The preliminary round of the 2024 IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship will finish on Wednesday, 18 September, in the Dr Hassan Moustafa Hall in 6 of October, Egypt, when all eight participating teams will play twice to decide their final placement, before heading to the quarter-finals.

Reigning champions Brazil, hosts Egypt, Portugal and Japan will all be vying to extend their winning streak after their maiden matches, but high-profile clashes are expected to deliver dramatic encounters.

GROUP A

• 10:30 EEST United States of America vs Japan
• 12:30 EEST France vs Brazil
• 17:00 EEST France vs United States of America
• 19:00 EEST Brazil vs Japan

GROUP B

• 10:30 EEST Chile vs India
• 12:30 EEST Portugal vs Egypt
• 17:00 EEST Portugal vs Chile
• 19:00 EEST Egypt vs India

Reigning champions Brazil opened their account at the 3rd IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship with a win over the United States of America, 2:0 (9:2; 7:0), preventing their opponents to score for the last 19 minutes and 16 seconds of the match.

They are still unbeaten at the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, boasting an eight-match winning streak, which they will expect to extend to 10 matches when they face France and Japan, two debutants, in Group A.

Japan were the big surprise, dominating France in the first match and are the side which scored the largest number of points, 26, in their 2:0 win. Yukitaka Moriya was the top scorer of the day, with 15 points, while Shinnosuke Morooka added 10 more points in Japan’s maiden win at the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, one which they hope to triple down upon.

Therefore, they will be favoured against the USA, which scored the lowest number of points, two, in the first day, but the match against Brazil, their last in the preliminary round, which will conclude the day, will be infinitely more difficult, as the reigning champions have plenty of firepower themselves. Guilherme Lourenco and Anderson Ferreira, two of their best players two years ago, combined for 11 points in their win against the USA.

In Group B, Portugal looked comfortable, albeit shaky at times, against India, a match they won, 2:0, but they will face a tougher challenge, against a more experienced Egypt side in the third match of the second day at Egypt 2024.

The reigning champions at the World & European Championship in 2022, Portugal had to adapt to the Four-a-side wheelchair handball, but their main weapons, Ricardo Queiros (nine points) and Guilherme Lourenco (five points) were on target against India.

On the other side, Egypt had to suffer against Chile, but secured hard-fought wins in both sets, with Magdy Talaat Abdo Abbas in superb form, with 12 points. However, he scored 66.6% of Egypt’s points, therefore making the African team look like a one-trick-pony at times.

Portugal will also face Chile, the plucky South American side which can spring a surprise at any time, while Egypt also meet India, in a battle for a better placement at the end of the preliminary round, which will conclude on Wednesday.

All the eight teams will progress to the quarter-finals, with the top team in each group facing the fourth-placed side in the other group, while the second-placed sides meet the teams which finish third.