Only four teams — all from Europe — remain in contention for the title at the 2026 IHF Women's Junior World Championship in Jinzhong, People's Republic of China. Both semi-finals will be held on Friday, 3 July, as France will face Germany and Denmark are set to meet Spain.

In turn, the four teams that lost in the quarter-finals will participate in the Placement 5-8 semi-finals. The other 24 teams will play their last games in the tournament to determine their final placement — and, in particular, Egypt and Croatia will fight not only for the 17th position, but also for the President's Cup.

Semi-finals
16:00 CST — France v Germany
18:30 CST — Denmark v Spain

Placement Matches 5-8
16:00 CST — Montenegro v Norway
18:30 CST — Serbia v Japan

Placement Match 9/10
13:45 CST — Sweden v Poland

Placement Match 11/12
11:30 CST — Czechia v Romania

Placement Match 13/14
13:45 CST — People's Republic of China v Hungary

Placement Match 15/16
11:30 CST — Austria v Republic of Korea

Placement Match 17/18
18:30 CST — Egypt v Croatia

Placement Match 19/20
16:15 CST — Iceland v Brazil

Placement Match 21/22
14:00 CST — Angola v Argentina

Placement Match 23/24
11:45 CST — Algeria v Faroe Islands

Placement Match 25/26
18:30 CST — Paraguay v Türkiye

Placement Match 27/28
16:15 CST — Guinea v Tunisia

Placement Match 29/30
14:00 CST — United States of America v Chinese Taipei

Placement Match 31/32
11:45 CST — India v Canada

France v Germany — 16:00 CST

Only these two national teams boast a perfect record at China 2026, with six wins in as many matches. However, only one of them will reach the final, and the match between the 2024 IHF Women's Junior World Championship winners France and the reigning W19 EHF EURO champions Germany should be exciting.

Of the two sides, France took the easier win in the quarter-finals, as they defeated Montenegro by double digits, 33:23. As Dawiya Abdou converted all eight of her shots and goalkeepers Léane Gonzalez and Romane Gindro combined for 13 saves, the French team were dominant throughout the match to take a commanding win.

They still boast the best defence at the entire competition, with 122 goals conceded in six matches, an average of 20.3 per game. In attack, France rank seventh with a tally of 186 goals.

Meanwhile, Germany had the best attack in the competition before the quarter-finals, but they dropped to second position after a hard-fought win against Norway, 23:22. Now the Germans have 214 goals under their belt, an average of 35.7 per game.

In the quarter-finals, Germany struggled for a long time against Norway, whose goalkeeper Leah Isabell Langaard delivered 14 saves in the first half. However, her German colleague Lena Marie Lindemann found her rhythm after the restart and finished the game with 16 saves. And while Germany were trailing by five goals early in the second half, they ultimately snatched a 23:22 victory.

It was actually their second straight one-goal win at the tournament, as the Germans defeated Spain 29:28 in their last main round match. Germany reached the semi-finals of the IHF Women's Junior World Championship for the first time since Russia 2016, and while they finished fourth 10 years ago, now they will be looking for more.

Denmark v Spain — 18:30 CST

After four wins and a draw against Montenegro in the two previous rounds, Denmark claimed a commanding 38:26 win against Serbia in the quarter-finals and secured a semi-final spot at the second straight IHF Women's Junior World Championship, after finishing fourth at North Macedonia 2024.

Now they want to improve on that result, and the Danes certainly have their strengths. After scoring 38 goals against Serbia, they overtook Germany to become the most prolific team at the current competition, with 223 goals, or 37.1 per game.

Kirstine Emilie Hoppe, who netted nine goals against Serbia, continues to top the tournament's scoring chart. She has 54 goals under her belt, seven more than her closest rival Maggie Doherty Dahllöf from the United States of America, and has two more matches to increase that tally. However, Hoppe is not Denmark's only attacking threat — Julie Boendorf Johansen scored eight goals against Serbia and ranks among the tournament's top 25 scorers.

Spain's top scorer, Belén Rodríguez Lario, is in 14th place on that list with 34 goals. Her impact throughout the current event helped the Spanish team reach their first IHF Women's Junior World Championship semi-final since 2008. After taking four wins and narrowly losing to Germany in the previous two stages, they went on to claim a hard-fought victory against Japan in the quarter-finals, 34:33.

The fourth place at North Macedonia 2008 is Spain's best result at the IHF Women's Junior World Championship, and now they hope to write history and finish on the podium. While the match against Denmark will pose many challenges, the Spanish side are looking forward to giving their best effort and reaching their maiden final at this level.