Denmark secured their first final berth since 2013 and their fourth in history at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, dominating Egypt in a fast-paced and attractive game, which saw the Scandinavian side clinch a 39:35 win.
 
Egypt’s second loss at Croatia 2023 also means that a new world champion will be crowned, as the African powerhouse won the trophy in the previous edition of the world handball flagship competition for this age category at North Macedonia 2019.
 
Semi-final

• Denmark vs Egypt 39:35 (23:18)

 
Denmark and Egypt always delivered fiery games, with their clash at the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship, which saw Denmark seal a win on penalties, clearly one of the most dramatic and entertaining games ever in handball’s history.
 
This time around, the two rivals met at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, where Denmark were previously unbeaten before the semi-finals, with six wins out of six games, while Egypt had lost against Spain and mounted an all-time comeback against the Faroe Islands in the quarter-finals, where they cancelled a three-goal deficit in the last 69 seconds of the game to claim the win in extra-time.
 
For the first 11 minutes, Egypt did match Denmark goal for goal, as it became clear that this would be a high-octane match, where the team with the most efficient attack would seal the deal, as the two sides were still deadlocked at that moment (8:8).
 
Yet Egypt, who lost back Mohamed Elbattawi after the first attack due to a hand injury, struggled to maintain the rhythm. At first, it was a four-minute and five seconds run without a goal for the African side, when Denmark created a 4:0 unanswered run to open a four-goal gap.
 
With an excellent goalkeeper in Simon Meinby Lundorf, who had a 45% saving efficiency after 20 minutes, that run morphed into a 10:2 one, with Denmark opening a 18:10 lead, which looked unassailable. But Egypt are one gritty team, and they started to defend more and more aggressively, changing from a traditional 6-0 to 5-1 and even 3-3, constantly putting pressure on Denmark.
 
Turnovers surged for the Scandinavian side from that moment on. However, their back line still carried the load, one equally distributed, as Denmark, the most decorated team in history at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, entered the break with a five-goal lead (23:18).
 
While the tempo was bound to drop as feet got more and more tired, this semi-final did not break the record number of goals at this stage of the competition, set four years ago, at the previous edition, when Egypt delivered a 41:36 win against Portugal.
 
But it was still a fast-paced game, with Egypt flirting with a comeback, cutting the gap to only four goals and missing multiple shots to reduce it to three goals, as Denmark were seriously under pressure. However, the Scandinavian side was in the know after Egypt fought until the end against the Faroe Islands and lifted the pedal when the gap became unassailable.
 
Once again, it was centre back Frederik Emil Pedersen who ran the show for Denmark, scoring nine goals and delivering four assists, as the European powerhouse had just enough power to unlock the Egypt defence, which constantly shapeshifted on the positional play.
 
With 10 minutes to go, Denmark were up by eight goals once again (34:26), and that was the moment when Egypt realised they had little left to offer, but fought until the last drop of energy, using the same pressure in defence until Denmark clinched the 39:35 win.
 
For the fourth time in their history, Denmark made it through to the final, the first team to reach the last act of the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship four times, having previously won all their finals.
 
On the other hand, Egypt’s reign as world champions in this age category has now ended, but the African side has shown plenty of grit and plenty of talent. They will now look to produce another exciting performance and win a medal in the bronze medal game on Sunday.
 
hummel Player of the Match: Frederik Emil Pedersen (Denmark)