The 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship will conclude on Thursday, in the New Administrative Capital Hall in Egypt, with a mouth-watering clashes between the two undefeated teams in the competition – reigning champions SC Magdeburg and challengers Veszprem HC.

Three other matches are scheduled for the last day of the competition, with the bronze medal match seeing Barcelona take on Al-Ahly, while two other placement matches are opening the day, deciding the final standings.

FINAL

• 20:00 EEST SC Magdeburg (GER) vs Veszprem HC (HUN)

No team has ever won the IHF Men’s Club World Championship four times in a row, with the only sides to secure three consecutive titles being FC Barcelona and SC Magdeburg, with the German side, the reigning champions, having the active streak.

Provided they win their 16th match in a row in the world club handball flagship competition, Magdeburg will write history, becoming only the second team to secure four titles and the first one to clinch four titles in a row. But the final against Veszprem is by far the toughest test for the German side in this edition.

Dominant in the previous three edtions, Magdeburg have failed to bring the same polished performances over the last matches, where they have had issues, both against Khaleej Club and Al-Ahly. 

Against the Saudi side, Magdeburg were down after 40 minutes, but still sealed a 35:28 win, while the match against Al-Ahly saw the reigning champions down by six goals in the first half, down two with 13 minutes left, but a late comeback saw them secure a 28:24 win.

Still, the German side has the best attack, with 120 goals scored, and the second best defence, with 73 goals, conceding only one goal more than Al-Ahly, but their first test against an European side, the final against Veszprem, will surely be their toughest so far at the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship.

Back in the competition after a nine-years wait, Veszprem have looked confident, calm and composed, as their new coach, Xavi Pascual, made an instant impact, with some fantastic performances along the way in the current season. One of them was the comeback against Barcelona in the semi-final of the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, where the Hungarian side led throughout the first half, went down late, but emerged as winners after tying the score in regular time and secure a 39:34 extra-time win.

“But, once again, we haven't won anything yet. We need to prepare our players for the next challenge. We are very happy that we were able to bring joy to the people who believe that we can do something big with this team,” said Veszprem’s coach, Xavi Pascual.

For Veszprem, this will be the second appearance in the final of the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, in their second appearance in the competition. Nine years ago, the Hungarian powerhouse lost the final against another German side, Fuchse Berlin, 27:28, after extra-time.

In the last two years, the two teams met four times, with Magdeburg taking two wins, the most recent one, 30:28, in Match, on Veszprem’s court, while one match ended in a draw and another was won by Veszprem.

BRONZE MEDAL MATCH

• 17:00 EEST Al-Ahly (EGY) vs FC Barcelona (ESP)

For the second edition in a row, FC Barcelona will play to finish on the third spot at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, missing out on a place in the final for the third time in nine editions.

The Spanish side has never finished lower than third in the final standings of the competition, a record they will aim to preserve on Thursday evening, in their last match in the New Administrative Capital Hall, when they face Al-Ahly once again, after delivering a 31:23 win in the preliminary round against the hosts.

Barcelona, reigning champions in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, will meet the African champions, as Al-Ahly provided a hefty competition for SC Magdeburg in the semi-finals, but eventually conceded a 24:28 loss against the German side, despite leading by six goals in the first half and by four goals in the 37th minute.

The European side has the second best attack in the competition, with 118 goals, having scored at least 30 goals in each match this season, while Al-Ahly have scored only 96 times, but the Egyptian side have the best defence in the competition, with only 72 goals conceded in three matches.

This will be the fourth meeting at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship for the two sides, with Barcelona taking wins in the previous three matches, 20:16 in 2015, 37:31 in 2023 and 31:23 in the current edition, in the preliminary round.

PLACEMENT MATCHES

• 11:00 EEST Khaleej Club (KSA) vs Sydney Uni (AUS)
• 14:00 EEST Handebol Taubate (BRA) vs Zamalek SC (EGY)

Zamalek will be looking to finish fifth in the competition, as they will know exactly what they have to do to seal that position when they take on Taubate. Before the last day of the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, the Egyptian side are tied on points with Khaleej Club, with the goal difference deciding the best-placed side in the Placement Round.

Khaleej have currently a +18 goal difference, while Zamalek are on +16, but the Saudi side will have, at least on paper, an easier schedule, featuring against Sydney Uni. Yet Zamalek proved they can win big against Taubate, when the two sides first met in the preliminary round.

Then, Zamalek took a 30:25 win, but led by as many as 16 goals in the second half, only to lose their lead in the dying minutes. On the other hand, Taubate aim to avoid finishing an edition of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship without a win for the first time in history, as the Brazilian side have conceded losses against Zamalek, Veszprem and Khaleej in the first three matches, but shown improvements over the way.

Despite winning the match against the California Eagles, Sydney Uni will be the underdogs against Khaleej Club, with the Saudi side vying for the fifth place in the final standings, which would be their best-ever result in their appearances at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship.

So far, Khaleej finished sixth two times, but they have won two of the three matches and need to deliver another good performance to clinch the fifth place. With a win, Sydney would tie them in the standings, yet the Australian side have the largest average of goals conceded per match, 43.3.

Khaleej also have the top goal scorer so far in the competition, Mojtaba Al Salem, who scored 23 goals, one more than Barcelona’s Aleix Gomez.