beat the Dutch side, Czechia's dream will be shattered, with everything still to play until the final second of this well-balanced group.

hummel Player of the Match: Marketa Jerabkova (Czechia)