With no Thorir Hergeirsson on the bench for the first time since 2001, Norway’s women put on a show for Ole Gustav Gjekstad in his first major championship as coach, easing to a double-digit victory over the 1995 world champions in Trier.

Group H
Norway vs Republic of Korea 34:19 (14:9)

Olympic and European title-holders Norway have not lost an opening IHF Women’s World Championship match for 10 years, and even when they did at Denmark 2015, they went on to win the title.

That no-loss record continued at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship as veteran Norway goalkeeper Katrine Lunde thwarted Korea’s attack for almost all of the opening 50 minutes of her first game in her last-ever competition, following her announcement that Germany/Netherlands 2025 would be her final event for her country after three decades in-between the posts.

Both sides went into the game missing key players compared to their last world championship campaigns with Silje Solberg Østhassel, Sanna Solberg-Isaksen, Kari Brattset Dale and Marit Røsberg Jacobsen missing this one for Norway, added to the retirement of former captain Stine Oftedal, but, arguably, it was Korea who had the biggest miss – the influential Ryu Eun Hee having retired from national team duties herself.

Eun Hee’s link with captain Yeongyeong Lee was a big miss for the Asian silver medallists who could not find a way past the organised Norwegian 6-0 defence, despite doing their best to tempt Maren Aardahl out of her comfort zone and get in behind.

The lack of nine-metre firepower from Eun Hee and her creative link-up with Lee was evident as the Koreans had to resort to ineffective straight shots from distance, lacking the rocket fuel that Eun Hee used to provide – at half-time they had only recorded two strikes from 11 at distance and by the end of the 60 they had scored just seven from 26 attempts.

But let that take nothing away from the 45-year-old Lunde whose drive for perfection continues as she left off from winning two gold medals last year. She was finally rested after 50 minutes with 24 saves from 39 shots faced, resulting in an incredible 62%-save ratio.

Ahead of the championship, Gjekstad had said that he would not put as much playing time and pressure on Nora Mørk after the legendary winger returned to the squad and despite playing just 12 minutes, she seemed to be ever-present, cajoling the players on and off court with her infectious enthusiasm, backed up by that skill which has devastated defences for years.

Scoring-wise, it had been level until the 10th minute (5:5), but 10 minutes later the Europeans had gone four ahead (11:7) through captain Henny Reistad who appears to get better game-by-game. It was five by the break (14:9) and double with 15 minutes left (24:14).

Gjekstad was able to give 15 of his 16 players court time, including world championship debutant Selma Helén Henriksen, the Sola HK line player scoring and showing that the Norwegian factory is well-stocked.

hummel Player of the Match: Katrine Lunde (Norway)