In the host city Vigo, Group B will take centre stage when the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship continues on Thursday 17 July. The day opens with an all-African clash between Nigeria and Egypt, before Sweden meet Australia.

 

A true headliner will close the day, as Asian champions Republic of Korea look for their first victory after a defeat to Sweden in round one – but they will have to overcome the 2017 Youth World Championship winning squad from France to do it.

 

GROUP B
Feature match: Republic of Korea vs France
As Travesas Sport Hall, 21:00 local time

 

It is the clash of Asian champions versus European runners-up. Republic of Korea will aim to recover from their round one loss to Sweden when they meet France in the second round at Spain 2019 – but there could hardly be a more difficult opponent to attempt to bounce back against.

 

France are indisputably one of the most dangerous sides on court at Spain 2019. The 2019 Junior World Championship squad already count two major trophies to their names – the 2016 U18 European title and the 2017 Youth World Championship gold. Last summer, they experienced defeat for the first time, though the silver medal at the European championship hardly shows an extreme loss in power from the talented young side.

 

Korea will therefore face a difficult task, however, they can rely on the fact that their rapid style of play has a solid history of undoing European opponents. Stronger-on-paper teams from handball’s most competitive continent often run into trouble against intercontinental rivals, and France are aware of that.

 

“A debut is always complicated, but we have gone from less to more in defence and in attack, running a lot to score goals and achieve that single difference in the score,” said France wing Edouard Kempf following their opening victory over Nigeria. “Tomorrow we play against the Republic of Korea – a different team and tactically one that will surely make things difficult for us.”

 

While France beat Nigeria with a clear distance, at 48:19, Korea were defeated by Sweden 28:34 following a level score at half-time.

 

Tough tasks for Nigeria and Australia

 

Nigeria will start the day, at 17:00 local time, with the same quest as Korea – to take their first win. However, they will face the champions of their own continent, Egypt, which will certainly be a tough challenge. When the teams met at the African Junior Championship in Morocco last year, Egypt won 39:27. Can Nigeria possibly overcome their continental rivals?

 

Australia face the same difficult challenge as Nigeria. Following a decisive defeat to Egypt in their opener, the Oceania nation making their debut at the Men’s Junior World Championship will hope to carry the lessons learned in round one into their round two clash versus Sweden. Their match will throw off at 19:00 local time.

 

Live stream for all matches will be provided on ihf.info. Simply click ‘view details’ for a live score, live stream option and all the match statistics.