The maiden medal won by Great Britain at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship is the gold, after the European side shocked hosts Bulgaria, which were riding a four-match winning streak in the final, with a dominating 29:25 win.

The two sides – the only ones which featured in every edition of the competition so far – clinched their best finishing positions at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, as Bulgaria had previously ended up third twice, in 2019 and 2023.

FINAL
Bulgaria vs Great Britain 25:29 (13:15)

Just four days ago, Bulgaria and Great Britain were meeting in the preliminary round of the 2025 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship and the hosts cruised to a clear 35:22 win, one of their three double-digits wins in the competition. That meant that the match had a clear favourite, especially as Bulgaria were counting on their fans’ support.

But were Great Britain such pushovers? In the semi-finals, Ricardo Vasconcelos’ side delivered a heavy blow, once again as underdogs, to the United States of America, therefore everything was still open, especially as both sides were in their maiden final of the competition, with Great Britain securing their maiden medal after the win against the USA.

Yet Bulgaria were once again in control, despite their top scorer, Svetlin Dimitrov, the clear frontrunner to secure the top goal scorer title, with 51 goals in four matches, failing to score a goal. However, with a sturdy defence, trademark for the hosts in this competition, Bulgaria enjoyed a 5:2 lead and were well ahead after 10 minutes.

Nikolay Petrov had four saves for a 35% saving efficiency by that point, while Kristian Vasilev, Bulgaria’s second scorer in the competition, took the mantle for scoring for the hosts, but Great Britain first showed signs of life after a 3:0 unanswered run, powered by two goals from right back Francisco Pereira, to clinch the lead for the first time, 7:6.

Another 3:0 unanswered run for Great Britain helped the outsiders create a three-goal lead, 10:7, but the toughest blow for Bulgaria was conceded in the 19th minute, when a penalty conceded by Great Britain was a pivotal moment in the match. Dimitrov hit Great Britain’s goalkeeper, Kylian Ferrier, in the head and saw the red card.

The decision buoyed Great Britain’s chances, as Pereira scored twon more goals to open a 12:8 lead for his side, but Bulgaria had Vasilev and left back Mihael Ivanov combine for nine goals, to cut the gap at the break, 13:15, and make it anyone’s match in the second half.

Without Dimitrov’s firepower – the right wing scored an average of 12.75 goals per match before the final, Bulgaria were found asking, as they needed a Plan B to mount a comeback against Great Britain. And until the 45th minute, that comeback was not materalising.

Each time the hosts managed to cut the gap to one goal, Great Britain answered, either via Pereira or some excellent combinations to the line player, with Oliver Tyler either scoring himself or drawing penalties. And each time Bulgaria had the chance to tie the score, they turned the ball over or missed the chance.

As time was running out, it was clear that Bulgaria had less and less ideas and with two consecutive turnovers feeding Great Britain’s fast breaks, the hosts saw themselves down four goals, 21:25, with nine minutes to go, as Pereira shined on the court with seven goals and five assists up until that point.

It became clear that Great Britain were heading for the trophy with three minutes to go, when they had a four-goal lead, 29:25, as Bulgaria lamented Dimitrov’s absence in attack, where they could only muster a 50% shooting efficiency, insufficient for winning a match in such a tense situation.

Pereira finished the match with seven goals and seven assists, being clearly the driving force for Great Britain’s success, while goalkeeper Kylian Ferrier also saved 13 shots for a 34% saving efficiency.

For Great Britain, which had previously finished ninth, 11th, fourth and fifth at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, this is by far the best performance in the history of the team, with four wins and a single loss bringing them the title, in a fantastic turn of events.

Great Britain are also qualified for the EHF EURO 2028 Qualification Phase, where they will hope to add one more brick to the foundation of success, while Bulgaria will lament missing Dimitrov in this final, having to settle for silver, after winning by at least seven goals all the previous matches before the final.