Eight teams have secured their main round berths after their second win at the 2026 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, with Montenegro and Czechia from Group F, Serbia and Austria from Group B, Spain and the Republic of Korea from Group D, plus Hungary and Poland from Group G advancing to the next phase of the competition.

Group B
Serbia vs Angola 26:16 (12:7)

With their second straight win at the tournament, Serbia secured their main round ticket and helped fellow European side Austria do the same. In turn, Angola, who have no points after two matches, will head to the Presidents’ Cup.

The African side led only once in the match, after Carla Lussende opened the scoring in the second minute. However, Angola’s goalkeeper Daniela Neto delivered nine saves in the first half, which helped her team put some pressure on Serbia.

But Ivona Grujičić also did well in Serbia’s goal, and while her team were up 7:6 after 20 minutes, they ended the opening half with a 5:1 surge, creating a more commanding lead at half-time.

The European side continued to dominate after the restart and extended their lead to 20:10 by the 43rd minute. Angola had a 4:1 run between minutes 51 and 54, but Serbia’s victory was never in doubt. Player of the Match Grujičić finished the game with 16 saves and a 50% save rate, and a 57% shot efficiency was more than enough for the Balkan team to celebrate a win.

In their last group match, Serbia will fight for the top position in the group with Austria, while Angola are set to meet Paraguay.

Player of the Match: Ivona Grujičić (Serbia)

Group D
Republic of Korea v Argentina 26:24 (11:13)

Argentina came determined to bounce back after losing to Spain and showed exactly that after the opening 10 minutes. The start was topsy-turvy, with the Republic of Korea holding a two-goal lead, but goalkeeper Lola Nunez Fridmanas soon emerged as Argentina’s hero. She produced three consecutive saves and inspired her side to turn the momentum around.

By the 18th minute, the 2026 South and Central American Women’s Junior Handball Championship silver medallists had opened a four-goal lead, 9:5, forcing Korea to rethink their approach. The 2025 Asian Women’s Junior Handball Championship runners-up responded well, needing less than eight minutes to close the gap to 9:10. Still, Argentina stood their ground and managed to take a two-goal advantage into half-time.

Both sides endured a poor spell in the opening five minutes of the second half, leaving the nets untouched during that period. But Argentina remained in front and looked well on course for their first victory despite Korea’s persistence.

However, everything changed in the final two minutes. Trailing by one, 23:24, Korea produced an incredible turnaround. They forced Argentina into mistakes, stole possession and converted a fast break to move 25:24 ahead with just 25 seconds remaining. The South Americans completely lost their focus, failed to create one final chance for an equaliser, and Korea sealed the two-goal win with a penalty at the buzzer.

Ayoung Suh led Korea with 10 goals, while goalkeepers Dain Kim and Chaeeun Go combined for 11 saves. With the victory, Korea joined Spain in securing a main round berth, with the two sides now set to battle for first place in the group on the final day.

hummel Player of the Match: Helena Albertina Molina (Argentina)

Group F 
Czech Republic v Iceland 33:23 (16:11)

After their star performance against the United States of America, Czechia made it two out of two at China 2026 and secured safe passage to the main round, with yet another dominant display against Iceland.

Iceland had only one chance – to win after their loss against Montenegro and their chances were slimmer and slimmer as the time passed, with the European side falling behind early.

It was a great performance from goalkeeper Andrea Buchtová, who had 17 saves and a 47% saving efficiency, stopping some key shots from Iceland and enable Czechia to open a serious gap even from the beginning, 10:4 after 16 minutes.

Iceland did try to change something in the attack, but their efficiency was well below par, 53%, with some key players failing to score a goal, while missing shot after shot, as the gap just ballooned in the second half, after being only five goals at the break, 16:11.

Tereza Filípková scored seven goals and Viktorie Pejšová added four goals to propel Czechia to a 33:23 win, with the decider against Montenegro following next, with the winning team taking two points in the main round.

Iceland will head, alongside USA, to the President’s Cup, as the two teams will meet in the final match of the preliminary round.

Player of the Match: Andrea Buchtová (Czechia)

Group G
Poland v Chinese Taipei 33:10 (14:5)

After beating Tunisia at the start of China 2026, Poland continued their positive run against Chinese Taipei. The European side were in control from the opening whistle, racing to a 4:0 lead while their opponents had to wait seven minutes for their first goal. The gap continued to grow as turnovers and poor ball control ruined Chinese Taipei’s attacking efforts.

However, the Asian side tried to slow Poland down with a deeper defensive setup, and it worked for a while, as the Europeans struggled to break the seven-goal barrier for more than 20 minutes. The tempo dropped in the closing stages of the first half, with both sides going scoreless for five minutes as turnovers started piling up. Poland were the first to get back on track, stretching the lead to 13:3, before Chinese Taipei reduced the deficit to nine by half-time.

After the restart, it became clear that Chinese Taipei did not have the strength to keep up as mistakes started to creep in. They scored only three goals in the opening 13 minutes of the second half, while Poland confirmed their favourite status with a plethora of goals from all over the court to extend the lead to 26:8.

Chinese Taipei had to accept another defeat, once again scoring only 10 goals, just as they did against Hungary on the opening day. Chia I Chang was their top scorer with three goals, while among 12 Polish scorers, Zofia Chwojnicka shone with six goals. Three goalkeepers — Joanna Kalbarczyk, Nina Smelcerz and Maria Pentek — combined for 19 saves.

Poland secured their second victory at China 2026 and with it a place in the main round. They now turn their attention to their first European clash against Hungary, with first place in the group on the line.

hummel Player of the Match: Maria Mazurkiewicz (Poland)