Germany made it out of the preliminary round at the IHF Women’s World Championship for the sixth time in a row, taking their second win in as many matches in Group F at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023, 45:22, against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The European side also tied the record for the number of goals scored in a single match at the IHF Women’s World Championship, set 16 years ago against Paraguay, when they took a 45:12 win, which is still the largest-ever in their history in the world handball flagship competition.

GROUP F
Islamic Republic of Iran vs Germany 22:45 (12:25)

It was a blip on the radar for Germany, surely, but their start was shaky, with two turnovers and three missed shots, as the Islamic Republic of Iran made the most of their chances and took their first lead at this edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship, when Zahra Faghighi scored after exactly two minutes of the match.

Germany did wrestle the lead back, but after eight minutes, Iran were down by a single goal, 5:4, providing a better start than the one against Poland, but Germany were calm and collected, without showing any signs of emotion or trouble.

And that simple experience proved to be the key of the match, with Germany forcing their way through to the win, after an excellent attacking performance, which saw them produce 25 goals in the first half, taking full advantage of Iran’s issues and scoring in the open goal.

Like in the match against Poland, Iran used a seven-on-six tactic in attack, taking out their goalkeeper, a tweak which proved troublesome, especially when turnovers mounted and missed shots started to be the norm. Moreover, the Asian side were not fast enough to slot the goalkeeper back in and were severly punished for this.

Left wing Johanna Maria Stockschläder and right wing Jenny Behrend were the main provider of goals for Germany in the first half, combining for 12 goals between them, while the European side’s top scorer in the win against Japan two days ago, Alina Grijseels, also added five more goals, to take the lead to 13 goals after 30 minutes, 25:12.

Germany did not press until the end of the match, as their attacking output did not match the one in the first half, especially as Iran did not use the seven-on-six attack as much, with Markus Gaugisch’s team having to spend more time to score goals.

Yet the European side still managed to tie a record – the one for the number of goals scored in a single match – which was set against Paraguay at France 2007, when Germany took their largest-ever win in the competition, 45:12. The 23-goal gap registered against the Islamic Republic of Iran was only enough for Germany’s fourth largest win in the history of the IHF Women’s World Championship.

With their second win in as many matches, Germany made it for the main round in style, while they are aiming to start the next phase with the maximum number of points, a feature which they can achieve with another win on Monday, against Poland.

On the other hand, the Islamic Republic of Iran conceded their eighth loss in nine matches at the IHF Women’s World Championship and their hopes of progression hang by a thread, with the last match against Japan being paramount for the Asian side, who has lost the first two matches by 43 goals combined.

hummel Player of the Match: Fatemeh Merikh (Islamic Republic of Iran)