Chile finally seal main round spot at eighth try, with crunch win over Japan

20 Jan. 2025

Chile finally seal main round spot at eighth try, with crunch win over Japan

For the first time in the eight appearances at the IHF Men’s World Championship, Chile clinched a main round berth, with a dominating performance against Japan, 31:26, in their last match in the preliminary round in the Unity Arena in Baerum, Oslo.

GROUP F
Japan vs Chile 26:31 (11:14)

When everything is on the line, you need a hero. And this is exactly what Chile got in goalkeeeper Felipe Garcia in the first half of their decider against Japan, as the shot stopper made some key shots throughout the first 30 minutes to see his team pull ahead.

Both Chile and Japan’s future at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship was on the line in this match, as the Asian side needed a win, while the South American team could afford a draw for their progression into the main round, after seven consecutive failed attempts.

But while Japan started the match better, Garcia made some key saves to prevent Toni Gerona’s side to up the ante and enjoy a larger lead. In fact, Japan could only muster a one-goal lead, 3:2 and 4:3 in the start of the match, but Chile followed with a 5:1 run to turn the match on its head.

Both Erwin Feuchtmann and Rodrigo Salinas hit the 250-goal mark at the IHF Men’s World Championship, combining for six goals between them, but the real hero was Garcia, who continued his fantastic perfomance, saving six one-on-one shots, including one penalty, to keep Japan at bay.

With 13 saves and a 57% saving efficiency, Chile’s goakeeper limited Japan to only 39% shotoing efficiency in the first 30 minutes, as the South American side had a three-goal lead, 14:11, being only 30 minutes away of their best-ever performance in history in the world handball flagship competition.

It went from bad to worse for Japan in the second half, as they simply could not provide the needed performance to mount a comeback, with turnovers being their undoing. Too eager to prove themselves on the biggest of stages, they made four attacking fouls in the first 16 minutes of the second part, as Chile ran away with the win.

This time, it was more about coach Aitor Etxaburu riding his starting seven until the end, as Feuchtmann navigated the match perfectly after conceding two suspensions in the first 16 minutes, to lead the scoring charts with nine goals, while left wing Francisco Ahumada also scored seven times, to cement Chile’s lead.

With 20 minutes to go in the match, Chile were up by eight goals, 22:14, creating an unassailable gap between themselves at the Asian side, in one of their largest wins in history on this stage and the 15th in 52 matches.

Chile’s 31:26 win saw the South American side earn their maiden main round spot, although it will be virtually impossible to clinch their best performance at the IHF Men’s World Championship, as the South American side finished 16th at Denmark/Germany 2019 and will see their work cut out here, starting the main round with zero points, after losses against Spain and Sweden.

Japan head to the President’s Cup and will finish on their lowest place ever in the competition, but will aim for wins in Porec, after featuring in one of the toughest preliminary round groups of the competition.

hummel Player of the Match: Erwin Feuchtmann (Chile)